Month: June 2021

More than 50 teen campers and adult staff members caught COVID-19 during an outbreak at a central Illinois church summer camp earlier this month, and at least one person was hospitalized, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Although all campers and staff were eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, the state health department said only “a handful” of them had gotten inoculated against the virus, which has killed more than 600,000 in the United States. The camp also didn’t require masks, according to the state health department. “The camp was not checking vaccination status and masking was not required while indoors,” said a state health department news release. “All campers and staff went home and were asked to be tested and told to quarantine.” While the state’s news releas...

A coronavirus epidemic may have struck East Asia 20,000 years ago, a new study suggests. Ancient humans had to adapt to viral exposure, leaving unique markers in the DNA of their descendants.  Studying these changes to the genome might help researchers understand how to treat COVID-19. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. As the world continues to reckon with the effects of the novel coronavirus over the past year and a half, new evidence suggests humanity's battle against the virus may have started much earlier. Genetic evidence shows ancient humans in East Asia were exposed to coronavirus 20,000 years ago, according a ...