COVID-19 remains a seasonal respiratory virus, and the pandemic has waxed and waned with our summers and winters. A new study tries to quantify the impact of three climate variables: temperature, humidity, and ultraviolet light. The study also updates our understanding of PM 2.5.
COVID-19 transmission
“I wear the chain I forged in life,” replied [Morley’s] Ghost. “I made it link by link, and yard by yard.” Our immune system, like those chains, contains our immunologic memories. Ferrets can teach us, that like Morley’s chains, our immunologic memory is forged by experience. Sometimes, a current viral illness may, later on, protect us from a similar viral infection; but we may not be as protected as we hope.
While there are many ways of spreading COVID-19, the best medical analysis currently is that the virus is transmitted via airborne events from aerosols. (That's a fancy term for breathing.) Perhaps, to stay safe, we might strategically avoid moments that produce the most aerosols.
Nearly a year into the pandemic, can we begin to make some definitive statements about the transmission of COVID-19 between individuals, based on a patient’s symptoms or testing? A meta-analysis provides some answers. (Or at least it gets us into the ballpark.)
There's no doubt that COVID-19 infections are spiking. State and local governments are introducing a range of lockdown strategies. Super spread is real, but it varies from place to place. So how do we decide where to draw the line? Are our leaders making this up as they go? A new paper may help science lead the way.
COVID-19 makes us reconsider so many of our normal activities. Sure, from the perspective of exposure, driving is the safest form of travel. Planes? Perhaps not as much, as corporations and your wallet determine the seating relative to other passengers. But what about trains? Hop on board and find out.
Can you personalize public health guidance? One-size-fits-all policy, in the era of COVID, is causing a great deal of controversy. Are the feds, the states, or local officials best equipped in deciding what measures to put in place? A new study provides a more local, county-wide view.
It's summer and COVID-19 is not only not going away, but it's getting worse by the day, largely because of idiotic public health policies. One of the worst was letting people pack themselves into indoor bars. This has worked out exactly how you'd expect it to. Plus a special visit from The Real Morons of New Jersey.
Air pollution and COVID-19 share at least one attribute: their concentrations and your exposure differ inside and outside. Are we better off, indoors or outdoors?