pandemic – Page 2

Fueled By The Pandemic Fentanyl Spread Across The US And Drove Opioid Overdose Deaths To A Grim New High

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Fueled By The Pandemic Fentanyl Spread Across The US And Drove Opioid Overdose Deaths To A Grim New High

Andrew Kolodny, Brandeis University For the past 20 years, I have been engaged in efforts to end the opioid epidemic, as a public health official, researcher and clinician. And for every one of those years I have looked on as the number of deaths from drug overdoses has set a new record high. Yet even knowing that trend I was surprised by the latest tally from the CDC showing that for the first time ever, the number of Americans who fatally overdosed over the course of a year surpassed 100,000. In a 12-month period ending at the end of April 2021, some 100,306 died in the U.S., up 28.5% over the same period a year earlier. The soaring death toll has been fueled by a much more dangerous black market opioid supply. Illicitly synthesized fentanyl – a potent and inexpensive opioid that has ...

A Trend That Began Before The Pandemic The ‘Great Resignation’ – And Bosses Need To Get Used To It

3Apr

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BUSINESS, WORK

A Trend That Began Before The Pandemic The ‘Great Resignation’ – And Bosses Need To Get Used To It

Ian O. Williamson, University of California, Irvine Finding good employees has always been a challenge - but these days it’s harder than ever. And it is unlikely to improve anytime soon. The so-called quit rate – the share of workers who voluntarily leave their jobs – hit a new record of 3% in September 2021, according to the latest data available from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. The rate was highest in the leisure and hospitality sector, where 6.4% of workers quit their jobs in September. In all, 20.2 million workers left their employers from May through September. Companies are feeling the effects. In August 2021, a survey found that 73% of 380 employers in North America were having difficulty attracting employees – three times the share that said so the previous year. And 70%...

Announcement By White House – Pandemic Relief Funds Totaling $785 Million Relief Funds Will Support Communities Of Color

3Apr

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COVID-19

Announcement By White House – Pandemic Relief Funds Totaling $785 Million Relief Funds Will Support Communities Of Color

Originally published by The 19th The Biden administration announced Wednesday that $785 million of the American Rescue Plan will go toward the communities that were hit hardest by the pandemic, following the recommendations of a COVID-19 health equity report that was released last month. “COVID-19 made it clear that in this country, a person’s ZIP code is a stronger driver of their health than their genetic code,” said Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, who headed the administration’s COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force. “And so we set out to find ways to address and overcome those social and structural drivers and forge a path forward rooted in what is fundamentally fair.” President Joe Biden issued an executive order on his first full day in office to establish the task force. Members worked 1...

From Pandemic To Endemic – Is COVID-19 Here To Stay?

8Nov

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COVID-19

From Pandemic To Endemic – Is COVID-19 Here To Stay?

Sara Sawyer, University of Colorado Boulder; Arturo Barbachano-Guerrero, University of Colorado Boulder, and Cody Warren, University of Colorado Boulder Now that kids ages 5 to 11 are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination and the number of fully vaccinated people in the U.S. is rising, many people may be wondering what the endgame is for COVID-19. Early on in the pandemic, it wasn’t unreasonable to expect that SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) might just go away, since historically some pandemic viruses have simply disappeared. For instance, SARS-CoV, the coronavirus responsible for the first SARS pandemic in 2003, spread to 29 countries and regions, infecting more than 8,000 people from November 2002 to July 2003. But thanks to quick and effective public health interventions, SAR...

The Perfect Conditions That Created The Homicide Spike In 2020 – More Guns, Pandemic Stress And A Police Legitimacy Crisis

4Apr

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IN OTHER NEWS

The Perfect Conditions That Created The Homicide Spike In 2020 – More Guns, Pandemic Stress And A Police Legitimacy Crisis

Justin Nix, University of Nebraska Omaha Homicides in the U.S. spiked by almost 30% in 2020. That was the main takeaway from figures released on Sept. 27, 2021, by the FBI that showed almost uniform increases across America in the murder rate. The fact that big cities, small cities, suburbs and rural areas – in both blue and red states – experienced similar increases in homicides suggests that nationwide events or trends were behind the rise. The COVID-19 pandemic would be one obvious explanation given its pervasiveness in 2020. But as a criminologist, I know that homicide rates are affected by a number of factors. And what happened in 2020 was a confluence of events that created the perfect conditions for a spike in murders. Stress and a lack of support COVID-19 likely did have an imp...

Pandemic Used By Cyber-Criminals To Attack Schools And Colleges

15Sep

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CYBERCRIME, EDUCATION

Pandemic Used By Cyber-Criminals To Attack Schools And Colleges

Nir Kshetri, University of North Carolina – Greensboro Cyberattacks have hit schools and colleges harder than any other industry during the pandemic. In 2020, including the costs of downtime, repairs and lost opportunities, the average ransomware attack cost educational institutions $2.73 million. That is $300,000 more than the next-highest sector – distributors and transportation companies. From Aug. 14 to Sept. 12, 2021, educational organizations were the target of over 5.8 million malware attacks, or 63% of all such attacks. Ransomware attacks alone impacted 1,681 U.S. schools, colleges and universities in 2020. Globally 44% of educational institutions were targeted by such attacks. I study cybercrime and cybersecurity. In my forthcoming book – set to be published in November 2021 –...

For Millions Of Out-Of-Work Americans The Pandemic Hardship Is About To Get A Lot Worse

4Apr

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Journalism, SOCIETY, WORK

For Millions Of Out-Of-Work Americans The Pandemic Hardship Is About To Get A Lot Worse

WORK Jeffrey Kucik, University of Arizona and Don Leonard, The Ohio State University Millions of unemployed Americans are set to lose pandemic-related jobless benefits after Labor Day – just as surging cases of coronavirus slow the pace of hiring. In all, an estimated 8.8 million people will stop receiving unemployment insurance beginning on Sept. 6, 2021. An additional 4.5 million will no longer get the extra US$300 a week the federal government has been providing to supplement state benefits. But with the pandemic still raging thanks to the rise of the delta variant, particularly in Southern states, the expiration of these benefits seems ill-timed. While some claim that the aid is no longer needed and doing more harm than good, we believe that the data tell another story. Benefits lo...

21Aug

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SEX & RELATIONSHIPS

Porn Use Is Up, Thanks To The Pandemic

Across the globe, the coronavirus pandemic is affecting almost all aspects of daily life. Travel is down; jobless claims are up; and small businesses are struggling. Self-isolation can be boring and lonely. Annie Spratt/Unsplash, CC BY But not all businesses are experiencing a downturn. The world’s largest pornography website, Pornhub, has reported large increases in traffic – for instance, seeing an 18% jump over normal numbers after making its premium content free for 30 days for people who agree to stay home and wash their hands frequently. In many regions, these spikes in use have occurred immediately after social distancing measures have been implemented. Why are people viewing more pornography? I’m a professor of clinical psychology who researches pornography use. Based on a decade...

What’s Driving The Pandemic In Prisons – Correctional Officers

18Aug

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COVID-19

What’s Driving The Pandemic In Prisons – Correctional Officers

COVID-19 Danielle Wallace, Arizona State University Prisons and jails have hosted some of the largest COVID-19 outbreaks in the U.S., with some facilities approaching 4,000 cases. In the U.S., which has some of the highest COVID-19 infection rates in the world, 9 in 100 people have had the virus; in U.S. prisons, the rate is 34 out of 100. I study public health issues around prisons. My colleagues and I set out to understand why COVID-19 infection rates were so high among incarcerated individuals. Using data from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, we discovered the infection rate among correctional officers drove the infection rate among incarcerated individuals. We also found a three-way relationship between the infection rate of officers, incarcerated individuals and the communities arou...

For Investing More In Health Care During The Pandemic – Credit Ratings Are Punishing Poorer Countries

4Apr

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BUSINESS, HEALTH & WELLNESS

For Investing More In Health Care During The Pandemic – Credit Ratings Are Punishing Poorer Countries

Ramya Vijaya, Stockton University Economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic depends on sustained investment in health care and social services. But while rich countries like the U.S. can borrow and spend relatively easily, low-income nations face a major obstacle: their credit ratings. A credit rating, like a credit score, is an assessment of the ability of a borrower – whether it’s a company or a government – to repay its debts. Lower credit ratings drive up the cost of borrowing. This threat prompted some poorer countries to avoid tapping investors for vital financing during the pandemic, while other governments that made plans to spend more on public services were hit with credit ratings downgrades from private companies. My forthcoming research shows that when credit ratings fal...