When you pass an unmasked person on the street or in the store, it’s become common practice to sigh a little bit and then give them a wide berth. Six feet, if space allows. But a study published just this morning shows that distance might not be enough. Without a mask, researchers say droplets from
Cases of COVID-19 are exploding across the United States. Cases have been on the rise for two weeks now, but the 7-day moving average of daily deaths is still relatively flat. A lot of people have wondered why. They expect our record-high cases to be accompanied by record-high deaths, not slow, steady death counts. That’s
Back in April, we told you that you probably shouldn’t decontaminate disposable N95 respirators in your home oven, but we also showed you how to do it if you were determined. Now, though, the United States Department of Homeland Security is recommending a way to decontaminate those masks at home in a programmable pressure cooker
After the COVID-19 outbreak and a spat of turmoil in big cities, more and more people are looking to escape to the country: “Americans are considering moving to less populated areas to avoid coronavirus” in the New York Post “Escape to the Country: Why City Living Is Losing Its Appeal During the Pandemic,” writes the Wall
Welcome to the newly revamped Key Developments, now twice weekly and with non-COVID news. Right now, it’s actually still just COVID news, but we’ll be slowly morphing it into something broader as we go. The world has over 9.68 million cases. Cases have grown globally by over one million in the last week, as they
A lot has been made of the President’s claim that we should “slow the testing down,” a claim that he doubled down on in subsequent remarks to reporters. Most commentators state that he’s under the mistaken impression that if we just don’t look at the problem, it’ll go away. But I follow a bunch of
ICUs in some areas of the United States are about to go into overflow mode, as you’ve probably seen. You may have even shared a story about this on a social media site. And if you shared one of those “ICU occupancy is surging” stories, odds are good that someone responded to by suggesting that
For months, we’ve been saying that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can survive on surfaces—even when the CDC appeared to be saying the opposite. We’ve also written about how asymptomatic cases are probably underestimated. At this point, we’re preaching to the choir. But this afternoon, a new study was published in mSphere, and it examines
In this multi-part series, we step back from the flood of day-to-day pandemic news, and put our attention back on the big questions. This series is divided into three major parts: disease biology, therapies, and the progress of the pandemic. We’ll close by discussing the future. This is Part II, on therapies and vaccines. Read
Here in Texas, we’re still having a hard time getting reusable cloth masks of decent quality. My wife ordered some fancy-looking masks from Canada over a month ago, and they’ve yet to ship. I recently waited three weeks for some overpriced masks that fell apart on first use. Luckily, more clothing makers and brands are
If you’re like most of us at The Prepared, you’ve been on lockdown for months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And, like us, you’ve probably spent the past few weeks watching friends go to bars, gyms, and the beach. Some people are even going on vacations. Meanwhile, COVID-19 cases are on the rise in much
COVID-19 risks are not linear. For example: Four people hanging out over dinner is not twice as dangerous as two people having dinner — it’s actually three times as dangerous. Many of us do our best to forget high school math classes, but understanding how network effects and linear, quadratic, and exponential relationships work can
The world has over 8.56 million cases. Cases have grown globally by almost a million in the last week. The US has over 2.2 million cases and has had over 120,000 deaths. The US has gained over 24,000 new cases since yesterday. The US continues to plateau at a high rate of case growth. AstraZenica
We’ve been reading a lot lately about vitamin D supplementation. Some doctors suspect vitamin D could protect against COVID-19 since vitamin D can also have a positive effect on influenza. Others have suggested that vitamin D deficiency may play a role in the excess of deaths from COVID-19 among people of color in the United
In this multi-part series, we’ll step back from the flood of day-to-day pandemic news, and put our attention back on the big questions. This series will be divided into three major parts: disease biology, therapies, and the progress of the pandemic. We’ll close by discussing the future. This first post is about disease biology. When
