Friday, November 1

COVID-19

Guilt A Growing Issue As COVID-19 Survivor’s Reality Of Loss Settles In
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COVID-19

Guilt A Growing Issue As COVID-19 Survivor’s Reality Of Loss Settles In

People are eager to return to normal after a year of coronavirus, but is the U.S. there yet? Hardly. The ongoing psychological and spiritual damage caused by the pandemic is rising, too. Guilt and shame are two prevailing emotions surrounding COVID-19. This guilt stems in part from the fact that anyone could be a potential carrier of the virus – so anyone, then, could unwittingly pass it to another person. Guilt can also arise when a person looks at the national and global death tolls and wonders how they were spared. Guilt also happens when family members can’t visit loved ones undergoing treatment at a hospital, or when someone with COVID-19 survives but reads about a infected stranger who died. A particular type of response called survivor’s guilt can occur when people lose loved ones...
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But Will They? States Drop COVID-19 Mask Mandates But Still Expect People To Mask Up
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COVID-19

But Will They? States Drop COVID-19 Mask Mandates But Still Expect People To Mask Up

The governors of Texas and Mississippi announced that they were rescinding their statewide mask mandates and allowing restaurants and other businesses to return to 100% capacity in early March. The moves come while new infection numbers in the U.S. are still higher than they were in September and just ahead of school spring breaks, known for large gatherings and crowded bars where the coronavirus can quickly spread. Along with Iowa, Montana and North Dakota, which recently lifted their mask orders, these states are part of an emerging trend of some states bucking national and international public health recommendations. Alabama and Utah plan to end their mask requirements in April. Wyoming’s governor announced on March 8 that he would drop his mask order, too. Residents and visitors in ...
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The Coronavirus Is Messing With Our Minds As Well As Our Bodies, A Year Into The Pandemic
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COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS, VIDEO REELS

The Coronavirus Is Messing With Our Minds As Well As Our Bodies, A Year Into The Pandemic

COVID-19 has hijacked people’s lives, families and work. And, it has hijacked their bodies and minds in ways that they may not even be aware of. As we see it, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is a sort of zombie virus, turning people not into the undead but rather into the unsick. By interfering with our bodies’ normal immune response and blocking pain, the virus keeps the infected on their feet, spreading the virus. People typically think of zombies as the stuff of science fiction. But in the biological world, zombies are all over the place, from the Ophiocordyceps fungus that perpetuates itself by zombifying ants; to Toxoplasma gondii, a single-celled parasite that completes its life cycle by leading rodents into the jaws of predators. Zombie viruses are also a real thing, i...
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It’s All A Matter Of Perspective – Support For Biden’s $1.9 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Package May Not Be As Broad As It Seems
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COVID-19, POLITICS

It’s All A Matter Of Perspective – Support For Biden’s $1.9 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Package May Not Be As Broad As It Seems

Congress is on the verge of spending US$1.9 trillion to provide additional coronavirus relief to Americans, including $1,400 direct payments and extended unemployment benefits. Opinion polls show the bill has strong support, even among Republican voters. CC BY-NC-ND But what if you were told that this spending level represents about $15,000 for every household in the U.S.? Would that make you less likely to support it even if you like its provisions? We are accounting professors who research how the presentation of financial information affects individual judgments. Our recent work suggests it would lessen most people’s support for the spending bill. Making sense of big numbers In the Spring 2020 issue of Behavioral Research in Accounting, we published a study investigating whether indiv...
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How Sick The US Health Care Delivery System Really Is
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COVID-19

How Sick The US Health Care Delivery System Really Is

If you got the COVID-19 shot, you likely received a little paper card that shows you’ve been vaccinated. Make sure you keep that card in a safe place. There is no coordinated way to share information about who has been vaccinated and who has not. That is just one of the glaring flaws that COVID-19 has revealed about the U.S. health care system: It does not share health information well. Coordination between public health agencies and medical providers is lacking. Technical and regulatory restrictions impede use of digital technologies. To put it bluntly, our health care delivery system is failing patients. Prolonged disputes about the Affordable Care Act and rising health care costs have done little to help; the problems go beyond insurance and access. I have spent most of my career with...
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Questions Answered: Comparing Other Coronavirus Vaccines, How Does The Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Measure Up
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COVID-19

Questions Answered: Comparing Other Coronavirus Vaccines, How Does The Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Measure Up

On Tuesday, Feb. 24, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released the results of its trial of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine. The FDA found the vaccine to be safe and effective and it is expected to grant emergency use authorization in the coming days. Maureen Ferran, a virologist at the Rochester Institute of Technology, explains how this new vaccine works and explores the differences between it and the already approved Moderna and Pfizer–BioNTech vaccines. 1. How does the Johnson & Johnson vaccine work? The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is what’s called a viral vector vaccine. To create this vaccine, the Johnson & Johnson team took a harmless adenovirus – the viral vector – and replaced a small piece of its genetic instructions with coronavirus genes for the SAR...
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We Can Ease Up On The Disinfecting – Catching COVID From Surfaces Is Very Unlikely
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COVID-19

We Can Ease Up On The Disinfecting – Catching COVID From Surfaces Is Very Unlikely

A lot has happened over the past year, so you can be forgiven for not having a clear memory of what some of the major concerns were at the beginning of the pandemic. However, if you think back to the beginning of the pandemic, one of the major concerns was the role that surfaces played in the transmission of the virus. As an epidemiologist, I remember spending countless hours responding to media requests answering questions along the lines of whether we should be washing the outside of food cans or disinfecting our mail. I also remember seeing teams of people walking the streets at all hours wiping down poles and cleaning public benches. But what does the evidence actually say about surface transmission more than 12 months into this pandemic? Before addressing this, we need to define ...
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A Long History Of Medical Abuse Suggests Why Many Black Americans Aren’t Rushing To Get The COVID-19 Vaccine
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COVID-19

A Long History Of Medical Abuse Suggests Why Many Black Americans Aren’t Rushing To Get The COVID-19 Vaccine

Black Americans have been the least inclined of any racial or ethnic group to say they’d get vaccinated against the coronavirus. The proportion of Black people who said they’ll probably or definitely take the shot has risen over time – but even by mid-January, with two COVID-19 vaccines authorized for emergency use in the U.S., only 35% of Black survey respondents said they’d get it as soon as they could, or already had gotten the shot. At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately harmed Black, Indigenous and other people of color in comparison to white members of American society. With Black Americans being hospitalized at rates 2.9 times higher than white Americans and dying from COVID-19 at rates 1.9 times higher, you might assume that Black people would be lining u...
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A Few Facts Of Life Explained By An Epidemiologist: You Shouldn’t Eat Out For Valentine’s Day
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COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS, VIDEO REELS

A Few Facts Of Life Explained By An Epidemiologist: You Shouldn’t Eat Out For Valentine’s Day

With another holiday approaching, it’s tempting to want a taste of freedom from COVID-19 social distancing. Who doesn’t want sweet nothings over a glass of Champagne and some chocolate cake? But it’s also important to remember that daily case numbers are still higher now than they were throughout most of 2020. The risk of catching COVID-19 is still extremely high in most parts of the country. Epidemiologist Ryan Malosh answers some questions about eating out and socializing. Why can’t I eat out for Valentine’s Day if I socially distance? Restrictions on indoor dining are some of the hardest to swallow. We all have our favorite restaurants, and the experience of eating out is a big part of feeling normal. In addition, many restaurants are cornerstones of our communities, and owners and staf...
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They Could Transform How We Reach Underserved Areas – We’re Building A Vaccine Corps Of Medical And Nursing Students
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COVID-19

They Could Transform How We Reach Underserved Areas – We’re Building A Vaccine Corps Of Medical And Nursing Students

The U.S. faces one of the most consequential public health campaigns in history right now: to vaccinate the population against COVID-19 and, especially, to get shots into the arms of people who cannot easily navigate getting vaccinated on their own. Medical students’ backgrounds often reflect the diversity of local communities, which can allow them more access and trust for vaccination efforts. Bryan Goodchild/UMass Medical School, CC BY-ND Time is of the essence. As new, potentially more dangerous variants of this coronavirus spread to new regions, widespread vaccination is one of the most powerful and effective ways to slow, if not stop, the virus’s spread. Mobilizing large “vaccine corps” could help to meet this urgent need. We’re testing that concept right now at the University of M...
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