Switzerland is now the world’s safest country since the pandemic started, followed by Germany and Israel, according to a Regional Safety Assessment of 200 territories and regions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, Asia and Europe were the regions most successful in fighting the coronavirus although there were wide variations within Europe in terms of how countries […] Continue reading ->
Stay-at-home orders and lockdown measures helped greatly limit the spread of coronavirus in 11 European countries from the start of the epidemic to May 4th, according to a new modeling paper published in Nature on Monday.  Some 3.1 million deaths were averted across the study countries thanks to “non-pharmaceutical measures” such as lockdowns and social […] Continue reading ->
Aerosol transmission of COVID-19 is looking to be more significant, and it is ‘essential’ to introduce widespread mask use to reduce COVID-19 transmission by that route – aerosol chemists and infectious disease researchers wrote in a commentary published in Science.  The authors refer to a growing body of evidence on aerosols and masks that runs […] Continue reading ->
In light of millions of smokers attempting to quit the vice during the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry has employed ‘very mean’, ‘very subtle’ and ‘very targeted’ tactics to hook young populations to “deadly’ tobacco products, according to WHO experts.  “The tobacco industry understands what they’re doing, they’re targeting these children and adolescents. And that’s deliberate. […] Continue reading ->
As global COVID-19 cases topped 5 million this past week, Latin America has surpassed Europe and the United States in terms of new cases being reported everyday, said WHO Regional Director for the Americas, Carissa Etienne, at a Pan American Health Organization press conference on Tuesday. There have been almost 32,000 new cases of COVID-19 […] Continue reading ->
Due to COVID-19, polio and measles campaigns have been suspended in 27 countries, and polio vaccination campaigns have been put on hold in 38 countries,  UNICEF’s Executive Director Henrietta Fore has warned.  Some 80 million infants in at least 68 countries are likely to be affected by the suspension of routine immunization services, said Fore […] Continue reading ->