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Pupils return to school at Copley Academy in
Stalybridge, England. September 9, 2021
Image: Anthony Devlin/Getty
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Return to Normalcy or ‘National
Chickenpox Party’?
England
has nixed school mask mandates, embracing a more laissez-faire
approach even as cases and COVID-related absences soar among
school-age children, The
New York Times reports.
Government
officials say the numbers support the decision:
- 90% percent of the
8.4 million students in state-run schools are in class, and
schools are functioning close to normally.
- Overall, daily
cases are tracking several thousands lower than when schools
opened early last month—thanks largely to high vaccination
coverage among adults.
But
infections are rising fast among school-age children, and
COVID-related school absences rose 2 thirds in the last 2 weeks of
September, Reuters
reports.
Critics
say kids are being exposed to a “national chickenpox party” sure to
result in infections, long COVID, and deaths. Others say the
government is right to prioritize a return to routine, according to
the Times.
Related:
UN-backed
initiative reached 4.6 million children in ‘crisis within a crisis’
– UN
News
Few
Masks. Sick Kids. Packed ERs. How One District’s First Four Weeks
of School Went Bad. – ProPublica
Alabama
isn’t reporting school COVID outbreaks, contact tracing. Here’s
why. – Al.com
COVID
outbreaks in Michigan schools already 8 times higher than last year
– Bridge
Michigan
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COVID-19 WATCH
The Latest
Global
Numbers
- 235,933,077 cases
- 4,819,542 deaths
- 6,360,017,873 vaccine
doses administered
—Source: Johns
Hopkins University
Key
Developments
Labs in
Wuhan were buying up coronavirus testing equipment
months before the first COVID-19 case was reported to the WHO in
December 2019; new
cyber-security data found Wuhan labs issued 135
contracts containing PCR equipment in 2019, up from 89 in 2018 and
72 in 2017. Newsweek
In the US,
massive employer demand for rapid COVID-19 tests is causing
shortages and driving up costs for state and local testing efforts
deemed crucial for surveillance; industry executives say ramping up
production could take months. Reuters
Cause of
COVID toe? A new
study found that the mysterious condition, which causes
chilblain-like lesions on the toes and fingers and most often
affects children and teens, may be caused by the immune system
going on the attack to fight the virus. BBC
Early-pandemic
research—some tobacco industry-funded—indicating
smokers were somehow protected from severe COVID-19 gained
traction, and it wasn’t until last month that a large
UK study squashed that theory, finding that smokers were
80% more likely to be hospitalized than non-smokers. Bhekisisa
Related
When
Covid-19 first struck: Analysis of the influence of structural
characteristics of countries - technocracy is strengthened by open
democracy – PLOS
ONE
WHO
says unvaccinated people are ‘dying unnecessarily’ from Covid as
hospitals fill – CNBC
Russia
Reports More Than 900 Coronavirus Daily Deaths in New Record – The
Moscow Times
Covid-19:
Chikwe Ihekweazu: “It’s a rare privilege” to lead new pandemic hub
– The
BMJ
Why
doctors back state COVID-19 vaccine mandates for health care – American
Medical Association
COVID-19
vaccine mandates should avoid colonial and controlling pitfalls – The
New Humanitarian (commentary)
J&J
is asking the FDA to authorize its COVID-19 booster shots – NPR
National
and State Trends in Anxiety and Depression Severity Scores Among
Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic — United States, 2020–2021 – CDC
Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report
Fauci
Documentary Trailer: Don’t Shoot the Messenger – Vulture
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INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Caregivers of Children with Zika
Feel Forgotten
During
Brazil’s 2016 Zika outbreak, parents of babies born with the
syndrome stepped up to join studies.
Now,
they feel used, accusing researchers of failing to
communicate study results.
In
the rush to collect data, some researchers concede they fell short
on clearly explaining study limits, expectations, and results to
families.
“For
the researchers, the result is what is published in a well
qualified scientific journal or goes into their resume,” said
Soraya Fleischer, a University of Brasília anthropologist.
Families, meanwhile, need answers and help, or documentation to
access benefits.
Lesson Learned: Researchers
leading new studies must work harder to gain the trust of wary
families.
A Model: Fleischer’s
team returned periodically to visit families, and
created a blog summarizing findings and short stories
aimed at busy parents.
Tips from Ethicists:
- Respect caregivers’
intelligence and contributions
- Translate findings
for non-scientists
- Make published
studies publicly accessible
The Quote:
“It’s like we were lab rats. They come in nicely, collect
information, collect exams on the child, and in the end we don’t
know of any results,” said Rochelle dos Santos, mother of a child
in a Zika study.
Undark
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POLICE VIOLENCE
The Consequences
of Underreporting
Despite increased media coverage in recent years, fatal police
violence remains underreported in the US government’s vital
registration data, according to a new Lancet
study that offers revised estimates and a method to
remedy skewed numbers.
- From 1980–2018:
55.5% of all deaths attributable to police violence were not
reported.
- Non-Hispanic Black people suffered the
highest mortality rate due to police violence, followed by
Hispanic people.
Researchers who’ve been compiling police violence data acknowledge
the holes left by relying on government figures: “Our
underreporting of police violence in the [Global Burden of Disease
Study] was both a cause and consequence of structural racism within
our institute and the field of public health, the same structural
racism that influences so many U.S. institutions, including law
enforcement,” they
write in Think Global Health.
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heat
Global Hot Spots
People
in major cities are exposed to deadly temperatures 3X more often
than in the 1980s—with cities in South Asia, Africa, and the Middle
East bearing the brunt, according to a new analysis of 13,000+
cities.
The
study combines the detailed observations of weather stations with
the global reach of satellites to give an unusually detailed look
at how rising temperatures impact city-dwellers around the world,
with an interactive
map showing hot spots.
Striking:
India alone makes up more than half of the global increase
in urban heat exposure.
Climate
change is part of the problem—but so is poverty and explosive
population growth, and heat-absorbing urban concrete and pavement
also play a role.
Science
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OPPORTUNITY
Give it Your Best
Shot: A Johns Hopkins-Pulitzer Center Webinar
Nearly 1 in
4 young people feel hesitant about COVID-19 vaccination,
putting them at risk for severe disease.
- How can public
health officials reach adolescents and young people?
- What messages in social media and elsewhere
resonate with them?
- How are journalists reaching younger
audiences?
Join the Pulitzer Center and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School
Health for a free virtual event, convening journalists from the
CNN/BBC documentary Race for the Vaccine and public health experts
to discuss opportunities and pitfalls in this pandemic
communication challenge.
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