The Lancet Public Health: US modelling study estimates impact of school closures for COVID-19 on US health-care workforce and associated mortality

US policymakers considering physical distancing measures to slow the spread of COVID-19 face a difficult trade-off between closing schools to reduce transmission and new cases, and potential health-care worker absenteeism due to additional childcare needs that could ultimately increase mortality from COVID-19, according to new modelling research published in The Lancet Public Health journal. Using…

COVID-19 pandemic may exacerbate childhood obesity

Public health scientists predict that school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic will exacerbate the epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States. Andrew Rundle, DrPH, associate professor of epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, and colleagues expect that COVID-19-related school closures will double out?of?school time this year for many children in…

Patients with Parkinson’s disease face unique ‘hidden sorrows’ related to the COVID-19

Experts writing in the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease discuss potentially grave consequences for Parkinson’s disease patients related to social distancing, but also opportunities like new avenues for research and initiatives that may offer positive help and support Amsterdam, April 3, 2020 – While much attention has focused on the potential for severe respiratory complications and…

Removing the novel coronavirus from the water cycle

Scientists know that coronaviruses, including the SARS-CoV-19 virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, can remain infectious for days — or even longer — in sewage and drinking water.  Two researchers, Haizhou Liu, an associate professor of chemical and environmental engineering at the University of California, Riverside; and Professor Vincenzo Naddeo, director of the Sanitary Environmental…