Every day, the nation is reminded of COVID-19’s ongoing impact as new death counts are published. What is not well documented is the toll on family members. New research suggests the damage is enormous. For every person who dies of COVID-19, nine close family members are affected, researchers estimate based on complex demographic calculations and...
Health
In Health-Conscious Marin County, Virus Runs Rampant Among ‘Essential’ Latino Workers
On a warm evening in late June, people flocked to alfresco tables set up along this town’s main drag to sip sauvignon blanc and eat wood-oven pizza for Dining Under the Lights, an event to welcome Marin County residents back to one of their favorite pastimes. About a mile away, Crisalia Calderon was hunkered down...
Turning Anger Into Action: Minority Students Analyze COVID Data on Racial Disparities
As the coronavirus swept into Detroit this spring, Wayne State University junior Skye Taylor noticed something striking. On social media, many of her fellow Black classmates who live or grew up in the city were “posting about death, like, ‘Oh, I lost this family member to COVID-19,’” said Taylor. The picture was different in Beverly...
Over 900 Health Workers Have Died of COVID-19. And the Toll Is Rising.
More than 900 front-line health care workers have died of COVID-19, according to an interactive database unveiled Tuesday by The Guardian and KHN. Lost on the Frontline is a partnership between the two newsrooms that aims to count, verify and memorialize every U.S. health care worker who dies during the pandemic. It is the most...
Knowledge Is Power: Learning More About COVID-19 Can Reduce Your Pandemic Stress
A new study from North Carolina State University and the Georgia Institute of Technology finds that the more people know about COVID-19, the less pandemic-related stress they have. The study also found that making plans to reduce stress was also effective for older adults – but not for adults in their 40s or younger. “COVID-19...
Few Changes Seen in ‘Big Five’ Personality Traits During Early Days of COVID-19 Pandemic
A new study suggests that adults experienced few changes in “Big Five” personality traits as a result of the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. Angelina Sutin of Florida State University College of Medicine and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on August 6, 2020. The “Big Five” personality traits–...
Study Reveals COVID-19 Transmission Rate on Trains
A study by scientists from the University of Southampton has examined the chances of catching COVID-19 in a train carriage carrying an infectious person. Based on high-speed routes in China, researchers from WorldPop found that for train passengers sitting within three rows (widthwise) and five columns (lengthwise) of an infected person (index patient) between zero...
New Survey Finds Large Racial Divide in Concern Over Ability to Pay for COVID-19 Treatment
Non-White adults about twice as likely to stay in unwanted job for benefits Medication insecurity increase driven by rise among non-White adults Support is high for regulation of drug prices and cost of COVID-19 vaccine People of color are far more likely to worry about their ability to pay for healthcare if diagnosed with COVID-19...
Pregnant Black and Hispanic Women Five Times More Likely to Be Exposed to Coronavirus
Black and Hispanic pregnant women in Philadelphia are five times as likely as white and Asian women to have been exposed to the novel coronavirus, according to a new study led by Scott Hensley, PhD, an associate professor of Microbiology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Karen Marie Puopolo,...
COVID-19: Social Media Users More Likely to Believe False Information
A new study led by researchers at McGill University finds that people who get their news from social media are more likely to have misperceptions about COVID-19. Those that consume more traditional news media have fewer misperceptions and are more likely to follow public health recommendations like social distancing. In a study published in Misinformation Review,...