Pandemic lockdowns and stay-at-home orders kept many drivers off U.S. roads and highways last year. But those who did venture out found open lanes that only invited reckless driving, leading to a sharp increase in traffic-crash deaths across the country. The nonprofit National Safety Council estimates in a report issued Thursday that 42,060 people died
One of the most devastating elements of the coronavirus pandemic has been the inability to personally care for loved ones who have fallen ill. Again and again, grieving relatives have testified to how much more devastating their loved one’s death was because they were unable to hold their family member’s hand – to provide a
In a new ongoing panel survey by Northwestern University and The Ohio State University, researchers find Americans significantly less concerned they could die of COVID-19, while their overall perceived likelihood of contracting the virus remained relatively consistent from December through February. “Public Attitudes about COVID-19 Vaccination,” a study of 1,200 Americans surveyed monthly from December
Cases of COVID-19 are increasing in some parts of India after months of a steady nationwide decline, prompting authorities to impose lockdowns and other virus restrictions. Infections have been plummeting in India since September, and life has already returned to normal in large parts of the country. In many cities, markets are bustling, roads are
Britain on Monday began mandatory hotel quarantine for arrivals from high-risk countries as New Zealand identified its first cases of the UK strain from the outbreak that forced its largest city into lockdown. Peru’s foreign minister meanwhile became the latest senior figure to resign in a growing scandal over top officials jumping the queue for
A small country with an outsize reputation in research and pharmaceuticals, Belgium has emerged with a strategic role in the world’s battle against the coronavirus. The drugs giants racing to develop and produce new vaccines at scale in record time are international, but many of their global supply chains intersect here. In 2019, before the
As President Joe Biden promises to vaccinate more than 100 million Americans by the end of his first 100 days in office (April 29), new research offers several critical insights for those in charge of managing such a massive national public health effort. The researchers, who hail from four major U.S. universities, including Northwestern University,
Florida is America’s ‘super-covid’ hotspot with 46 cases of the highly contagious UK variant that has sickened at least 146 people in the US and spread to 60 countries Cases of the highly contagious coronavirus variant first detected in the UK have more than doubled in Florida from 22 to 46 A North Carolina laboratory
The European Union’s medicines watchdog on Wednesday approved a second coronavirus vaccine, in a relief to struggling European countries as the world reached a grim new record of 15,700 deaths in 24 hours. The Moderna vaccine is now set to join Pfizer-BioNTech’s jab for use in the 27-nation EU, where governments are grappling with soaring
Chinese medics in Shanghai were given COVID-19 inoculations this week, as vaccine makers insisted their jab was effective against current virus mutations. China is racing to vaccinate millions ahead of the country’s Spring Festival travel rush. Pharma giant Sinopharm was given “conditional” approval for its vaccine candidate last week, and makers said they were confident
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to keep much of the population in their homes for most of the day, it’s taking a toll on our collective mental health. In Baltimore, calls to the city’s crisis hotline have doubled during the pandemic and Sheppard Pratt Health System, one of the nation’s leading mental health care providers,
Israel began Sunday its third coronavirus lockdown, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced optimism that a “world record” vaccination drive will restore a degree of normality within weeks. After a sharp resurgence of detected infections, Netanyahu’s government announced three days ago that it would re-impose the strict measures that had previously helped limit transmission. The
American experts were set to discuss Thursday if Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine should be authorized, as European nations vowed to get their coronavirus inoculation campaigns rolling before the end of the year. Surges in infections have prompted tighter restrictions in several European countries, while the United States—the worst-hit nation in the world—set a double record, with
In San Joaquin County, part of California’s vast Central Valley that produces most of the country’s fruits and vegetables, the coronavirus is spreading like a weed and the hospitals are running out of beds for the sickest patients. San Joaquin is part of a 12-county region that on Saturday had 100% of its intensive care
The United States hopes to begin coronavirus vaccinations in early December, a top government health official said Sunday, the latest positive news to emerge even as cases surge across the worst-hit nation and elsewhere around the globe. The beginning of vaccinations could be a crucial shift in the battle against a virus that has claimed
Are these ‘healthy’ soups as good as they sound? From improving immunity to helping you sleep and easing IBS, our favourite winter warmer has had a makeover From a soup that promises to strengthen your immune system, to another that could help you to sleep better — can these new winter warmers be as healthy
As temperatures rise as a result of climate change, ticks carrying the deadly bacterial disease Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) may shift their feeding preferences away from dogs and toward humans, according to new research. The findings, which were presented today (Nov. 16) at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and
Germany warned Sunday that its anti-coronavirus measures were likely to last four or five more months, as Greece announced a new ban on gatherings and Mexico surpassed one million infections. Germany, Europe’s largest economy, went into partial lockdown in early November, closing bars, restaurants and other recreational facilities but keeping schools and shops open. “We
A swathe of new restrictions to curtail a second wave of coronavirus infections were announced or came into force from Austria to Greece, Italy to Portugal on Saturday as the global death toll climbed above 1.3 million. More than 53 million have been infected worldwide by COVID-19, which is running rampant throughout America and Europe,
Two large recent studies show that people hospitalized for COVID-19 in March were more than three times as likely to die as people hospitalized for COVID–19 in August. The first study used data from three hospitals in New York City. The chance of death for someone hospitalized for the coronavirus in those hospitals dropped from