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Until recently, most public health guidelines have focused on social distancing measures, regular hand-washing and precautions to avoid droplets. But the signatories to the paper say the potential of the virus to spread via airborne transmission has not been fully appreciated even by public health institutions such as the WHO. The fact that scientists resorted to a paper to pressure the WHO is unusual, analysts said, and is likely to renew questions about the WHO’s messaging. “WHO’s credibility is being undermined through a steady drip-drip of confusing messages, including asymptomatic spread, the use of masks, and now airborne transmission,” said Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health law at Georgetown University who provides technical assistance to the organization. He prais...

Orange County reported 663 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and three more deaths Sunday, bringing the county's totals to 16,854 cases and 366 deaths. The county's cases included 1,218 residents of skilled nursing facilities, 406 jail inmates and 111 homeless people, according to the OC Health Care Agency. Of the three deaths announced Sunday, one was a resident of a skilled nursing facility and two were residents who were not living in a care facility. The total number of fatalities include 191 residents of skilled nursing facilities and 14 residents of assisted-living facilities. The number of hospitalized patients in Orange County rose from 594 Saturday to 624, with the number of patients in intensive care rising from 193 to 197. County officials reported that...

Christopher Weber, Associated Press Updated 4:45 pm PDT, Sunday, July 5, 2020 ...

The number of staff and children who have tested positive for the coronavirus after attending YMCA camps in recent weeks is on the rise, top state health officials say. At least 30 confirmed cases of the virus have been identified from camps at Lake Burton and Lake Allatoona, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health. “Th...

A city in northern China on Sunday sounded an alert after a suspected case of bubonic plague was reported, according to official media here. Bayannur, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, announced a level III warning of plague prevention and control, state-run People’s Daily Online reported. The suspected bubonic plague case was reported on Saturday by a hospital in Bayannur. The local health authority announced that the warning period will continue until the end of 2020. "At present, there is a risk of a human plague epidemic spreading in this city. The public should improve its self-protection awareness and ability, and report abnormal health conditions promptly,” the local health authority said. On July 1, state-run Xinhua news agency said that two suspected cases of bubonic plague repor...

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