HEALTH AND SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

October 7,  2020 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• COVID-19 Is Transmitted Through Aerosols. We Have Enough Evidence, Now It Is Time to Act (Time.com)
• Huge Study of Coronavirus Cases in India Offers Some Surprises to Scientists (New York Times)
• COVID-19 then and now: Six reasons why death rates are improving  (San Jose Mercury News)
• When can you be around others if you had or likely had COVID-19?  (CDC)
• Some Insurers End Pandemic Waivers of Fees and Deductibles for Telehealth (New York Times)
• NPR Investigation: Web Of 'Wellness' Doctors Push Unproven COVID-19 Treatment  (NPR)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• How to track your ballot like a UPS package (Washington Post)
• Facebook bans QAnon across its platforms (NBC)
• Federal court issues preliminary injunction halting administration’s ban of Chinese app WeChat (Washington Post)
• NASA outlines $28 billion plan to land the first woman on the Moon by 2024 (CNN)
• With the Feds circling, Google is starting to play nice with smaller rivals  (Reuters)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

HEALTH

COVID-19 Is Transmitted Through Aerosols. We Have Enough Evidence, Now It Is Time to Act (Time.com)

… Contact tracing shows that, when it comes to COVID-19, being outdoors is 20 times safer than being indoors, which argues that aerosol transmission is much more important than droplets… We should continue doing what has already been recommended: wash hands, keep six feet apart, and so on. But that is not enough. A new, consistent and logical set of recommendations must emerge to reduce aerosol transmission.. Avoid Crowding, Indoors, low Ventilation, Close proximity, long Duration, Unmasked, Talking/singing/Yelling…These are the important factors in mathematical models of aerosol transmission.

Huge Study of Coronavirus Cases in India Offers Some Surprises to Scientists (New York Times)

The rate of death went down in patients over 65. Researchers also found that children of all ages became infected and spread the virus to others.

COVID-19 then and now: Six reasons why death rates are improving  (San Jose Mercury News)

The sickest coronavirus patients can live for weeks with a gripping headache, profound nausea, burning lungs, malaise, cough and waves of pain in their bones. They may be tethered to a breathing machine. But eight months into the pandemic, fewer are dying. 

When can you be around others if you had or likely had COVID-19?  (CDC)

When you can be around others (end home isolation) depends on different factors for different situations.  Find CDC’s recommendations for your situation below.

Some Insurers End Pandemic Waivers of Fees and Deductibles for Telehealth (New York Times)

The coronavirus outbreaks had prompted the nation’s largest insurers to stop charging co-pays or requiring deductibles for virtual visits, but some consumers will now have to pay those fees again.

NPR Investigation: Web Of 'Wellness' Doctors Push Unproven COVID-19 Treatment  (NPR)

An NPR investigation has identified more than 30 medical practices in more than a dozen states promoting unproven claims that the drug thymosin alpha-1, which is administered via injection, can prevent or treat COVID-19.

SCIENCE AND TECH

How to track your ballot like a UPS package (Washington Post)

Worried about Election Day? Now if you vote by mail, you can obsessively track your ballot’s every move online.

Facebook bans QAnon across its platforms (NBC)

The change is a significant escalation over its previous actions targeting QAnon and one of the broadest rules the social media giant has put in place in its history.

Federal court issues preliminary injunction halting administration’s ban of Chinese app WeChat (Washington Post)

The ruling means neither the ban on WeChat nor a separate one on the short-form video app TikTok will take place as originally scheduled.

NASA outlines $28 billion plan to land the first woman on the Moon by 2024 (CNN)

NASA has big plans for 2024. The space agency said that in four years, it plans to land the first woman ever on the Moon and the first man since 1972 through its Artemis program.

With the Feds circling, Google is starting to play nice with smaller rivals  (Reuters)

Small rivals of Alphabet Inc's Google say signs are emerging of more benevolent behavior from the online advertising leader amid accusations by the U.S. government and states that the company uses its dominance to thwart competition.