How's your stomach lately? If it's not so good, you have plenty of company. New York gastroenterologist Dr. Michael Glick explains how the stress and anxiety caused by the COVID pandemic is screwing up America's collective stomachs. And lungs, too.
COVID-19
A new study in JAMA Ophthalmology considers whether eyeglasses confer protection from COVID-19. What it really demonstrates is how a variable -- in this case, eyeglasses -- can point in so many directions as to be useless. (But it will get you published in a peer-reviewed journal.)
Herd immunity as a way to fight COVID-19 is a hot topic these days -- but for all the wrong reasons. In an opinion column published in the Baltimore Sun, Dr. Katherine Seley-Radtke, and ACSH's Dr. Josh Bloom argue that it's dangerous and simply won't work.
If Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine is successful, it will be the first-ever mRNA vaccine on the market. How is the vaccine made and how does it work?
Our friendly neighbors to the north are fibbing about the coronavirus in their country, justifying a border closure with the United States that no longer makes sense.
Here are some of the most relevant COVID-19 developments in recent days: Europe's infections are out of control; COVID reinfection is rare; all treatments probably have serious but rare side effects; the WHO offers a misguided policy; and America's northern neighbor isn't telling the truth.
In 2020, empirically determined knowledge is only considered true if it first passes a litmus test -- not the geeky pH variety but the obnoxious political one. The results are as absurd and dangerous as you'd imagine, particularly when it involves COVID and cable news.
There is something uniquely human about blaming someone else for our problems – so much the better if you can sue someone for causing them. COVID-19 doesn't change the calculus.
Since the epidemic began, we've already seen four breeds of lawsuits emerge:
An Australian group has examined how long coronavirus can exist on different surfaces and at different temperatures. What does this really mean?
There was never much evidence in favor of using hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as a treatment for COVID. Now, a trial involving over 4,700 patients definitively proves that HCQ does not work.
The proposal in the Declaration is certainly worth considering. If I was a policymaker, I would investigate how to implement it. As COVID cases spike in Europe, which once had the coronavirus under control, it's becoming clear that our current on-again, off-again approach to containment isn't working as intended. It may be time to try something new.
There have been several significant developments in recent days regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the hunt for a successful vaccine. We discuss some of them below.