COVID-19 trending upward in Europe
With colder weather approaching, officials are reporting new spikes in COVID-19 cases. Meantime, the "infodemic" of misinformation remains most challenging obstacle to pandemic control.
COVID-19 cases are resurging in Italy and France, among other places. Italy reported its first day with more than 2,000 new cases since April.
The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Latinos in the United States is causing "historic decimation" and ravaging generations of loved ones in Hispanic families, according to Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
COVID-19 has killed at least 117 police officers in 2020, far more than any other cause of death among law enforcement, according to the Washington Post and the Officer Down Memorial Page.
The single biggest driver of the COVID-19 “infodemic” — the viral spread of false information about the disease, is President Trump, according to an analysis of 38 million English-language publications from around the world by Cornell University researchers. They note that most of the misinformation is conveyed via the news media “without question or correction.” Read more in the New York Times.
I think we knew this already: stay-at-home orders drove an increase in alcohol consumption, a study finds.
I’m putting stories that are mostly political below the line. These are important to know for future policy decisions, but they are not impactful immediately.
The White House told staffers to not wear masks after National Security Council officials started wearing them in February.
Seven former FDA commissioners co-signed a Washington Post op-ed declaring that ending the pandemic requires politicians to keep their hands off the FDA. “With more than 750 Americans on average dying a day from covid-19, the FDA must be supported to play its unique and essential role. Scientists should make decisions based on data, unfettered by political pressure or the intrusions of ideology or vested interests. Political intrusion only prolongs the pandemic and erodes our public health institutions,” the bipartisan group of former FDA leaders wrote.