Health & Fitness

Montana reported 2 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, May 27, 2020. Big Horn and Yellowstone counties each report 1 new case. The state conducted 1,741 new tests, for a total of 35,643. Yellowstone County health officials reported Tuesday an elderly woman has died from complications due to COVID-19. The death of a woman in her 80s is the third COVID-19 related death in Yellowstone County and the 17th death in Montana. MTN News is counting 480 total cases. The state's confirmed case count is 481, which includes a Jefferson County resident who local health officials say has not been in the state for several weeks. They added that the case was not acquired in Montana and the man has not been in contact with anyone in Montana. There are currently 20 active COVID-19 cases in Montana, accord...

“You are seeing what could be the beginning of what we’ve been seeing in Texas and Arizona,” said Dr. Bill Miller, a professor of epidemiology at the Ohio State University. He described upswings in urban counties in Ohio, a state that saw weeks of steady or declining cases but is now averaging more than 1,000 new confirmed cases a day, the worst so far of the pandemic. “We can’t let our guard down,” he said. For months, Pittsburgh had been both diligent and lucky. The virus began spreading here later than in some early centers of the nation’s crisis, like New York City or Detroit. That gave Pittsburgh time to prepare. At the same time, Pennsylvania, which began facing skyrocketing rates in the eastern half of the state, took a more aggressive approach to shutting down public life than sta...

When COVID-19 began ravaging large U.S. cities like New York and Los Angeles in March 2020, I was living in Orlando, Florida. And while the people living and working in the city were upended, my life remained relatively unchanged. I watched as my friends from around the country were ordered to stay inside. Meanwhile. I carelessly frolicked on white, sandy beaches. As those with the means to leave their small apartments in densely populated cities contemplated moving to a safer state, I was traveling to Siesta Key and Sanibel Island without a single worry. It almost felt like Florida was in a bubble, immune to the societal and physical affects of COVID-19. When the first COVID-19 case hit the United States in January of this year, the state of Florida was unfazed. Even when the virus ...

In the ongoing mission to understand why some people are more impacted by COVID-19 than others, in the past six months researchers have learned that blood type plays a major role. Several studies have found links between specific blood types and not only the likelihood of contracting the virus, but also risk of death. Now, another study has found that people with a specific blood type might actually get some protection against the highly infectious virus, making them less likely to catch coronavirus.  As part of an ongoing massive study involving more than 750,000 participants, genetic testing company 23andMe claims that early data suggests Type O blood appears to be protective against the virus when compared to other blo...

The disease investigators arrived at the apartment in street clothes, carrying their gowns, gloves and face shields in Whole Foods bags. They didn’t knock on the door. Instead, they called the resident — a man in his 50s, then California’s first known coronavirus case — by phone.When he answered, he was instructed to move to the farthest corner of the apartment so the team could go inside and suit up. They had come to the apartment building in Orange County to make sure the man was where he promised to be — and that he was isolating there, completely alone. “First case. New virus. We weren’t going to take people’s word for it,” recalled the county’s medical director of communicable disease control, Dr. Matthew Zahn, who oversaw the operation. They asked about symptoms in the patien...

“Wait. I can catch Covid twice?” my 50-year-old patient asked in disbelief. It was the beginning of July, and he had just tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, for a second time — three months after a previous infection. While there’s still much we don’t understand about immunity to this new illness, a small but growing number of cases like his suggest the answer is “yes.” Covid-19 may also be much worse the second time around. During his first infection, my patient experienced a mild cough and sore throat. His second infection, in contrast, was marked by a high fever, shortness of breath, and hypoxia, resulting in multiple trips to the hospital. Recent reports and conversations with physician colleagues suggest my patient is not alone. Two patients ...

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When coronavirus first hit in March, the freelance production manager paid about $30 for a three-month premium subscription on the dating app Hinge -- and he figured he'd just keep swiping until that ended. Like many, the 29-year-old used dating apps like Hinge as a way to connect with others, especially since making in-person connections had become nearly impossible with Covid-19 shutdowns. He went on one Facetime date -- the girl, he said, seemed like she was "just going through her matches ... like on a spreadsheet." But on May 29, he had plans to meet up with a different match -- this time in person. A 28-year-old nurse named Brooke, with whom he would hike Runyon Canyon -- Los Angeles' picturesque, influencer-ridden trail. It was in the middle of their approximately three-mile hike, ...

Ultraviolet light has been used to stop pathogens in their tracks for decades. But does it work against SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind the pandemic? The short answer is yes. But it takes the right kind of UV in the right dosage, a complex operation that is best administered by trained professionals. In other words, many at-home UV-light devices claiming to kill SARS-CoV-2 likely aren't a safe bet.  UV radiation can be classified into three types based on wavelength: UVA, UVB and UVC. Nearly all the UV radiation that reaches Earth is UVA, because most of UVB and all of UVC light is absorbed by the ozone layer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And it's UVC, which has the shortest wavelength and the highest energy, that can act as a disinfectant.  Related: What...

Restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus, are hampering efforts to cope with seasonal outbreaks of dengue, an incurable, mosquito-borne disease, doctors have warned. Also known as “breakbone fever” for its severely painful symptoms, at least 1.1 million cases of dengue and nearly 400 deaths from the disease have been reported in Brazil, where there are over 1.6 million COVID-19 infections. Southeast Asian countries like Singapore and Indonesia have also dealt with concurrent outbreaks of dengue and coronavirus this year. Cases are likely to rise soon with the start of seasonal rains in Latin American countries like Cuba, Chile and Costa Rica, as well as the South Asian countries of India and Pakistan. Dengue typically isn’t fatal, but severe cases may require hosp...