The Coronavirus Update
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Science & Tech
Staying ahead of virus mutations
EVEscape uses evolutionary and biological information to predict how a virus could change to escape the immune system.
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Nation & World
How federal missteps opened door to COVID misinformation
Anti-vaxxers, others benefited from mistrust engendered by early stumbles in messaging about virus, prevention, says New York Times health and science reporter Apoorva Mandavilli.
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Science & Tech
A COVID cure worse than the disease?
Some worry a treatment that kills SARS-CoV-2 by helping it mutate could spawn a super virus. New research weighs in on its “evolutionary safety.”
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Health
How durable is your immunity?
William Hanage, an associate professor of epidemiology, talks about hybrid protection, vulnerability of older people, and the wisdom of Taylor Swift.
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Health
COVID-19 came from animals. Why aren’t we working to prevent new scourge?
A new study suggests we are as vulnerable as ever to the emergence of another virus as deadly, or even more so, than COVID-19.
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Health
Doctors not the only ones feeling burned out
Through a national survey, researchers identified prevalent work overload, burnout, and intent to leave health care professions among nurses, clinical staff, and non-clinical staff, including housekeeping, administrative staff, lab technicians, and food service workers.
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University to begin transition to unobserved COVID-19 testing
After approval from the FDA, Harvard University will begin to transition to unobserved, self-administered COVID-19 screening tests for all individuals authorized to live or be on campus as part of continued efforts to monitor and control the virus.
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‘Robust protection’
BIDMC-led research team reports vaccine protection against severe COVID-19-related pneumonia and death.
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Where the wild things are — now that humans are locked down
Researchers led by Christian Rutz, 2019–2020 Grass Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, are examining human impact on wildlife using data collected during the pandemic quarantine.
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Why some Americans refuse to social distance and wear masks
Michael Sandel offers up his thoughts on what we owe others in the age of coronavirus.
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The value of talking to strangers — and nodding acquaintances
How COVID-19 is evaporating our casual connections and taking an important source of happiness.
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Breathing freely
Mass General study shows the benefits of inhaled nitric oxide therapy for pregnant patients with severe and critical COVID-19.
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Using data science for social good
In April, the Harvard College Data Analytics Group, a student-led nonprofit organization, created 17 COVID-19 response teams that partnered with 16 organizations and municipal governments to tackle elements of the COVID-19 crisis.
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$30M commitment supports development of therapies for viral infections
Harvard University and AbbVie have announced a $30 million collaborative research alliance to study and develop novel therapies against emergent viral infections, with a focus on those caused by coronaviruses and by viruses that lead to hemorrhagic fever.
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Staying covered
Affordable Care Act key to keeping people insured amid COVID 19-related job losses, study shows.
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Sampling the COVID-19 test
Harvard ramps up sample COVID-19 testing on campus.
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Steps for students returning to campus
Provost Alan M. Garber and Executive Director of Harvard University Health Services Giang Nguyen outline details of plan to bring students back on campus safely.
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Children’s role in spread of virus bigger than thought
A new study has found that children infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 were shown to have a significantly higher level of virus in their airways than hospitalized adults in ICUs for COVID-19 treatment.
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Putting a crown on OMNIVAX
A biomaterials-based infection vaccine strategy shows first promise in eliciting immunity against SARS-CoV-2 and could be applied broadly to stave off infectious disease.
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More than biology influences COVID risk
The GenderSci Lab at Harvard finds that more men than women are dying of COVID-19.
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Medical immersion for students shifts online in pandemic
Students from as far away as Africa and Asia are benefiting from a COVID-prompted shift online of an HMS program that gives high schoolers a taste of life in the exam room.
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7 million face shields and counting
The Wyss Institute made improvements to its face shields based on recommendations from area hospitals. Joining forces with a Mansfield, Mass.-based manufacturer, the institute’s face shields are now being produced at a rate of 400,000 a day.
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Soothing advice for mad America
The anger you’re seeing in the nation and your neighborhood — call it pandemic rage — is not in your imagination, according to a McLean hospital psychologist, who explains where it comes from and how to fight it.
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Cheap, frequent COVID tests could be ‘akin to vaccine,’ professor says
Shifting the U.S.’s COVID-19 testing strategy to emphasize inexpensive, daily tests would break national transmission chains within weeks, an infectious disease testing expert said.
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Reinventing courses that are harder to teach remotely
How Harvard faculty are inventing ways to make “hard-to-teach” courses work online.
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Testing for COVID, ensuring safety
Harvard is testing those who return regularly to campus for COVID-19 at two locations, including Harvard Stadium in Allston. Here are photos of how it’s working.
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Five simple steps would tame COVID-19
Anthony Fauci, one of the government’s top authorities on the coronavirus pandemic, said that simple measures including wearing masks, avoiding bars, and spending time outdoors can tame the pandemic, but only if widely adopted.
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Time to resume COVID restrictions in some safe states?
Officials in states that appear to have COVID-19 under control should keep an eye on a slow rise in cases, and take the chance to enact modest measures before case numbers begin to rise rapidly again, a Harvard expert said.
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Jailing practices appear to fuel coronavirus spread, study says
Quantitative study shows jailing practices in U.S. pose public health risks during the pandemic.
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Single-shot COVID-19 vaccine proves successful with primates
A single-shot COVID-19 vaccine is being developed by scientists led by a Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center immunologist.
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Insights into online learning
Pioneering online-learning initiative edX offers guidance and support as colleges sort out fall plans.
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Vaccines may arrive in record time, but the virus has been faster
Vaccines that might protect against COVID-19 have entered phase 3 trials — the last step before regular approval in humans — in record time, but the virus has moved faster, experts say.
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How COVID-19 causes smell loss
New study finds olfactory support cells, not neurons, are vulnerable to novel coronavirus infection.
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Agonizing over school-reopening plans? Think Marie Kondo
A recent report released by researchers from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology outlines how schools grappling with online and in-person teaching options and making up for lost time can think creatively about reopening.
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‘Before a tsunami hits’
Seven researchers discuss the importance of COVID-19 research and pandemic preparedness, the value of teamwork, and the fragility of life.
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Same old labs but not
Across Harvard’s campuses, non-COVID-19 work is resuming, labs are reopening, and scientists are settling into life in the “new normal.”