Tag: outbreaks

A Utah Company Claims It Invented Contact Tracing Tech

In the fight against Covid-19, contact tracing apps have so far largely been disappointments — in the United States, at least. Proposed in the spring as a way to help quickly stifle viral outbreaks by tracking down potential exposures using smartphones, they were stunted by technical glitches, concerns over privacy, and the US’s fragmented, haphazard pandemic response. Now, they may become…

Covid-19 news: UK to expand random testing to identify virus outbreaks

The latest coronavirus news updated every day including coronavirus cases, the latest news, features and interviews from New Scientist and essential information about the covid-19 pandemic Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2237475-covid-19-news-uk-to-expand-random-testing-to-identify-virus-outbreaks/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

A weather forecast for fake news outbreaks on social media is coming

A social media weather report that predicts outbreaks of propaganda is on its way. It can’t arrive soon enough, says Annalee Newitz Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24732930-100-a-weather-forecast-for-fake-news-outbreaks-on-social-media-is-coming/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

Coronavirus Infection Rates: 10 US States Higher Than Any Country in the World

The New York Times has created a surprising interactive analysis of the number of coronavirus cases (per million residents) in different countries:
With its cases surging since mid-June, the United States is squarely in the top 10. Leading the outbreak now are countries in the Persian Gulf, where the virus has spread rapidly among foreign laborers. [Oman, Bahrain, and Kuwait.] Rounding out…

Bottleneck for US Coronavirus Response: The Fax Machine

Public health officials in Houston are struggling to keep up with one of the nation’s largest coronavirus outbreaks. They are desperate to trace cases and quarantine patients before they spread the virus to others. But first, they must negotiate with the office fax machine. From a report: The machine at the Harris County Public Health department in Houston recently became overwhelmed…

National Mask Mandate Could Save 5 Percent of GDP, Economists Say

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Washington Post: After a late-spring lull, daily coronavirus cases in the United States have again hit record highs, driven by resurgent outbreaks in states such as Florida, Arizona and California. Hospitals in Houston are already on the brink of being overwhelmed, and public health experts worry the pandemic’s body count will soon again…

New York Times Investigates How in America ‘the Virus Won’

“Invisible outbreaks sprang up everywhere. The United States ignored the warning signs,” writes the New York Times, in a detailed interactive data visualization. “We analyzed travel patterns, hidden infections and genetic data to show how the epidemic spun out of control.” By mid-February, there were only 15 known coronavirus cases in the United States, all with direct links to China… The…

Slowing the Coronavirus Is Speeding the Spread of Other Diseases

schwit1 shares a report from The New York Times: As poor countries around the world struggle to beat back the coronavirus, they are unintentionally contributing to fresh explosions of illness and death from other diseases — ones that are readily prevented by vaccines. This spring, after the World Health Organization and UNICEF warned that the pandemic could spread swiftly when children…

Study: 100% Face Mask Use Could Crush Second, Third COVID-19 Wave

“A new modeling study out of Cambridge and Greenwich universities suggests that face masks may be even more important than originally thought in preventing future outbreaks of the new coronavirus,” reports SFGate: To ward off resurgences, the reproduction number for the virus (the average number of people who will contract it from one infected person) needs to drop below 1.0. Researchers…