#covid-19

#covid-19

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

A family doctor accused of professional misconduct over his public comments on Covid-19 measures and restrictions had criticised "virtually every aspect of the State's response to the pandemic," a medical inquiry has heard.

Zhang Zhan, who was released from prison in May 2024 after serving four years behind bars, is expected to go on trial on Friday at the Shanghai Pudong New Area people's courtfor picking quarrels and provoking trouble, a catch-all term used to target government critics. Antoine Bernard, a director of advocacy and assistance for Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a press freedom NGO, said Zhang's trial this week was not only prosecution, it's persecution.

COVID-19 is no longer one of the top 10 causes of death in the U.S. Early data on deaths in 2024, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, show that COVID dropped from the list for the first time since the start of the pandemic. It became the third leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2020, and remained among the leading causes until now.

"Patients may self-attest to their qualifying condition-no proof or additional documentation is required," Walgreens spokesperson Brigid Sweeny told SFGATE in an email. "We encourage anyone with questions about their eligibility or personal risk factors to speak directly with our pharmacists, who are available to provide guidance and support."

COVID-19 rates are still climbing as September begins, riding a summer spike that never really dissipated. And flu season is right around the corner, as cooler weather is expected to arrive across much of the country. At the same time, getting your COVID-19 and flu shots might seem a little complicated. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic and the current secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has taken steps to limit or undermine vaccines.

Associates crave training and mentorship opportunities, but not every Biglaw firm has been able to fulfill their end of the bargain. The American Lawyer just released its midlevel associates survey, and as noted by Dan Roe, "the sheer existence of a mentorship program or formal training doesn't guarantee that midlevel associates are being adequately mentored." He goes on to explain that today's midlevels are seeking out guidance, but that some programs are missing the mark:

Things seem to be going well at the CDC, the federal agency charged with protecting US public health. By well I mean terrible, thanks to the leadership of the health and human services secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, Not only is the agency in complete disarray under his leadership, but the secretary's fringe agenda is now also putting the lives of everyone in the country at risk.

Barnes & Noble Booksellers, a retailer that itself has closed some stores, has emerged as the sole candidate to buy Books Inc., according to documents on file with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Barnes & Noble agreed to pay $3.25 million, according to a letter of intent dated July 7. The potential purchase appears to be an all-or-nothing gambit to survive, a court filing by Books Inc. Chief Executive Officer Andrew Perham indicates. Books Inc. filed for bankruptcy in January.

Five years ago we were in the throes of the Covid pandemic. Many businesses were shuttered, their employees working from home or online. Essential workers were putting their lives at risk. Most schools had gone to remote learning. Hospitals were overwhelmed and bodies were literally piling up. By the end of September 2020, 200,000 Americans had died from the virus which would eventually take more than one million lives in this country alone.

The CDC's chief medical officer Debra Houry also resigned her position, according to internal emails viewed by Axios. Daniel Jernigan, CDC's director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases and the CDC's director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Demetre Daskalakis, also resigned their posts on Wednesday, according to the emails. Requests for comment from HHS and the White House were not immediately returned.

By many measures, the coronavirus is a thing of the past. Masks have been stored away. Social distancing is just a vague memory. Interest in vaccines is waning. COVID, for many, feels like an inevitable annoyance, like the flu. Then, each summer, we get a rude reminder. The season of travel and fun continues to bring a spike in COVID-19 activity, far less profound than during the height of the pandemic but enough for people to notice and worry.

Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) proposes that humans have innate capacities to hold certain moral values, which are then either nurtured or stunted by socio-cultural forces. The five morals typically listed are care, fairness, in-group loyalty, respect (for authority), and purity; other versions propose additional values such as liberty (which was primarily devised to distinguish Libertarians). Political conservatives tend to score highly across all five morals, while political liberals tend to score highly only in care and fairness ( Haidt & Nosek, 2009). Parasitic-Stress Theory (PST) proposes that human values were fundamentally shaped, as we evolved, by the interaction of our ancestors with parasites and diseases ( Fincher & Thornhill, 2014).

The Lane House was conceived to create an outdoor exercise space during the COVID-19 pandemic, integrating a sports area and cycling or running track into the house.

'Yes it's been a long wait. We actually started this project about seven years ago but because of Covid it's taken all this time to be truly satisfied with the final product,' Ash says.

The new right emerged as a response to societal changes post-2020, such as enforced lockdowns and vaccinations, criticizing perceived excesses of social justice movements.

'Our recent research found that parents, compared to non-parents, reported higher desire for and engagement in infidelity during periods of significant external stress, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.'