Coronavirus News Explained

FDA Authorizes Plasma for COVID-19 Treatment                     COVID-19, which has been spreading across the globe since March, has affected the lives of Americans for over six months. Many people, including the President, are eager to eliminate the virus after a dreadful 6 months of rising cases and quarantine. To their dismay, hopes of eliminating the virus by Easter and then by August, seemed to turn into an unreachable dream for Americans. With cases rising and no sure vaccine or treatment for the virus, a future without COVID-19 seemed further and further away. Yet, this Sunday on August 23, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the first treatment for COVID-19: convalescent plasma. While the plasma has only been authorized for emergency use, many people see this authorization as progress towards eliminating the virus. However, others believe that the plasma is not as effective, and that the FDA was pressured by Trump to authorize treatment for COVID-19 to provi

Not All Masks are Created Equal      Today, wearing face masks in outdoor settings is a necessity to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. A previous post on this blog went over the three main types of face masks (N-95, surgical and cloth) and identified how effective each mask was at blocking out particles. ( See Different Face Masks and their Efficacy ). Early this month, a new study performed by a Duke family and published in Science Advance s, evaluated face mask efficacy using a homemade tool. The results from this study not only confirms the information published in Different Face Masks and their Efficacy , but also brings new information to light. Methods     Martin Fischer, an associate research professor at Duke University, built a simple tool with his daughter Emma to identify visible evidence of airborne particles. The tool they created uses a lens, which expands a laser beam inside a darkened box. When someone speaks into the box, particles are scattered in different direc

Ethics of Wearing Face Masks     Face masks are now required for many situations including entering indoor spaces such as stores and shops or (outdoor) public spaces where one cannot maintain a distance of 6 ft from others. However, many people have refused to wear face masks, finding them to be an "inconvenience"and believing in the freedom to refuse wearing masks. Others just don't believe the coronavirus is real or don't believe that masks are efficacious in preventing the virus. There are many problems, both ethical and health related, to not wearing masks. This article aims to provide clarification on the ethics of wearing face masks and evidence for their efficacy. Scientific Evidence for COVID-19/Masks      COVID-19 is real . There have been countless scientific studies and research proving the coronavirus is real and contagious. Millions of healthcare workers, scientists, politicians, and organizations around the world have provided a detailed information on C

Children Carry More Coronavirus than Adults     The coronavirus has been affecting our lives for the past few months and many students are eager to return to school. As the upcoming school year approaches and public schools/daycares open up, it's important to understand the transmission potential of the coronavirus in children. Previous research (See Are Schools Ready to Reopen ) has shown that children are a not major contributor of COVID-19 and generally present mild to no symptoms compared to adults. However, a study published on July 30, 2020 in JAMA ( Journal of the American Medical Association ) Pediatrics suggests that children may be greater carriers of the coronavirus than we may expect. The Study and Results     In this study, one hundred and forty five individuals, aged younger than 1 month to 65 years with mild to moderate illness (within 1 week of initial symptoms), were tested for evidence of the virus' RNA. These were all patients of a hospital located in Chica