The nation’s top infectious disease expert, whose last day as a federal employee is Saturday, plans to write a memoir and wants to encourage people to go into public service. By Sheryl Gay Stolberg The walls in Dr. Anthony S. Fauci’s home office are adorned with...
How Bad Is China’s Covid Outbreak? It’s a Scientific Guessing Game.
In the absence of credible information from the Chinese government, researchers around the world are looking for any clues to determine the size and severity of the surge. By Alexandra Stevenson and Benjamin Mueller As Covid barrels through China, scientists...
As Covid-19 Continues to Spread, So Does Misinformation About It
Doctors are exasperated by the persistence of false and misleading claims about the virus. By Tiffany Hsu Nearly three years into the pandemic, Covid-19 remains stubbornly persistent. So, too, does misinformation about the virus. As Covid cases,...
Acids help against airborne viruses
A new study by various Swiss universities shows that aerosols in indoor air can vary in acidity. This acidity determines how long viruses remain infectious in the air – with profound implications for virus transmission and strategies to contain it. by Peter Rüegg...
Dogs May Reliably Detect SARS-CoV-2 Infections at Mass Events
By Howard Larkin Dogs trained to detect SARS-CoV-2 infection by smell correctly identified individuals with active infections at concerts with a specificity of nearly 100% and a sensitivity of 82%, researchers reported in BMJ Global Health. The results suggest that...
Fact Check True! Yes, Fauci Funded Research in Wuhan and Lied to Congress
Washington Post political writer Greg Sargent shouldn't let his right-wing obsession get in the way of reported evidence. And neither should you. By Paul D. Thacker The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent began scratching about like a cornered badger a week back...
Do boosters and prior infections protect against BQ.1 and BQ.1.1?
By Dani Blum If you were infected with a previous version of Omicron recently, you can still become reinfected with BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco. However, a previous...
From Zero Covid to No Plan: Behind China’s Pandemic U-Turn
After micromanaging the coronavirus strategy for nearly three years, the country’s leader, Xi Jinping, has suddenly left the populace to improvise. By Chris Buckley, Alexandra Stevenson and Keith Bradsher The southwestern city of Chongqing was the latest frontline of...
Just How Bad Is the ‘Tripledemic’?
By Amy Schoenfeld Walker After two difficult Covid winters, the current season of respiratory sickness already rivals some of the worst cold and flu seasons on record — and it started about two months early. Percent of weekly doctor and hospital visits for respiratory...
Will 2024 Be a Vaccine Election?
By Paul Krugman, Opinion Columnist Will Republicans once again nominate Donald Trump for president? Or will they turn to Ron DeSantis instead? I have no idea. What I do know is that anyone imagining DeSantis as a more sensible, saner figure than Trump — a right-wing...
As Officials Ease Covid Restrictions, China Faces New Pandemic Risks
Huge swaths of the nation’s elderly remain vulnerable, scientists say, and a surge in deaths and hospitalizations may be inevitable. By Benjamin Mueller and Alexandra Stevenson Originally published December 2, 2022 in The New York Times As one country after another...
Death certificate records of long Covid are a ‘floor of an estimate,’ experts say
By Elizabeth Cooney Long Covid has begun appearing on death certificates for a small percentage of people who have died during the pandemic, but that tiny fraction of records only hints at the whole story, two experts told STAT, while another has doubts about drawing...
It’s Time to Wear a Mask Again, Health Experts Say
A high-quality, well-fitting mask is your best protection against infection from the coronavirus, influenza and R.S.V. By Dana G. Smith Masks are back, and, this time, they’re not just for Covid-19. A “tripledemic” of the coronavirus, influenza and respiratory...
SARS-CoV-2 infection and persistence in the human body and brain at autopsy
By Sydney R. Stein, et al. Abstract Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is known to cause multi-organ dysfunction1,2,3 during acute infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), with some patients experiencing prolonged symptoms, termed...
The New York Times’ shameless Covid contortions
Even as China relaxes its lockdown, the US liberal media are still whipping up fear. By HEATHER MAC DONALD The New York Times has just discovered that some Americans are no longer wearing masks. Welcome to life in the mainstream-media bubble. The Times sent...