covid-19

A study published in mBio journal shows that rats in New York City can carry three Covid-19 variants, according to virological studies and genomic sequencing on samples from 79 rats. While the CDC notes that animal-to-human transmission of Covid-19 is rare, the study's principal investigator, Dr…

A new study suggests that COVID patients are more likely to suffer from gastrointestinal issues a year after diagnosis than those that never had COVID. These issues include different forms of acid reflux, and peptic ulcers. A lower percentage of patients experience more seriously inflammatory…

As COVID-19 cases decline in the US, call centers and testing sites are closing. In Rockland County, New York, a call center set up in March 2020 to handle COVID-19 queries closed on Tuesday, having taken more than 19,000 calls. Massachusetts is closing its free PCR testing sites, known as "Stop…

California’s COVID state of emergency officially ends Tuesday, to which Newsom says California is finally ready to move forward after previously resisting GOP pressure to end the said emergency. Although the pandemic solidified Newsom’s legacy as the crisis governor, his use of power turned him…

The WHO has updated a number of its COVID-19 guidelines including those related to masking, isolation procedures, and treatments. Masks continue to be an important tool in preventing the spread of COVID-19, especially when worn by those who suspect they may have COVID-19, when they are around those…

An experimental nasal vaccine developed by Blue Lake Biotechnology showed strong protection against COVID-19 in a Phase 1 clinical trial. The vaccine reduced the risk of symptomatic COVID-19 infections by 86% for three months in people who received it as a booster dose. Existing booster shots in…

The US House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, now under Republican control, is launching its review of the Biden administration's handling of the pandemic crisis. The Health and Human Services (HHS) Department has released 900 pages of records to the panel, including phone…

New British research finds that long COVID patients, even those who were not hospitalized, continue to experience mild organ impairment up to a year after their initial COVID diagnosis. The study, involving 536 patients, revealed that at an average of six months after their initial COVID diagnosis,…

Moderna has announced that it will continue to offer its COVID-19 vaccine in the US for free even after the federal government stops funding it. This announcement comes after the company faced criticism for reportedly considering a significant price increase for its vaccine. Under the new policy,…

Even with current improvements and updated vaccinations in the latter part of the pandemic, it still poses significant dangers for older Americans. Statistics show that nearly 3/4th of COVID-19 deaths have occurred in people over the age of 65, with the highest casualty among people over the age of…

According to a new global analysis, children experienced learning deficits and had not recovered from those losses more than two years later. Even more severe effects are seen in developing countries and students with low financial backgrounds. This only furthers the idea that the challenges of…

The North Korean government has imposed a 5-day lockdown on its capital city as it fights the "recurrent flu and other respiratory diseases". In August, North Korea claimed that it had eradicated the coronavirus without vaccines after reporting its first outbreak of Covid-19 in May of last year.…

A New York insurance agency study reported that 71% of people experiencing long Covid needed to be out of work for six or more months. The CEO of the insurance fund, Gaurav Vasisht, estimates that the number of people experiencing long Covid is higher than this number suggests and that most of…

The updated Covid-19 boosters are cutting the risk that a person will get sick from the coronavirus by about half, even against infections caused by the rapidly spreading XBB.1.5 subvariant. Studies conducted by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that the boosters continue…