Posts in Category: COVID-19
Attitudes & Experiences According to the Public Misinformation about health care is nothing new, but social media and the rapid pace of scientific development on COVID-19 have both contributed to an environment where unclear information, misinterpretation, and deliberate disinformation can spread more easily than ever. The long-term research project known as the KFF Covid-19 Vaccine Monitor has been collecting data on what people’s attitudes and experiences have been so far after receiving... Read More
New Information on the Omicron Variant Presence and Symptoms Omicron is sweeping the nation, with as many as 800,000 new cases per day. The variant accounts for around 99.5 percent of new cases in the United States. As the number of cases increases, so does our knowledge about the variant. The incubation period of the variant, or the period between when a person is first infected and starts to show symptoms, is three days. This is two days quicker than the original version of COVID.... Read More
What Does This Mean? A new variant of COVID-19, called Omicron, has been identified. The variant was reported to the WHO on November 26, 2021 by the South American government. The variant was recently detected in the United States. The positive case was reported in California, from a traveler who came from South Africa. Symptoms So far, the symptoms of the virus have been labeled as “extremely mild”. One patient said he just felt extremely tired and had a mild headache. Another reported a... Read More
What Does This Mean? A new variant of COVID-19, called Omicron, has been identified. The variant was reported to the WHO on November 26, 2021 by the South American government. The variant was recently detected in the United States. The positive case was reported in California, from a traveler who came from South Africa. Symptoms So far, the symptoms of the virus have been labeled as “extremely mild”. One patient said he just felt extremely tired and had a mild headache. Another reported a... Read More
How Accurate Are They Really? Even though we are a year and a half into living in this pandemic, there is still a lot of confusion over COVID testing. When should you get tested? Where should you get tested? How long until you know your results? The new phenomenon of at-home COVID testing is seen as a solution to these questions. At-home testing is supposed to be a safe and reliable way to know if you have the virus or not so you are able to determine your next steps. First, you... Read More
Taking Care of Yourself and Others with A Cold During a Pandemic Although there have been a number of awful things that have resulted in the pandemic, there have also been a few good things that have changed that we all hope stay permanent. These are things like working from home, employers giving ample sick time, people finally understanding the concept of personal space in public places… The list goes on and on. One of my favorite things though, is that I have not been sick since three... Read More
The Pandemic and Telehealth: One Year Later Early on in the pandemic, we saw restaurants, malls, bars, parks, gyms, and basically everything in between shut down. Doctors offices and medical practices were unable to shut down as they were considered essential, but many people were hesitant about going out for their routine care. As providers started to adapt in order to encourage their patients to come in for their regular appointments, policy makers also mobilized to create legislation for... Read More
What exactly are the new guidelines? This past week, the CDC released some new data and guidelines on mask wearing. Over the past few months, states around the country have made the change to drop the mask mandate in public spaces. This move was widely attributed to the mass vaccine distribution and mobilization which has left 96 million Americans fully vaccinated. Although controversial at first, the most recent CDC data supports the changes in the mask mandate, but there is a catch to it. ... Read More
Things to do before and after your COVID-19 vaccine Is that “Here comes the sun” by The Beatles I hear playing in the background? This past weekend I got my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and this song has been stuck in my head ever since. Now I am well aware that the pandemic is far from over and that we still have a very long road ahead of us; but wow, it sure does feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Not only am I one step closer to leaving the pandemic untouched... Read More
How did they do it? Since the start of the pandemic last March, you may have heard about New Zealand and their efforts to combat COVID-19 periodically in the news cycle. Early on in the pandemic, they were actually headlining a lot for their harsh lockdowns and border closings. Looking back now, it seems that those efforts were worth it as the majority of the country has been COVID-free since early fall. In fact, it has been so COVID-free that people are attending live concerts, sporting... Read More