Microsoft’s Bing team has launched a website for tracking coronavirus (COVID-19) infections across the globe. From a report: “Lots of Bing folks worked (from home) this past week to create a mapping and authoritative news resource for COVID19 info,” said Michael Schechter, General Manager for Bing Growth and Distribution at Microsoft. The website, accessible at bing.com/covid, is a basic tracker. It…
Tag: centers for disease control
Social distancing: What it is and why it’s the best tool to fight coronavirus
With no vaccines or treatments, the fight against coronavirus comes down to this behavioral technique. A physician explains how it works. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/what-is-social-distancing-coronavirus-covid19…
Seattle’s Patient Zero Spread Coronavirus Despite Ebola-Style Lockdown
First known U.S. case offers lessons in how and how not to fight the outbreak. From a report: The man who would become Patient Zero for the new coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. appeared to do everything right. He arrived Jan. 19 at an urgent-care clinic in a suburb north of Seattle with a slightly elevated temperature and a cough he’d…
‘Contagion,’ Steven Soderbergh’s 2011 Thriller, Is Climbing Up the Charts
One of the hottest movies in the Warner Bros. library is a nine-year-old drama that kills off Gwyneth Paltrow in its first 15 minutes. From a report: Fears of the coronavirus have prompted movie fans to re-examine Steven Soderbergh’s star-studded 2011 thriller, “Contagion,” a fictional account of a pandemic that kills 26 million people worldwide. According to Warner Bros., the film…
C.D.C. Drops Coronavirus Testing Numbers From Its Website
A tally of the number of people tested for the novel coronavirus disappeared from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website on Monday. From a report: The change was first reported by journalist Judd Legum on Twitter. The disappearance of the numbers comes less than a week after the first cases of the virus with unknown origins were reported in…
America’s Coronavirus Testing Lags Far Behind South Korea and China
The news site Axios (founded by former Politico staffers) reports on an issue discovered at an Atlanta lab for America’s Centers for Disease Control that was manufacturing “relatively small amounts” of coronavirus testing kits for laboratories around the country. Sources familiar with the situation in Atlanta tell them that manufacturing has now been moved to another lab. FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn…
Health Experts Worry Coronavirus May Be Spreading Undetected in the US
The Boston Globe’s Stat News site reports that the new coronavirus “may be spreading in parts of the Pacific Northwest, with California, Oregon, and Washington State reporting Friday that they have diagnosed cases with no travel history or known contact with another case….” Problems with a coronavirus test developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have meant that little…
US Confirms First Case of Coronavirus From Unknown Origin
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that a resident from Northern California has contracted the coronavirus without traveling outside the United States or coming in contact with another patient known to have the infection — the first sign that the disease may be spreading within a local community. The Sacramento Bee reports: “It is a confirmed case. There is…
Amazon Warns Sellers Not To Gouge Users on Face Masks as Prices Skyrocket on Coronavirus Fears
Amazon is warning third-party sellers on its Marketplace platform not to gouge customers on protective face masks as the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak that originated in mainland China continues to spread internationally and becomes increasingly likely to hit the U.S. From a report: The effectiveness of the masks as a preventative measure against infection by the coronavirus, a novel virus called SARS-CoV-2…
Are Plastic Containers Safe For Our Food? Experts Say It’s Hard To Know
Many of us have an overflowing kitchen cupboard of plastic containers to store our leftovers. But as awareness grows over the health and environmental pitfalls of plastic, some consumers may be wondering: Is it time to ditch that stash of old deli containers? From a report: Only 9% of all the plastic waste ever created has been recycled. From its contributions…