National Academies publishes guide to help public officials make sense of COVID-19 data

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, officials across the country have had to make decisions about opening and closing schools, businesses and community facilities. They have relied in large part on information about the pandemic — from hospitalization statistics to test results — to inform these decisions. But different facts and figures about COVID-19 can paint…

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W. Ian Lipkin advising on health protocols for 2020 Democratic Convention

W. Ian Lipkin, MD, director of the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, is developing the health protocols for the August 17-20 Democratic National Convention, which will combine a scaled-back convention in Milwaukee and remote programming, in consideration of COVID-19 risks. In June, the Democratic National Convention…

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Local COVID-19 forecasts by AI

Despite efforts throughout the United States last spring to suppress the spread of the novel coronavirus, states across the country have experienced spikes in the past several weeks. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the nation has climbed to more than 3.5 million since the start of the pandemic. Public officials in many states,…

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Implementation of social distancing policies correlates with significant reduction in SARS-CoV-2 transmission

HOUSTON — According to researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, the implementation of social distancing policies corresponded with significant reductions in transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and reduced community mobility, both in the U.S. and globally, providing evidence that social distancing is a useful tool in preventing further spread of COVID-19.…

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Black Book Clubs, From Oprah to Noname

“I want people to think radically,” said Noname, the 28-year-old rapper, in a phone interview this month from her home in Los Angeles. She is outspoken, especially on Twitter, about dismantling patriarchy, white supremacy and capitalism, but over the last year she has also been opening people’s minds through a more analog medium. It started…

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Old Vaccines May Stop the Coronavirus, Study Hints. Scientists Are Skeptical.

Billions of dollars are being invested in the development of vaccines against the coronavirus. Until one arrives, many scientists have turned to tried-and-true vaccines to see whether they may confer broad protection, and may reduce the risk of coronavirus infection, as well. Old standbys like the Bacille Calmette-Guerin tuberculosis vaccine and the polio vaccine appear…

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