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THE VILLAGES, Fla. — For months, many of the residents at one of America’s biggest retirement communities went about their lives as if the coronavirus barely existed. They played bridge. They held dances. They went to house parties in souped-up golf carts that looked like miniature Jaguars and Rolls-Royces. And for months they appeared to have avoided the worst of the pandemic. From March through mid-June, there were fewer than 100 cases in the Villages, a sprawling community in Central Florida where about 120,000 people mostly 55 and older live. But now as cases spike across Florida, the virus appears to have caught up with the residents of the Villages. Since the beginning of July, hospital admissions of residents from the Villages have quadrupled at University of Florida Health Th...

If you’re waiting for a break from bad news about COVID, don’t hold your breath — or, actually, do hold your breath. Experts have understood for months that the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, can be spread by hitching a ride inside large respiratory droplets that are expelled when someone coughs, sneezes or talks. But there’s growing evidence that smaller airborne particles called aerosols can carry and spread the virus, too. The methods for preventing spread from respiratory droplets are familiar: social distancing, frequent hand-washing and wearing a mask. But the methods for stopping aerosols, which are lightweight and may be able to hang in the air for hours, are less obvious and often rely on technology. But can something like an air filter really stop a seemi...

An aerosol-based drug treatment could drastically reduce the number of new coronavirus patients dying from the disease or requiring intensive care, according to preliminary results released by a British biotech firm. In a randomised trial of 100 patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, those who received an inhaled formula of the protein interferon beta were at 79 percent lower risk of developing the severe disease compared with those who received a placebo. They were also more than twice as likely to make a full recovery compared with the control group. The firm behind the treatment, known as SNG001, said the preliminary results suggested "a major breakthrough" in the pandemic. "We are all delighted with the trial results announced today, which showed that SNG001 greatly redu...

Image copyright AFP Image caption Most of Blackburn's new cases are in the south Asian community A local lockdown in Blackburn with Darwen is "the very last resort" in tackling the area's rise in coronavirus cases, its public health boss has said. The Lancashire borough is overtaking Leicester as England's coronavirus hotspot, according to official figures. It recorded the highest infection rate, with 79.2 cases per 100,000 people, in the week to 17 July, Public Health England said. Prof Dominic Harrison said he would be "reluctant" to impose a local lockdown. The number of cases in the borough nearly doubled...

Washington — As school districts weigh whether to reopen classrooms for in-person instruction in the coming weeks, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former head of the Food and Drug Administration, warned there could be a surge in reports of post-viral syndromes that may be tied to the coronavirus, just as children prepare to return. In an interview with "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Gottlieb said illnesses such as pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome, clusters of which have been reported in the United States, are currently being investigated. Gottlieb said one study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated the illness occurred roughly 25 days after children displayed symptoms for the coronavirus. "Given the fact that we've seen a spike in infections among kids, we would ...