Tag Archives: pandemic

The Associated Press reports: Russia is reporting a new daily high number of COVID-19 deaths, while the the total number of coronavirus infections during the pandemic in the country has topped 9 million. The national coronavirus task force said Saturday that a record 1,241 people died from the virus over the past day, two more than the previous record reported …

Reuters reports: The U.S. government will buy another $1 billion worth of the COVID-19 pill made by Merck & Co Inc and partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, the companies said on Tuesday. The government in June agreed to buy 1.7 million courses of molnupiravir for $1.2 billion and is now exercising options to buy 1.4 million more. That brings the total secured …

The New York Times reports: The gap in Covid’s death toll between red and blue America has grown faster over the past month than at any previous point. In October, 25 out of every 100,000 residents of heavily Trump counties died from Covid, more than three times higher than the rate in heavily Biden counties (7.8 per 100,000). October was …

The Associated Press reports: Russia’s COVID-19 cases hit another one-day record as the country struggles to contain a wave of infections and deaths that has persisted for more than a month. The national coronavirus task force on Saturday reported 41,335 new cases since the previous day, exceeding the previous daily record of 40,993 from Oct. 31. The task force said …

The New York Times reports: Rodents are among New York’s permanent features. But across the city, one hears the same thing: They are running amok like never before. Through Wednesday, there had been more than 21,000 rat sightings reported to 311 this year, compared with 15,000 in the same period in 2019 (and about 12,000 in 2014). The rate of …

Reuters reports: Britain on Thursday became the first country in the world to approve a potentially game-changing COVID-19 antiviral oral pill jointly developed by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, in a boost to the fight against the pandemic. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) recommended that the drug, molnupiravir, be used as soon as possible following a positive COVID-19 …

Agence France-Presse reports: Daily coronavirus cases and deaths in Russia remained at their highest numbers of the pandemic Wednesday as more regions announced they were extending existing restrictions in an effort to tame the country’s unrelenting surge of infections. Russia’s state coronavirus task force reported 40,443 new confirmed cases from a day earlier. It was the fifth time in seven …

NPR reports: Global deaths from COVID-19 have now surpassed 5 million, according to the data released Monday from Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus tracker. The U.S. continues to lead the world with the number of confirmed deaths from the virus — where more than 745,800 people have died from COVID-19. Brazil (with more than 607,000 deaths) and India (with more than …

The Associated Press reports: Barring an unforeseen breakthrough, intelligence agencies won’t be able to conclude whether COVID-19 spread by animal-to-human transmission or leaked from a lab, officials said Friday in releasing a fuller version of their review into the origins of the pandemic. The paper issued by the Director of National Intelligence elaborates on findings released in August of a …

The Associated Press reports: The daily number of COVID-19 deaths in Russia hit another high Tuesday amid a surge in infections that has forced the Kremlin to order most Russians to stay off work starting this week. Sluggish vaccination rates have allowed the virus to spread quickly across Eastern Europe. Ukraine and Bulgaria also reported record daily death tolls on …

USA Today reports: Long-term COVID-19 side effects could include memory loss and other cognitive dysfunctions commonly labeled as “brain fog,” according to a study released that examined 740 patients in the Mount Sinai Health System. The study, which was published Friday in the peer-reviewed medical journal JAMA Network Open, analyzed patients who contracted COVID-19, not people who only received the …

The Associated Press reports: Russia is reporting a record high number of coronavirus infections and COVID-19 deaths as the country approaches a week of nonworking days aimed at stemming the sharp surge in cases. The national coronavirus task force said Saturday that 1,075 people had died from the virus in the past day and that 37,678 new infections were tallied …

The New York Times reports: For the last four months, Britain has run a grand epidemiological experiment, lifting virtually all coronavirus restrictions, even in the face of a high daily rate of infections. Its leaders justified the approach on the grounds that the country’s rapid rollout of vaccines had weakened the link between infection and serious illness. New cases surpassed …

Changing America reports: A new study by the Yale School of Public Health has analyzed data on natural immunity to estimate how often unvaccinated individuals can expect to become reinfected with COVID-19. The study determined that natural immunity is somewhat short, and in a model where everyone has either been infected with COVID-19 or vaccinated against it, those who are …

The Associated Press reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday backed the Cabinet’s proposal to declare a non-working week and keep Russian workers away from their offices as coronavirus deaths surged to another daily record. The government task force on Wednesday reported 1,028 coronavirus deaths over the past 24 hours, the highest number since the start of the pandemic. That …

NBC News reports: Russia is reporting its largest daily number of new coronavirus infections, more than 70 percent up on the number a month ago as the country faces a sustained rise in cases. The national coronavirus task force on Sunday said 34,303 new infections were recorded in the previous day, compared with the 20,174 reported Sept. 19. The death …

The Washington Post reports: The World Health Organization named 26 scientists Wednesday to a new advisory body devoted to understanding the origins of the coronavirus and other future outbreaks, marking a change in approach for the world’s top global health body to one of the most politically sensitive issues of a pandemic that has killed more than 4.8 million people. …

Changing America reports: Tens of thousands of children in the U.S. have lost parents or caregivers as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, with children of racial and ethnic minorities bearing the brunt of the tragedy. A new study published Thursday in the journal Pediatrics estimates 142,637 children under age 18 have lost a parent or caregiver from April 2020 …

The Associated Press reports: President Joe Biden mourned “the painful milestone” of 700,000 American deaths from COVID-19, a day after the U.S. surpassed that mark on Friday. The president says in a statement “the astonishing death toll is yet another reminder of just how important it is to get vaccinated.” He says the nation has “made extraordinary progress” in the …

Reuters reports: Worldwide deaths related to COVID-19 surpassed 5 million on Friday, according to a Reuters tally, with unvaccinated people particularly exposed to the virulent Delta strain. The variant has exposed the wide disparities in vaccination rates between rich and poor nations, and the upshot of vaccine hesitancy in some western nations. More than half of all global deaths reported …