Coronavirus weekly need-to-know: In-person voting, herd immunity, hearing loss & more
Each week, McClatchy News offers you a round-up of our noteworthy coronavirus coverage.
More than 7.9 million people in the United States have tested positive for the coronavirus as of Friday, Oct. 16, according to Johns Hopkins University. That includes more than 217,000 people who have died nationwide.
The United States leads the world in both confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths.
Globally, there have been more than 38.9 million confirmed cases of the highly infectious virus, with more than 1 million deaths reported, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Here’s the news you need to know for the week of Oct. 12.
In-person voting risks
Experts across the country agree that voting in person can be safe, as long as proper precautions are taken to mitigate viral spread. Many liken the risks to those of grocery shopping.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agrees — the more and longer a person interacts with others, the higher their risk of contracting the coronavirus. That of course depends on a number of factors, including your personal risk level, how many COVID-19 cases are in your area, if waiting areas are indoors or outdoors, and the precautions you and your voting center will take to ensure everyone’s safety.
Here’s how to safely vote in person.
Herd immunity
A group of 80 scientists from across the globe signed a letter warning the world about the risks surrounding a herd immunity approach to overcoming the coronavirus pandemic, stating it’s “a dangerous fallacy unsupported by scientific evidence.”
The letter’s publication comes after the release of “The Great Barrington Declaration” on Oct. 4 that says public health measures during the pandemic should be led by a herd immunity approach, stating those who are not vulnerable to COVID-19 “should immediately be allowed to resume life as normal.”
Here’s what experts say about herd immunity and COVID-19.
Hearing loss
Aside from asthma, a healthy 45-year-old man in the U.K. experienced sudden permanent hearing loss as a result of his coronavirus infection, doctors say. It’s the first official case in that country.
Although uncommon in coronavirus patients so far, this side effect has been reported a handful of times since the pandemic began. Still, experts say there’s not enough evidence to draw direct connections between SARS-CoV-2 and hearing problems because these issues can be caused by outside factors.
Read on to learn more about hearing loss and viral infections.
Coronavirus lifespan on surfaces
A new study out of Australia found that the coronavirus can survive on common surfaces such as money, phone screens and stainless steel for about a month in room temperature conditions — a time frame that surpasses those from other studies.
The coronavirus was also found to last 10 days longer on some surfaces than influenza, the virus that causes the seasonal flu.
Experts explain what you need to do to protect yourself from potentially contaminated items such as your phone.
Man twice infected with COVID-19
A 25-year-old Nevada man tested positive for the coronavirus six weeks after he originally contracted the disease.
In the report, researchers studied the viruses that caused the man’s infections and determined they had different genetic makeups. The findings suggest he was infected two separate times.
Here’s what experts say this means about coronavirus immunity.
Warning about Thanksgiving gatherings
Americans may need to avoid holding Thanksgiving gatherings to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, Dr. Anthony Fauci said.
Safe Thanksgiving celebrations could be held if people have been recently tested for the coronavirus or are living a lifestyle with “very little interaction with others.”
Continue reading to learn how to have a safe holiday.
More deaths indirectly tied to coronavirus
About 225,000 more Americans died between March and July during the pandemic — a 20% jump from previous years, a new study out of Virginia says. Of those excess deaths, just 67%, or about 150,500 people, were a direct result of COVID-19.
This means that nearly 75,000 more people may have indirectly died from the coronavirus pandemic than official death counts reported in that time.
Put another way, for every two U.S. deaths attributed to the coronavirus, a third occurs because of disruptions caused by the pandemic.
Here’s what else the study found.
Videos show how COVID-19 may spread
Detailed videos of speech spittle offer some good news: face masks can “effectively contain a significant portion of expelled aerosols,” and even wearing lip balm can reduce how many droplets form during speaking.
It’s been thought that respiratory droplet formation originates from deep in the lungs or in the upper airway (throat and mouth), but this study reveals bursting saliva jumps from the lips instead.
Just because someone may be a “superemitter,” someone who spits a lot when they talk, that doesn’t mean they can be a superspreader of COVID-19 or other diseases that spread via saliva, the researchers say.
Experts explain what this means for asymptomatic coronavirus spread.
In other coronavirus coverage outside McClatchy...
- Young, healthy people may have to wait until 2022 for vaccine, top WHO scientist says
- Blood type could be linked to Covid-19 risk and severity, new research suggests
- Pfizer to begin testing COVID-19 vaccine in kids as young as 12
- Japan supercomputer shows humidity affects aerosol spread of coronavirus
- A coronavirus vaccine will save more lives if we share it widely
- Johnson & Johnson pauses Covid-19 vaccine trial after ‘unexplained illness’
