Top Stories: April 2021
Here are some of the things we’ve seen in the news recently. Amidst other news, with the COVID-19 vaccine has come a flurry of responses, reactions, and different ideas about what the “right” distribution methods are.
CDC says many Americans can now go outside without a mask
AP News
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased its guidelines Tuesday on the wearing of masks outdoors, saying fully vaccinated Americans don’t need to cover their faces anymore unless they are in a big crowd of strangers.”
India's COVID death toll tops 200,000 amid under-reporting claims
Axios
“India's COVID-19 death toll surged past 200,000 on Wednesday, as the country set another daily global cases record. Of note: Medical experts and members of India's opposition parties say the actual death toll and case numbers are much higher, a charge Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party denies.”
Young people to be reinfected with Covid for study
BBC
“Healthy young people who have had Covid-19 are being asked to volunteer for a trial that will deliberately expose them to the pandemic virus. The experts behind the study, beginning this month, want to see how the immune system copes second time round.”
Covid-19: Risk of cerebral blood clots from disease is 10 times that from vaccination, study finds
BMJ
“Using data from a large US electronic health records, the researchers compared the incidence of cerebral venous thrombosis in patients two weeks after a covid-19 diagnosis with that in patients two weeks after covid-19 vaccination.”
Introducing the Geriatric Emergency Medicine Research Group
International Federation for Emergency Medicine
“Given the aging of the population worldwide and that emergency departments (ED) are on the front line of managing the geriatric population, it is important to address how to best care for this vulnerable population. The Geriatric Emergency Medicine Special Interest Group (GEMSIG) recently created an international Geriatric Emergency Medicine Research Group to help address geriatric emergency research questions on an international level.”
International Federation for Emergency Medicine
“We, the undersigned and the organisations we represent, are united in calling for the safe and unconditional release of the President of the Myanmar Emergency Medicine Society, Professor Maw Maw Oo, following his arrest and detention on Monday 12 April 2021.”
Indoor Air Changes and Potential Implications for SARS-CoV-2 Transmission
JAMA
“Buildings have been associated with spread of infectious diseases, such as outbreaks of measles, influenza, and Legionella. With SARS-CoV-2, the majority of outbreaks involving 3 or more people have been linked with time spent indoors, and evidence confirms that far-field airborne transmission (defined as within-room but beyond 6 feet) of SARS-CoV-2 is occurring.”
Countries split from EU on COVID-19 vaccines
The Lancet
“Czech Republic and Slovakia have turned to the Sputnik V vaccine, despite it not being approved by the European Medicines Agency. Ed Holt reports. Leaders in the Czech Republic and Slovakia are pushing for the use of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, despite it not being approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Both states have struggled to contain SARS-CoV-2 infections in recent months and, as of March 4, 2021, had some of the highest rates of COVID-19 mortality and SARS-CoV-2 infection rates in the world.”
How Bad Is Our Pandemic Drinking Problem?
The New York Times
“The past year has changed alcohol use patterns, especially among women. The impacts probably won’t be fully known for years.”
How the Tiny Kingdom of Bhutan Out-Vaccinated Most of the World
The New York Times
“The Himalayan nation has given more than 60 percent of its people a shot. Some villages were reached by helicopter, and health workers hiked through ice and snow.”
