covid-19

As the Coronavirus death toll tops 200,000 in the United States we are forced to reflect upon our successes and failures in confronting this pandemic. According to Johns Hopkins University, the United States leads the world in total confirmed cases and deaths. Disjointed rules and regulations,…

Johnson & Johnson has recently announced that their vaccine has begun the third and final phase of clinical trials. They are the fourth company in the United States to do so. Their trial is larger than Moderna’s and Pfizer’s which will provide a better sense of the safety of the vaccine and…

Interferons play an important, yet complicated, role in suppressing virus replication, and they are currently being researched as a possible treatment for COVID-19. Studies on interferons have produced somewhat contradictory results. One study found that people with severe COVID-19 had a decrease…

As of last week, 11,000 lightning strikes sparked over 370 individuals fires throughout California, killing 5. With fire crews fighting these fires shorthanded due to COVID-19, these fires continue to burn through thousands of acres per day, putting more individuals at risk for evacuation. This has…

With Tropical Storm Marco and Hurricane Laura (Category 4) both brewing in the Gulf at the same time, a historical first, the city of New Orleans was faced with a dual crisis. Unlike any previous hurricane, city leaders had to figure out a way to evacuate citizens while abiding by the social…

During the 15th-16th centuries, the UK was undergoing a surprisingly familiar situation to what the US is going through now. A mysterious sickness known as “the sweat” was tearing through European nations and much like how the US is responding to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the UK was struggling…

Three new studies present strong support for the effectiveness of some inexpensive and widely available steroid drugs for highly sick Covid-19 patients. Originally, doctors mentioned steroids could inhibit the body's effectiveness in fighting the disease. Now, with the three supported studies, the…

According to the tally by Johns Hopkins University, on August 31st, surpassed the 6 million coronavirus positive cases mark. However, public health experts and epidemiologists state that this number is an undercount for there can be tens of millions of cases that were not recorded. In fact, in…

The C.D.C. has announced for all 50 states to prepare for a vaccination by the latest in late October or early November. Dr. Fauci and Dr. Hahn have stated in interviews that the vaccine can be made available for particular groups before the results of clinical trials are revealed, only if the…

This past week, President Trump brought Dr. Scott Atlas onto the White House's coronavirus task force. Unlike other doctors on the task force, Dr. Atlas is a radiologist, with no qualifications as an epidemiologist or infectious disease expert. His views align with many views of the Trump…

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has changed the way they are reporting coronavirus deaths, leading to a new death toll count of approximately 9,000. President Trump supported this new count by retweeting it on his Twitter, suggesting to his followers that only 6% of the 180,000 deaths…

The New York Times interviewed multiple scientists to ask about the thresholds of achieving herd immunity. Most scientists in the past have mentioned a level of 70% of a population to have become immune through a vaccination or survival of the virus in order to achieve herd immunity. The…

After two weeks of declining numbers of unemployment rates, the number of laid-off workers in the US has grown to 1.1 million. Even with the reopening of a number of businesses, the economy is still weak. And, with the expiration of the $600-a-week benefit, those seeking federal aid are receiving…

Kwame Owusu-Kesse, Chief Executive Officer of the Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ) explains the necessity to address local health issues through a social and economic lens. Furthermore, he describes the comprehensive crisis response to COVID-19 by the HCZ. For more information, click here.