Q: It’s finally fall, and my kids are back in school. Can we start seeing friends and doing sports & lessons? A: There are ways to make socializing safer and SMARTer if you remember that reducing your risk of contracting COVID-19 adds up—it is NOT all-or-nothing. You and your family can use a “risk budget” Read more…
Q: Ekay from San Jose asks if it is safe to give or receive hugs? A: Hugs bring many psychological benefits AND can be done with relatively low risk. As you might guess, pandemic precautions still apply. If you plan on dishing out hugs, your SMART toolkit will help maximize the benefits which include happy Read more…
R: ¡No, cúbrase la nariz! ¿Por qué? Porque la nariz es frecuentemente el primer lugar donde el virus se adjunta y es un lugar en donde también se replica. Esto puede ser por ACE2 — el receptor de la superficie celular que usa el virus para ingresar a las células — es más abundante en Read more…
Q: Do I have any other options? Help! A: Maybe – depending on your state. Now that we are 4 weeks away from the election, states with early voting may be starting soon or have already opened their polls! We came across a WONDERFUL chart on early voting from the bipartisan group, National Conference of Read more…
Wondering how you can let your neighbors know about your SMART Halloween plan to deliver treats from a safe distance? Well, so did we! That’s why we made this handy sign! Nerdy Girls are ordering theirs to be printed as lawn signs now, in time for Halloween delivery. Download your free printable sign from our Read more…
R: Analogía del humo. Pensar que todas las personas con que nos encontramos exhalan humo, y queremos respirar el menos posible. Humo es aerosol, se comporta en aire muy similar a aerosoles respiratorios con virus. En lo concreto, lo más importante es hacer afuera todo lo que se pueda. Afuera, con distancia y mascarilla es Read more…
A: No, Sweden has not reached herd immunity, nor have they fared well economically or with respect to COVID-19 mortality. Swedes also voluntarily changed behavior more than is frequently assumed. While there has been a fascination with being Sweden during this pandemic, there are many misconceptions about their experience that are worth clearing up: *Myth Read more…
R: Varios factores han dado lugar a muchas inquietudes sobre si una vacuna aprobada será segura. El primer factor es la velocidad en que se están desarrollando las vacunas – mucho más rápido que cualquier otro cronograma de desarrollo de vacunas anteriores. El segundo factor es la politización percibida del proceso de aprobación. En una Read more…
A: On *average*, about 80% of symptomatic cases will recover without hospitalization. But (big big but): your mileage may vary. One of the things epidemiologists study is the “natural history” of a disease — or how a given disease progresses in individuals from start to finish. Most diseases and conditions have a stylized or typical Read more…
A: A negative test result does NOT mean that Mr. Pence and Mr. Biden are COVID-free… even if that happens to be really inconvenient for them. Everyone who has been near the President of the United States in the last week (or who has been around anyone else with COVID-19 for that matter) should self-quarantine Read more…
A. The Helsinki-Vantaa airport welcomed COVID-19-sniffing dogs to their staff last week, hoping to use their keen sense of smell to detect COVID-19 positive patients up to 5 days before symptoms appear. Dubai International Airport also has a team of dogs sniffing for COVID-19. Here’s how the airport testing works: Prospective passengers rub a wipe Read more…
Dr. Leininger and Dr. Jones tackle follower questions in this not-quite-live Q&A session. We’re answering questions about how to have an honest conversation about your pod (3:00), kids and transmission (7:00), fomites (12:45) and … how to think about Joe Biden’s negative test result from Friday, Oct 2 (at 17:20). Related links: What is the Read more…
S. Space: keep your distance from other people. M. Mask: wear a mask! A. Air: take the fun outdoors. R. Restrict: Avoid crowds (especially indoor crowds)! Don’t expand your COVID bubble on Halloween. T. Time: Keep your interactions short & sweet. We have updated our SMART graphic for the holiday. Feel free to pass this Read more…
A: Too early to say. But we should know more soon. Vitamin D is a micronutrient that is present and supplemented in food, taken as a supplement, and made when the skin is exposed to ultraviolet rays (UV). It helps to keep bones growing and prevent them from breaking down. Vitamin D is also thought Read more…
A: It’s complicated…. but YES! In this update of a post from July, we take stock of what’s new in tracking how lethal SARS-CoV-1 actually is. First some definitions: Case Fatality Rate (CFR): % of confirmed cases who die. In the U.S., the estimated CFR is currently 2.9% In the U.K., the estimated CFR is Read more…
R: Tristemente, no. Teniendo una o dos vacunas definitivamente nos ayudará a regresar a la normalidad, pero esto no sucederá de la noche a la mañana, por al menos dos razones. La primera razón es porque no habrán suficientes vacunas para que todos se vacunen inmediatamente. Muchos países, incluyendo los EE.UU., están formulando “planes de Read more…
A: There are tons of myths and misconceptions out there about the flu shot. This week, our Friendly Family Doc breaks them down and sets the record straight! Myth: The flu vaccine causes the flu. Fact: Nope! There are multiple formulations of the influenza vaccine, both injectable and a nasal spray. Flu shots contain inactive Read more…
R: El término “inmunidad colectiva” o “inmunidad de rebaño”, es también llamado a veces “inmunidad comunitaria”, y se refiere a una situación en la que muchas personas de una población no son susceptibles a un virus, ya sea porque ya lo han tenido y es poco probable que lo vuelvan a contraer, o porque han Read more…
A: The word “superspreader” simply refers to someone who is infected with COVID-19 and–somehow–manages to pass it along to a whole lot of other people. Specifically, a superspreader infects many more people than you would expect based on the averages. We’ve seen situations where one infected person got dozens of others sick. We’ve also seen Read more…
