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Welcome to Coronavirus News Explained
The latest news on the coronavirus, explained. 
A blog providing the latest COVID-19 updates from a scientific perspective
    
    Hi, my name is Sarah and I am the author of Coronavirus News Explained. I'm a student interested in biological sciences and hope to pursue a career in that field. The inspiration to create the blog Coronavirus News Explained came to me in March 2020- the beginning of the pandemic. During this time, the media was flooded with both real and fake news about the virus. Many people, including myself, felt stressed and confused about what to believe. As a result, I wanted to create a platform that I could share with others that would provide simplified and scientifically accurate information about COVID-19.  Thus, the blog Coronavirus News Explained was born in April 2020. All weekly blog posts contain the latest information about COVID-19, taken from peer-reviewed scientific journals or government/research institutions. My hope for this blog is to help people gain a better understanding of new data and findings on COVID-19 by translating simplifying complex scientific articles to be easily understood by the general public. Topics covered on this blog range from vaccines to masks to how the virus affects specific demographics and much more. New posts are published every Wednesday. For further information please contact sarahyxwu@gmail.com. Stay safe!

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Efficacy of Masks

Do Wearing Masks Really Prevent Coronavirus            For weeks, U.S. health authorities discouraged healthy Americans from wearing masks, believing they would do more harm than good. However, other countries such as China and South Korea have required all citizens to wear a mask when entering a public setting to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. But really how effective are these masks against the coronavirus? On April 3rd, Nature Medicine published an article describing their findings based off an experiment testing the efficacy of surgical face masks against coronavirus, influenza virus and rhinovirus.   Study Findings      Their results demonstrated that surgical masks were largely effective in reducing coronavirus transmission through respiratory droplets as well as aerosol particles. 3/10 people who did not wear a mask were infected with the coronavirus through droplet particles. Out of 11 people who wore masks, not a single one was infected through the transmission
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Breakthrough Infections

 COVID-19 Breakthrough Infections     As of August 2021, a little over 50% of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. However, despite the increasing number of vaccinated individuals and high efficacy of the vaccines, rare breakthrough cases have occurred. With the reports of breakthrough cases, or instances when people who are fully vaccinated get infected with COVID-19, many questions have arisen. How common are breakthrough infections? What are the symptoms? How severe are the cases? These questions are addressed in a peer-reviewed study investigating breakthrough cases among healthcare workers in Israel. The study was recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine on July 28, 2021.  About the Study     The study setting took place in the Sheba Medical Center, which is the largest medical center in Israel staffed with 12,586 healthcare workers. By April 28, 2021, 11,453 workers (91%) had been fully vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine. The study was
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Plasma for COVID-19 treatment

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
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