A general increase in mask-wearing has been encouraging, U.S. public health experts say. But too few young people, especially, are social distancing and taking other steps to slow coronavirus' spread.
A COVID-19 vaccine may be approved before the end of the year. Moderna and Pfizer have candidates in Phase 3 clinical trials now. But the state health department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say critical populations are first in line. That includes some health care workers and people with personal and social vunerabilities.
The dean of Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health on Tuesday said President Donald Trump is largely "anti-science" and the administration's partisan politicalization of the pandemic is discouraging and extremely short-sighted when it comes to establishing trust in the development of a COVID-19 vaccine and a return to "normal."
New enforcement guidelines are now in place, pushing hospitals to comply with rigorous reporting requirements or risk losing a crucial funding stream from the federal government.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extended the 'no sail' order for cruise lines until Oct. 31. The CDC had wanted the delay into next year but the White House reportedly intervened.
Researchers already knew that children under age 10 can catch and transmit the virus in school.
But now, more than 277,000 COVID-19 cases have been reported in children nationwide between March and Sept. 19, and almost twice as many cases occurred among adolescents (ages 12 through 17) than in younger kids.
Friday on Political Rewind: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been the gold standard of global public health organizations for many decades. But recent efforts to marginalize and undermine such trusted public health agencies — including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) — are complicating the COVID-19 response.
How does this affect Americans' perceptions and the country's ability to combat coronavirus, particularly when a vaccine does become available? We discuss the politicization of a pandemic.
Door-to-door trick-or-treating and crowded costume parties are out, and haunted forests and outdoor movie nights are in. "If screaming will likely occur, greater distancing is advised," the CDC says.
The CDC says the guidelines were posted to its website in error. The now-deleted updates were notable because so far the agency has stopped short of saying that the virus is airborne.
Monday on Political Rewind, Georgia’s voting precincts might be required to have paper copies of voter registration and other information on hand in the upcoming election, according to a federal judge.
"We've got to take a deep breath," says one health official about the rapid timeline pushed by the CDC. "It is very clear that we need to lean forward to prepare to deliver the vaccine."
Dr. Moncef Slaoui, chief adviser to the administration's effort to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, said having a vaccine by next month was "not impossible." But a longer timetable appears more likely.
The agency now says contacts of people with COVID-19 don't necessarily need to get tested. Public health experts say less testing of potential carriers could lead to more spread of the disease.
Dr. Deborah Birx says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is creating a new way to track COVID-19 hospitalizations a month after such data collection was moved outside the agency.
