Tweeting among politicians is not restricted to the thoughts of the President. Members of Congress also feel the need to tweet. What can be learned about their views of COVID-19? A new study of Twitter offers some clues.
COVID-19
GNC, the giant dietary supplement company that has been selling questionable health products for 85 years, apparently had no "remedy" for COVID. The company is filing for bankruptcy, due in large part to the pandemic. A little bit of irony for your Friday.
Do people acquire long-term immunity to coronavirus? Will there be a second wave? Will there be more lockdowns? Some recent news helps shed light on these questions.
While coronavirus is obviously concerning and a very real threat to some people (namely, the elderly and immunocompromised), these data also show that the risk for the rest of the population is quite low.
Much of the concern about social distancing and the use of masks centers around the airborne transmission of the virus. A recent study looks at how other factors, like temperature and humidity, make COVID-19 more or less viable when it comes to transmission.
Sixteen people walk into a bar... Sounds like an old joke, right? Except it isn't funny. Florida allowed some bars to open on June 5. One day later the 16 met in a packed Jacksonville Beach bar. All 16 came down with Covid-19. Perhaps someone ought to rethink that decision.
The BBC reports that the first life-saving drug for COVID-19 has been identified. While that is strictly true, without more context and numbers the impact of dexamethasone is obscured. Is this drug just click-bait material or actually a "major breakthrough"?
The pandemic isn't making the world any brighter. Insecticides are being sold online to treat or prevent COVID-19 -- and people are buying them. Speaking of pesticides, you probably had a healthy dose of one this morning and it's more toxic than DDT. Drink up!
The more recent cases of COVID-19 seem to be coming from homes and family contacts, rather than from strangers. And there, with the "opening up" of social mobility, is an increasing interest in the spread and dispersion of airborne COVID-19 particles. There are lessons to be learned from atmospheric science, especially when it pertains to the dispersion of small particles.
Should Facebook be in the business of "debunking" news and scientific data when events are rapidly changing? What's true today may be declared false tomorrow, only to be declared true again a week later. Furthermore, does Facebook have the expertise to do so?
Are bald men more likely to get severe COVID-19? There are more than 30,000 news stories about this, almost all of which without question, accept the findings of a flawed epidemiological study from Spain. Is this a valid conclusion? Let's ask a biostatistician.
As an anti-coronavirus therapy, Remdesivir has been rather disappointing. That's primarily because the drug is given intravenously to those who are already very ill with COVID-19. But what would happen if the drug could be delivered directly to the lungs, to prevent severe disease? Gilead is giving it a shot. Here are some of the pros and cons of that approach.