As states roll back masking requirements for students, a new study shows that masks helped cut Covid-19 infections in public K-12 schools that required them in the fall. The study comes from a partnership between the US Centers for Disease Control and the Arkansas Department of Health. Investigators looked at Covid-19 infections in Arkansas schools…
Forming new friendships is important for mental well-being, my husband recently told me. He’s a therapist and shared this advice during a podcast with me about weathering pandemic stress and uncertainty. I balked, because I feel too overwhelmed by life to reach out to new people like I did in high school and college. But…
Wordle-bragging, arguably one of the newest forms of humble-bragging, has taken over social media. Solving the five-letter daily puzzle, and doing it in only three, two or even your first attempt (!) is a badge of pride for many. But does being good at Wordle mean you’re smarter than the average person, or even a…
After Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo declared on Monday the state would issue guidance urging parents not to vaccinate their children against Covid-19, health experts and officials were quick to highlight the dangers of such a policy for individuals and for country at large. Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at…
Some of the nation’s leading public health experts, including former coronavirus advisers to the Biden administration, detail in a new report when and how the United States can transition out of the Covid-19 pandemic phase and back into “pre-pandemic routines and lives.” Among the recommendations in the report are for the United States to reach…
The Florida Department of Health will recommend against Covid-19 vaccinations for healthy children, the state’s top public health official said Monday, putting the state at odds with the guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC recommended children get vaccinated in November when the shot became available to most kids. Since…
Patients with even a mild case of Covid-19 may experience accelerated aging of the brain and other changes to it, according to a new study. The study, published Monday in the journal Nature, is believed to be the largest of its kind. It found that the brains of those who had Covid-19 had a greater…
The global Covid-19 death toll surpassed 6 million on Monday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Global daily deaths have been dropping quickly over the past month, down from about 11,000 a day in the second week of February to about 7,000 a day now — one of the lowest rates reported over the…
A few weeks shy of giving birth to my middle child, I went to what I thought was a routine ultrasound appointment near my local hospital. Later that afternoon, my son was born and whisked away to the newborn intensive care unit. My husband and I were shocked to learn that he weighed less than…
From the very beginning of his presidency, Joe Biden has pledged to make sure communities hit hardest by Covid-19 will receive sound information about the virus and access to vaccinations. “Equity (and) equality” remain “at the heart” of the government’s responsibility, Biden said at a White House briefing last summer. “We need to go to…