Can Face Masks Prevent Coronavirus? Experts Say That Depends

A new coronavirus outbreak, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan and has spread throughout Asia and globally, has prompted people around the world to buy medical face masks in hopes of preventing infection. Retailers in the U.S. and across the Internet are running out of antiviral face masks as the number of confirmed … Read more

Why Coronavirus Seems to Be Striking More Adults Than Kids

More than 8,000 people worldwide have been infected, and 171 have been killed, by a novel coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China last month. But early research out of Wuhan suggests one group has been largely spared by the contagious disease: young children. A paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday … Read more

‘There Are Sensible Voices That Are Emerging,’ How Scientists Are Using Social Media to Counter Coronavirus Misinformation

As a new form of coronavirus continues to infect a growing number of people around the world, medical professionals, scientists and big tech giants are fighting the spread of another contagion — misinformation. Just like a virus, it can be difficult to contain and many working in medical and scientific fields are using the very … Read more

A Timeline of How the Wuhan Coronavirus Has Spread—And How the World Has Reacted

A new virus has emerged from central China, infecting thousands with severe respiratory illness and killing dozens. Health officials, doctors and researchers are scrambling to contain the outbreak. As of publication, there are over 8,200 confirmed cases globally, and over 170 deaths attributed to the infection, the vast majority in China. Zoom into and hover … Read more

The Coronavirus Outbreak Is Now a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Here’s What That Means

The World Health Organization (WHO) took the rare step Thursday of declaring a novel coronavirus outbreak that originated in Wuhan, China a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). But what does that actually mean? The WHO defines a PHEIC as an “extraordinary event” that “constitute[s] a public health risk to other States through the … Read more

How Long Will the Coronavirus Outbreak Last? Experts Are Scrambling to Find Out

As a novel coronavirus known as 2019-nCoV continues to spread throughout China and to countries across the world, the big question is: How long will the outbreak last—and how bad will it get? While some doctors have made predictions and outbreaks of similar coronaviruses like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome … Read more