Month: November 2020

Things seemed to be improving, but Mr. Sierra Macias took a turn for the worse. He was 49. Mr. Alvarado said it was difficult to contend with such loss even as people around him seemed not to be taking the virus seriously, believing it was being overhyped or thinking, somehow, that it was not dangerous. “It seems like people think the news are overthinking, overtalking,” said Mr. Alvarado, who said he was waiting for paperwork to send his father-in-law’s body for burial in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, where cemeteries are running out of room. “You don’t realize the situation until you live through it.” Improved medical treatments for the virus have emerged in the months since it first arrived in the United States, offering hope that even if cases soared before a vaccine was available, deaths m...

Math teacher Aaron Tomhave found it fairly easy to continue connecting with his students when his district outside of Houston shifted online in March. He's a tech whiz, and he already had a good relationship with them.  But when the Splendora school district returned to in-person instruction in September, Tomhave noticed subtle differences with his new students: When he rolls up on his mechanic's stool and asks them about their day and their schoolwork, he gets an authentic and immediate response. He knows that would have been harder over email. His students are grasping concepts more readily in person, too. "There is a big difference between accountability face to face and accountability online," said Tomhave, who's been teaching for about 13 years.  That in-person connection, many educa...

Illinois' top doctor on Friday defended the use of rapid antigen tests to detect COVID-19 as reports of false negatives and false positives surfaced nationwide, leading to questions about accuracy. In one instance that garnered nationwide attention, tech entrepreneur Elon Musk tweeted he took four COVID-19 rapid antigen tests on Thursday, and received two negative and two positive results. Something extremely bogus is going on. Was tested for covid four times today. Two tests came back negative, two came back positive. Same machine, same test, same nurse. Rapid antigen test from BD.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 13, 2020 Musk, who has been dismissive about the coronavirus and its severity, said he took two PCR tests, the other type of COVID-19 tests, and was awaiti...

As temperatures drop and the first measurable rain of the season falls in Sacramento, the county is drafting an ordinance to enforce outdoor guidelines. Sacramento County moved into the most restrictive COVID-19 tier Friday, which means restaurants, places of worship, gyms and movie theaters must operate only outdoors. In mid-March, when the novel coronavirus pandemic hit California, state officials shut down many industries or established restrictions in order to mitigate the spread of the virus. Since then, the state developed a reopening plan that impacts each county.The plan is a four-tier color system for reopening the state. Counties move in and out of tiers based on their number of COVID-19 cases. Purple is the most restrictive, followed by red, orange and yellow, the least re...

Scientists have unraveled one of the mysteries of Covid-19, why the virus strikes down older people while seeming to leave children untouched. The breakthrough could pave the way for new treatments to combat the pandemic. Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center figured out that children have lower levels of a receptor protein that SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes Covid-19 – needs to invade the lungs. “Our study provides a biologic rationale for why particularly infants and very young children seem to be less likely to either get infected or to have severe disease symptoms,” explained Jennifer Sucre, an assistant professor of pediatrics who led the research. When a virus particle is inhaled into the lungs, protein ‘spikes’ latch on to the ACE2 receptor, which ...

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