Deadliest days in American history: 1. Galveston Hurricane – 8,0002. Antietam – 3,6003. 9/11 – 2,9774. Last Thursday – 2,8615. Last Wednesday – 2,7626. Last Tuesday – 2.4617. Last Friday – 2,4398. Pearl Harbor – 2,403 — đđŚđđđđ đžđŚđŁđ (@Sundae_Gurl) December 9, 2020 According to Worldometers, between December 1 and December 7, 13,433 Americans died from Covid-19.
Joseph G. Allen, Akiko Iwasaki and Linsey C. Marr write: We have a great set of tools that can help slow the spread of this virus: masks, social distancing and hand-washing, as well as healthy building strategies such as ventilation and filtration. And there is one more healthy building tool that we can use this winter: maintaining relative humidity in the 40-to-60-percent range. Relative humidity is the term for how much water vapor is actually in the air compared to…
David Wallace-Wells writes: You may be surprised to learn that of the trio of long-awaited coronavirus vaccines, the most promising, Modernaâs mRNA-1273, which reported a 94.5 percent efficacy rate on November 16, had been designed by January 13. This was just two days after the genetic sequence had been made public in an act of scientific and humanitarian generosity that resulted in Chinaâs Yong-Zhen Zhangâs being temporarily forced out of his lab. In Massachusetts, the Moderna vaccine design took all…
STAT reports: Both Pfizer and Moderna, the two major drug manufacturers likely to receive emergency authorizations for a Covid-19 vaccine in the coming weeks, have rejected invitations from President Trump to appear at a White House âVaccine Summitâ on Tuesday, according to two sources familiar with the eventâs planning. The Trump administration has openly feuded with Pfizer in recent weeks over its involvement in Operation Warp Speed and the timing of a data release showing its vaccine to be highly…
Whet Moser writes: In the spring, during the first COVID-19 surge in the United States, the rising death toll reached a sobering peak in Aprilâa seven-day average of 2,116 daily deaths. This past weekend, the seven-day average of U.S. deaths from COVID-19 broke that record twice, at 2,123 on Saturday and 2,171 yesterday, according to the COVID Tracking Project at The Atlantic. Yesterday, the seven-day averages for all four of the primary metrics that the COVID Tracking Project followsâtests, cases,…
NBC News reports: A former Alabama state senator died of Covid-19 last week at age 78, officials said. Former Sen. Larry Dixon, a Republican who also served as the executive director of the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners, died from Covid-19 on Dec. 4, the board said in a statement on Friday. Dr. David Thrasher, a close friend of Dixon and a pulmonologist in Montgomery, told NBC News that Dixon’s wife, Gaynell Dixon, told Thrasher that his last words to…
The Washington Post reports: Federal officials have slashed the amount of coronavirus vaccine they plan to ship to states in December because of constraints on supply, sending local officials into a scramble to adjust vaccination plans and highlighting how early promises of a vast stockpile before the end of 2020 have fallen short. Instead of the delivery of 300 million or so doses of vaccine immediately after emergency-use approval and before the end of 2020 as the Trump administration had…
The Wall Street Journal reports: Swedenâs Covid-19 experiment is over. After a late autumn surge in infections led to rising hospitalizations and deaths, the government has abandoned its attemptâunique among Western nationsâto combat the pandemic through voluntary measures. Like other Europeans, Swedes are now heading into the winter facing restrictions ranging from a ban on large gatherings to curbs on alcohol sales and school closuresâall aimed at preventing the countryâs health system from being swamped by patients and capping what…
University of California, San Francisco: Just a few doses of an experimental drug can reverse age-related declines in memory and mental flexibility in mice, according to a new study by UC San Francisco scientists. The drug, called ISRIB, has already been shown in laboratory studies to restore memory function months after traumatic brain injury (TBI), reverse cognitive impairments in Down Syndrome, prevent noise-related hearing loss, fight certain types of prostate cancer, and even enhance cognition in healthy animals. In the…
The New York Times reports: On the heels of last monthâs news of stunning results from Pfizerâs and Modernaâs experimental Covid-19 vaccines, Senator Rand Paul tweeted a provocative comparison. The new vaccines were 90 percent and 94.5 percent effective, Mr. Paul, Republican of Kentucky, said. But ânaturally acquiredâ Covid-19 was even better, at 99.9982 percent effective, he claimed. Mr. Paul is one of many people who, weary of lockdowns and economic losses, have extolled the benefits of contracting the coronavirus….
The Washington Post reports: The governor had been sounding the alarm for more than a month. But by mid-November, it was clear to Michelle Lujan Grisham that she would need to take extreme measures to head off the âmost serious emergency that New Mexico has ever faced.â With covid-19 cases rising exponentially and hospital beds dwindling, she dragged her state back to the darkest days of spring, when restaurant dining was banned, nonessential businesses were closed and residents were ordered…
Robinson Meyer and Alexis C. Madrigal write: Since the beginning of the pandemic, public-health experts have warned of one particular nightmare. It is possible, they said, for the number of coronavirus patients to exceed the capacity of hospitals in a state or city to take care of them. Faced with a surge of severely ill people, doctors and nurses will have to put beds in hallways, spend less time with patients, and become more strict about who they admit into…
The New York Times reports: Even with coronavirus vaccines on the way, many epidemiologists do not expect their lives to return to pre-pandemic normal until most Americans are vaccinated. In the meantime, most have eased up on some precautions â now going to the grocery store or seeing friends outdoors, for example â but are as cautious as ever about many activities of daily life. In a new informal survey of 700 epidemiologists by The New York Times, half said…
MarketWatch reports: Wall Street could get a shot in the arm in the coming months, while much of Main Street waits months for their COVID inoculations. Lenders, bank tellers and traders could jump ahead of most Americans for vaccines, after such remedies receive emergency authorization by the Food and Drug Administration, potentially putting financial industry workers ahead of those aged above 65, adults with medical issues and the rest of the U.S. population. The American Bankers Association said it has…
UC San Diego Health: Our gut microbiomes â the many bacteria, viruses and other microbes living in our digestive tracts â play important roles in our health and risk for disease in ways that are only beginning to be recognized. University of California San Diego researchers and collaborators recently demonstrated in older men that the makeup of a personâs gut microbiome is linked to their levels of active vitamin D, a hormone important for bone health and immunity. The study,…
ProPublica reports: As the number of COVID-19 cases skyrockets nationwide, the extent of the public health response varies from one state â and sometimes one town â to the next. The incongruous approaches and the lack of national standards have created confusion, conflict and a muddled public health message, likely hampering efforts to stop the spread of the virus. The countryâs top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said last month that the country needs âa uniform approachâ to fighting…