Looming COVID-19 food shortages pose a dire threat to animals, too

Cannibalism could be one consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic we didn’t see coming. Not for humans, but for the animals that depend on humans for survival–zoo animals, strays, and the rodents of our major cities. By now it’s clear that food shortages are coming to the United States and other parts of the world as a

Social distancing until 2022? New study says it’s possible

On Tuesday, Science Magazine published a Harvard study concluding that we may need to socially distance until 2022 in order to successfully combat the COVID-19 pandemic. To summarize, the researchers say, “Under current critical care capacities … the overall duration of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic could last into 2022, requiring social distancing measures to be in

Baking your N95 in the oven to decontaminate: don’t do it, but if you do then here’s how

Everyone’s being told to wear a mask now, but the problem is: there are no masks to be had. You could make your own mask, but even the best homemade masks won’t be as good as an N95 respirator. The problem with disposable N95 respirators is that they’re intended to be worn once and thrown

As worries mount over US food supply chain, now’s the time to prepare for possible shortages

Rob McNealy has been on top of the food supply issue and contributed to this report. In our collective imagination, it seems that re-opening the economy after a pandemic might be as simple as operating a light switch. With a flick of the finger, the economy will turn back on and be as it was.

How to safely put on and remove personal protective equipment like masks & gloves

It’s easy to make a mistake when putting on (donning) or taking off (doffing) personal protective equipment (PPE). The protection that PPE gives you disappears immediately if you put it on wrong, so it’s important to put your protective equipment on in the correct manner. Even more important is learning how to take your PPE

COVID-19 surveillance: the new Google/Apple mobile app is just a preview of what’s coming

Google and Apple announced last week that they’re teaming up to modernize contact tracing in the age of COVID-19. The joint press release said they’re working on a “comprehensive solution that includes application programming interfaces (APIs) and operating system-level technology to assist in enabling contact tracing.” Basically, they’re working on an app. Google and Apple’s

New CDC report takes a first look at the impact of social distancing in four major US cities

On Monday, the CDC released an early report on the “timing of community mitigation” to slow the spread of COVID-19. The study covered four metropolitan areas—Seattle, San Francisco, New York City, and New Orleans—between February 26 and April 1. The major takeaways: We know that social distancing, cleaning and disinfection, and protective measures like fabric

COVID-19: key developments for Monday, April 13, 2020

California, Oregon, Washington have joined into a “West Coast Pact” to coordinate their virus response regionally, and a number of states in the Northeast have joined to form a “Multi-state Council” for the same purpose. Tupac and Biggie were unavailable for comment at press time. I think Kashkari is absolutely correct on this. Things are