Earth is now in the middle of a mass extinction, the sixth one in the planet’s history, according to scientists. And now a new study reports that species are going extinct hundreds or thousands of times faster than the expected rate. The researchers also found that one extinction can cause ripple effects throughout an ecosystem,…
Author: THEJOHNANTONIOBLOG
The WHO has new guidelines on face masks to fight Covid-19
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday announced changes to its guidelines on who should wear a mask during the Covid-19 pandemic and where they should wear it. The new guidance recommends that the general public wear cloth masks made from at least three layers of fabric “on public transport, in shops, or in other…
What public health experts want critics to know about why they support the protests
As someone with asthma, Meredith Blake was very worried about getting sick in the pandemic. With Covid-19 spreading across America, she stayed inside her home in Boston for 12 weeks, isolating from others as much as possible. Her self-quarantine ended on June 1. After George Floyd’s killing at the hands of police in Minneapolis, she…
6 feet away isn’t enough. Covid-19 risk involves other dimensions, too.
When states had strict stay-at-home orders and lockdowns in place, many decisions about the risk of getting the coronavirus were simple. People didn’t have to think about whether dining in a restaurant is safe if the restaurant was closed. Now, that states are opening up — with varying degrees of precautions and adherence in place…
Why a second round of Covid-19 lockdowns might not be as effective
Several states are now seeing a surge in new Covid-19 coronavirus infections and hospitalizations. And the states with more alarming outbreaks — Arizona, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Arkansas, Florida, and Tennessee — generally saw few cases early in the pandemic. Many of these states have started to relax the restrictions on movement, businesses,…
Remember the N95 mask shortage? It’s still a problem.
Texas broke records for Covid-19 hospitalizations six times last week, including a record 2,504 hospitalizations in a single day on June 10. South Carolina, North Carolina, Alaska, Florida, Mississippi, and Arkansas have also all broken records of new cases reported in a single day. Alabama saw a 92 percent increase in its seven-day average of…
CDC reverses guidelines, telling people to get tested for Covid-19 even without symptoms
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday reversed changes to its Covid-19 testing guidelines, once again recommending that people without symptoms get tested for the coronavirus if they have come into close contact with someone known to be infected. The CDC’s new guidelines now state, “If you have been in close contact,…
This theory might explain “Covid toes” and other mysteries of the disease
Back in March, Michigan’s Covid-19 cases exploded — leaping from zero to 3,657 in just two weeks. Detroit’s three big automakers closed factories temporarily, and the state’s largest health care system warned it was reaching capacity. In the midst of this crisis, Joseph Roche, an associate professor in the physical therapy program at Wayne State…
What we’ve learned so far from school reopenings in the US
America is now in the middle of a big experiment: reopening schools and colleges during the Covid-19 pandemic. And so far, how things are going depends on which type of school is involved. At the K-12 level, while there have been some outbreaks, reopenings haven’t led to the explosion of cases that some feared. Still,…
US hospitals are preparing for the worst-case scenario as Covid-19 surges again
The latest Covid-19 surge is forcing US hospitals to take drastic measures — setting up temporary facilities or preparing to transport patients to other cities and states — to avoid being overrun. The number of Americans currently hospitalized with Covid-19 has risen by 12,000 over the last month, reaching 41,753 on October 25, according to…