TimeMagazine (LONDON) — The head of the World Health Organization says it regrets the U.S. decision to halt funding. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the U.S. has been “a longstanding and generous friend to WHO and we hope it will continue to be so.” He made the comments after President Donald Trump announced a halt to U.S. … Read more
Until we end COVID-19 transmission across the planet, we are likely to keep getting multiple COVID-19 “waves”— that is, rolling, recurrent outbreaks. While no public health expert has a foolproof crystal ball, this scenario of repeated waves means that the likely contours of the next one to two years are now coming into clearer view. … Read more
One of the most important lessons I learned from fighting the Ebola outbreak in Liberia is that you have to prepare before an epidemic has reached your doorstep. You have less to lose if you make adequate preparations and don’t get hit than by waiting for the disease. By then you could be overwhelmed and … Read more
The CDC just announced new guidelines for “critical” employees to return to work after possible COVID-19 exposure. Take your temperature often. Wear a mask. Stay 6 ft. away from others when possible. Go home if you feel sick. It is well-intentioned advice. But it is not enough—not for “critical” workers, however defined, or for the … Read more
In early April, about four months after a new, highly infectious coronavirus was first identified in China, an international group of scientists reported encouraging results from a study of an experimental drug for treating the viral disease known as COVID-19. It was a small study, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, but showed … Read more
One of the worst symptoms of any plague is uncertainty—who it will strike, when it will end, why it began. Merely understanding a pandemic does not stop it, but an informed public can help curb its impact and slow its spread. It can also provide a certain ease of mind in a decidedly uneasy time. … Read more
When an emergency responder in one of the New York counties hardest hit by COVID-19 recently found out she was pregnant, she decided that it wasn’t the right time to have a child. So between a busy schedule of helping patients, she made an appointment for Planned Parenthood’s new telehealth service, requested an abortion, and … Read more
Everything hit Nick Martin when he picked up the phone. Martin, 26, had expected to start a family medicine residency at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center this summer, after graduating from the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS). But with a surge of COVID-19 cases expected to hit the state in the coming weeks, … Read more
At the University of Louisville hospital in Kentucky, dozens of patients each day need the help of an interpreter to understand their medical conditions and make informed choices about their care. Before patients in the area showed COVID-19 symptoms, medical interpreters provided translations for as many as 30-40 people each day in Spanish or Amharic—a … Read more
Once a dangerous new pathogen is out, as we are seeing, it can be difficult if not impossible to prevent it going global. One as contagious as SARS-CoV-2 has the potential to infect the whole of humanity. Eighty per cent of cases may be benign, but with such a large pool of susceptible hosts, the … Read more