Tag: pandemic

Time spent alone during the pandemic led to positive effects on well-being across all ages, new research has found. The study of more than 2000 teenagers and adults, published in Frontiers in Psychology today, found that most people experienced benefits from solitude during the early days of the global COVID-19 pandemic. All age groups experienced

Ernestine "Erma" Bryant likes her job, but the pay is a problem. She works in a caregiver role as a "direct support professional" in Tifton, Georgia, helping people who have intellectual and developmental disabilities with basic functions such as dressing, bathing and eating. Bryant said it's fulfilling work. "You can help people be successful —

In many ways, the COVID-19 pandemic forced positive changes in how medicine is practiced in communities and at academic medical centers, with Family Medicine departments working at the front lines to provide care and forge relationships with community partners, according to a Duke Health review. Publishing in the Journal of the American Board of Family

Have you overlooked or postponed your health checkups during the unending 20-month pandemic? A new study suggests that U.S. cancer diagnoses have declined because of pandemic-related upheaval. The average monthly number of newly identified cases of eight types of cancer plunged almost 30% during the early pandemic shutdowns, then rebounded when medical practices reopened—but fell

As the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on Aug. 29 approached, New Orleans residents were bracing for another disaster, Hurricane Ida. This year, similar to last, the country will be hit by an above-average number of extreme weather events, including major hurricanes, flooding, and wildfires. In addition to the potential loss of life, natural disasters

Two state government websites in Georgia recently stopped posting updates on covid-19 cases in prisons and long-term care facilities, just as the dangerous delta variant was taking hold. Data has been disappearing recently in other states as well. Florida, for example, now reports covid cases, deaths and hospitalizations once a week, instead of daily, as

Racial minorities comprise around a quarter of Utah's population but represent a third of COVID-19 cases in the state. A similar story has played out across the country. Why have racial minorities been unequally affected by the COVID-19 pandemic? Researchers are still working out the answer to this question, but a new study from University

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO has been working with the Member States and the scientific community to better understand how this pandemic began so that we can be better prepared for the next one. Following the publication of the WHO-China joint report of the phase one studies on the origins of the

The COVID-19 pandemic may have increased older adults’ risk of falling and injuring themselves, due to changes in physical activity, conditioning and mobility, a new national poll suggests. More than a third of people between the ages of 50 and 80 report their physical activity declined in the pandemic’s first 10 months, and more than

People over the age of 60 living in the UK and the US who had more virtual contact during the pandemic actually experienced a greater increase in loneliness, new research finds. The study showed a notable increase in loneliness in the US and a decline in general mental well-being in the UK following the outbreak

The COVID-19 pandemic has improved perceptions of facial attractiveness and healthiness of people wearing face masks in Japan. Wearing sanitary facemasks was not uncommon in Japan prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Public health initiatives during the pandemic have led to a drastic increase in the use of facemasks as they reduce the transmission of the

Whether telehealth will continue to be used by doctors following the COVID-19 pandemic will depend heavily on resourcing and policy, a Flinders University-led review has found. In Australia, telehealth services – where doctors and clinicians speak to patients via the phone or over the internet – were encouraged during the early stages of the pandemic

Autumn Kujawa, assistant professor of psychology and human development, has been conducting one of the first studies tracking people’s response to stress exposure before and during the pandemic. Kujawa’s team set out to determine the mental health effects of the pandemic on young adults and how differences in neurophysiological reactivity may make some more vulnerable

Parks played an important role for people seeking respite from the toll of social isolation during the pandemic, and according to new research from Drexel University, they did so without increasing the spread of COVID-19. The study looked at how people used 22 parks in Philadelphia and New York during the height of the pandemic

Ohio University mathematics professor Winfried Just's new book COVID-19: Unmasked – The News, the Science, and Common Sense tackles the persistent and sometimes controversial questions people have been asking about COVID-19 in a new, conversational way. I wanted to write this book after observing the misunderstanding and misconceptions people have regarding the pandemic. We've seen

The decision to pause and then restart the Johnson & Johnson vaccine underscores how hard it is even for experts to gauge health risks. It’s been still harder for everyday people, most of whom have no medical background and little experience analyzing risks and benefits. People have experienced confusion about mask-wearing, physical distancing, travel, remote

(Reuters Health) – Pregnant patients who were given the opportunity to have some of their prenatal appointments virtually, as audio-only visits, during the pandemic attended more of them than patients offered only in-person visits the prior year, a new study finds. Moreover, the analysis of data from more than 12,000 patients revealed no negative impact

(HealthDay)—While ER visits have stayed below normal levels as the coronavirus pandemic continues, the number of people showing up in the emergency department with mental woes is increasing, new federal government data shows. Between March 29 and April 25, 2020, visits to emergency departments dropped 42%, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and

A team of scientists from the United States recently conducted a meta-analysis to estimate the risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection during air travel. The findings reveal that even with SARS-CoV-2-infected persons onboard, the risk of viral transmission is low inside an aircraft. The study is currently available on the medRxiv*

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia said on Tuesday a second person had been diagnosed with a blood clot after receiving the AstraZeneca Plc vaccine but there had been no rise in inoculation cancellations as authorities try to steady a bungled immunisation campaign. This week Australia abandoned a goal of vaccinating all of its nearly 26 million