California’s Governor Aims to Use Empty Hotels to House Homeless Population

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https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/California-struggles-to-slow-COVID-19-among-15209659.php On April 18th, Governor Newsom announced plans titled Project Roomkey to use empty hotels to help some of California’s homeless population, over 150,000 people in total, access better housing and health. While his plans aim to house 15,000 and prioritizes those with prior conditions making them susceptible to severe cases of COVID-19, it’s unclear … Read more

Daley, et al., “Beware of studies claiming covid-19 death rates are smaller than expected,” Washington Post, April 28, 2020.

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A must-read. Here is a group of medical scientists explaining in lay person’s language why the tried-and-true methods established to determine “death rates” (more accurately case fatality rates) are necessary before making policy decisions based on reports based on faulty methods. The upshot: in this case, politicians will be well served using the best scientific … Read more

Free Children’s Book on Coronavirus

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The Nosy Crow has published a children’s book that aims to help parents and guardians talk to the children in their life about coronavirus. The book answers questions such as what is the coronavirus; how do you catch the coronavirus; what happens if you catch coronavirus; why are people worried about coronavirus; is there a … Read more

Who Has Enough Cash to Get Through the Coronavirus Crisis?

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This interactive New York Times opinion article breaks down how much time a household would need to save enough money for a month’s worth of expenses during an emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic. For households earning more than $200,000 annually, it could take about two months. Households earning between $70,000 and $99,999 would need seven … Read more

Coronavirus: US and China trade conspiracy theories

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-52224331 The article provides a snapshot of the cold war being fought between U.S and China during the COVID-19 pandemic crises. Both countries have been accusing one and another for the origin of the virus. The tensions move into a new phase as President Trump recently announced that U.S was going to halt funding for … Read more

The Lancet: Call for Mental Health Research Under Pandemic Circumstances

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In this paper published in The Lancet Psychiatry Journal on April 15th, 2020, the researchers suggest that situations of a pandemic, specifically under COVID-19 place many psychological and psychosocial stressors upon individuals. The authors of this paper suggest to collect data on how the pandemic has affected mental health of individuals and then prioritize the … Read more

BlueDot’s Outbreak Tracker

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https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-outbreak-computer-algorithm-artificial-intelligence/ A Canadian company, BlueDot, developed an algorithm that tracks infectious outbreaks around the world, tracks flights, and calculates cities with the highest risk of its population contracting disease. This technology was developed following the SARS outbreak in order to prepare, track, and prevent the next infectious disease, thus assigning this new science’s name: outbreak … Read more

The Daily podcast on the lockdown protests

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New York Times podcast, The Daily, released an episode entitled “Who’s Organizing the Lockdown Protests?” on April 22. A few participating in lockdown protests in states such as Ohio and Michigan are interviewed. It is clear that some people are protesting so that they can return to work and make money to survive, while others … Read more