We May Never Eliminate COVID-19. But We Can Learn to Live With It Time 2/4/2021
When does a pandemic end? Is it when life regains a semblance of normality?
Is it when the world reaches herd immunity, the benchmark at which enough people are immune to an infectious disease to stop its widespread circulation? Or is it when the disease is defeated, the last patient cured and the pathogen retired to the history books?
The last scenario, in the case of COVID-19, is likely a ways off, if it ever arrives. The virus has infected more than 100 million people worldwide and killed more than 2 million. New viral variants even more contagious than those that started the pandemic are spreading across the world. And though highly effective vaccines were developed and deployed in record time, it will be a mammoth undertaking to inoculate enough of the world’s population to achieve herd immunity, especially with the new variants in hot pursuit. Already, in many countries with access to vacci
The tunnel connecting the University of Colorado Boulder campus to the Hill neighborhood , Tuesday, Sept 22, 2020.
Elementary, middle and high school teachers will be able to get their vaccine as early as next week, leaving some on-campus instructors in higher education wondering why they were left out of the state’s distribution plan.
At a press conference this week, Gov. Jared Polis said priority will be given to primary and secondary education teachers, as remote learning is more sustainable for college students than minors. He said a return to in-person learning in K-12 grades is a more pressing issue.
“We do know that a 20 year old is able to safely learn from home by themselves in a way that a seven year old simply can t, requiring the presence of a parent to do that,” said Polis. “We want everybody to be able to go back safely and we re happy to support her institutions of higher education in a safe return. But I think it s important that we walk before we run. An
Written by Amy Jamieson on February 2, 2021 Fact checked by Michael Crescione
COVID-19 safety protocols can help keep shoppers as well as grocery store employees safe. Tempura/Getty Images
Experts say there are ways to stay safe while grocery shopping even with the new, more contagious coronavirus variants.
They recommend making fewer trips to the store as well as going during times it’s less crowded.
They also say people should continue wearing masks and maintaining physical distance.
All data and statistics are based on publicly available data at the time of publication. Some information may be out of date. Visit our coronavirus hub and follow our live updates page for the most recent information on the COVID-19 pandemic.
A STUDY by the Boston University School of Public Health has revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic in Lusaka has been highly underestimated with the COVID-19 deaths having been under-reported between June and September, 2020.
According to the report, dubbed: COVID-19 deaths detected in a systematic post-mortem surveillance study in Africa, released in January, and co-authored by Dr Lawrence Mwananyanda and Dr Christopher Gill, it was found that the under-reporting of deaths in Zambia, Lusaka in particular, was due to the lack of community testing.
“Contrary to expectations, CV19+ deaths were common in Lusaka. The majority occurred in the community where testing capacity is lacking. Yet few who died at facilities were tested, despite presenting with typical symptoms of CV19. Therefore, CV19 cases were under-reported because testing was rarely done, not because CV19 was rare. If our data are generalisable, the impact of CV19 in Africa has been vastly underestimated,” the report dis
Irv Lichtenwald, President & CEO of Medsphere Systems Corporation
We’re now in a new year and new presidential administration. At least three companies are producing effective COVID-19 vaccines, which are being administered to healthcare workers, teachers, and the elderly. By summer, hopefully a large majority of the population in most countries will be vaccinated. From where the world now stands, we can see an end to prolonged isolation, trauma, fear, grief, and economic torpor.
But out of the woods, we are not.
The virus mutates, perhaps more rapidly than expected. Maybe the existing vaccines will handle all variants. One can hope.