Science, Space, Health & Robotics News - Page 1

A new strain of coronavirus has been found, and it's different from the variant that was first located in the United Kingdom.

According to reports, the new coronavirus variant has been linked to outbreaks in Santa Clara County, which is located southeast of San Francisco. BusinessInsider reports that this new variant has been linked to at least 90 infections and one official death. As previously mentioned, the UK coronavirus strain is labeled B.1.1.7, and this new variant that has been found is called "L452R".

BusinessInsider says that this new variant is spreading rapidly throughout California, and according to Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody, "The fact that this variant was identified in several large outbreaks in our county is a red flag and must be investigated further. This virus continues to mutate and adapt, and we cannot let down our guard." Researchers have said that it's still "too soon" to know if this new variant spreads faster than the main strain of COVID-19 or if it impacts the human body differently.

Coronavirus vaccines are being rolled out around the country, and now the nation's leading infectious disease expert has said that two more vaccines will be arriving in the US within weeks.

In a recent interview with NBC's 'Meet The Press', Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, said that vaccine manufacturers AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson will be submitting their clinical-trial data to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week.

If approved by the Data and Safety Monitoring Board, which consists of an independent board of experts, the US would have two more vaccines available for distribution. It should be noted that Johnson & Johnson are closer to submitting data than AstraZeneca. Johnson & Johnson has previously said that it is on track for a vaccine rollout in March. For more information on this story, check out this link here.

A new study from the United Kingdom has revealed the shocking odds of a person recovering from a mild COVID-19 infection and then dying only months later.

Researchers and scientists from the Leicester University and the Office for National Statistics found out of the 47,780 who were discharged from the hospital, nearly 30% (29.4%) were readmitted within the next 140 days. Of the total number of people who were readmitted, 12.3% ended up dying. According to the report, people who suffer long-lasting COVID-19 symptoms can develop heart problems, diabetes, and chronic liver and kidney conditions.

Kamlesh Khunti, the study author said, "People seem to be going home, getting long-term effects, coming back in and dying. We see nearly 30 percent have been readmitted, and that's a lot of people. The numbers are so large." It's shocking to discover that almost a third of recovered COVID-19 patients that returned back to hospital within five months, and up to 1 in 8 eventually died of health complications caused by the initial COVID-19 infection.

Coronavirus vaccines are being rolled out around the country, and now one top epidemiologist has said that vaccine providers need to stop giving out this specific vaccine.

That one top epidemiologist is from California and is named Dr. Erica Pan. Dr. Pan said in a statement on Sunday that a recommendation to halt vaccine administrations has been issued regarding a specific lot of Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. Dr. Pan has put out this recommendation because the vaccine has been linked to possible allergic reactions that are currently being investigated.

Here's what Pan said, "Our goal is to provide the COVID vaccine safely, swiftly and equitably. A higher-than-usual number of possible allergic reactions were reported with a specific lot of Moderna vaccine administered at one community vaccination clinic." The recommendation is for the 041L20A Moderna vaccine, which more than 33,000 doses from this were provided to 287 locations across the state. If you are interested in reading more about this story, check out this link here.

COVID-19 is spreading like wildfire across the United States, and now we are hearing reports about health authorities identifying new strains of COVID-19.

Reports have indicated that there are several states that have found new strains of COVID-19, and while this may be surprising to the general public, it isn't surprising for researchers. So, why is the virus mutating into these different strains? According to researchers, the virus is mutating because of its unchecked transmission throughout the country.

Ben Bimber, a research professor at Oregon Health and Science University, said, "The only way to [stop emergence of new variants] is to stop the spread of the virus." Additionally, Bimber said that every time that the virus replicates, "it's an opportunity to mutate, if there's more people infected, there's simply more virus out there and it has more opportunities to mutate." So, how does it actually work?

Dr. Fauci has said that if you really want to avoid coronavirus, you need to have one of these devices in your home.

With the coronavirus pandemic continuing to rage on, many people don't feel safe leaving their homes, and for good reason as well. However, as multiple public health authorities have pointed out, much of the community transmission occurs in the home, which means that our homes aren't a complete safe haven. So, what can you do to protect your home? Dr. Anthony Fauci has a suggestion.

Dr. Anthony Fauci is the nation's leading infectious disease expert and has recently backed the purchasing of one product that can protect your home against COVID-19. That product is high-efficiency particulate air systems or HEPA filters. These air filters remove any COVID-19 particles from the air, thus making your living space much cleaner and COVID-19 free.

Many people who get infected with COVID-19 only develop mild symptoms, but now researchers have discovered that even if a person survives their mild symptoms, they can have health problems months later.

The official terminology for this "post-acute COVID syndrome", and according to an article by ABC7, it is especially prevalent in people who are between the ages of 40 and 50 and who have suffered mild COVID-19 symptoms. Doctors are now reporting people within these categories returning back to the doctor's office months later with crippling health problems.

One of these people is Jeff Engman, a 58-year-old who said he was in the "best shape of my life" before COVID-19. Once he caught COVID-19, he experienced fatigue and said, "The fatigue, I was really drained and, you know, could hardly get out of bed". After a few weeks, Engman said that he believed that he recovered from the infection, and now 10 months later, he has found out that "COVID caused some abscesses in my lungs."

The World Health Organization leader has said that the world is on the brink of a " catastrophic moral failure".

The director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has said that because richer countries are getting coronavirus vaccines before poor countries, the pandemic will be prolonged. Tedros spoke about this topic during a virtual event on Monday, and he said that richer countries are buying up all of the COVID-19 vaccines, leaving none for the poorer countries. Tedros calls this a moral dilemma.

"More than 39 million doses of vaccine have now been administered in at least 49 higher-income countries. Just 25 doses have been given in one lowest-income country. Not 25 million; not 25,000; just 25," said Tedros. The WHO chief continued and said that he considers this me-first approach to be very self defeating and that the rich countries buying up all of the vaccines will result in a heavy price being paid.

A new recall has been made by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) regarding a popular skin cream.

According to the CPSC's new recall listing, a recall has been made for skin cream called Scalpa Numb. The recall has been made due to the product's packaging not being child-safe, which is a necessity under the Poison Prevention Packaging Act (PPPA) because the product contains the active ingredient lidocaine.

The National Capital Poison Center has said that lidocaine is an effective local anesthetic, but if ingested, it can cause numbness of the mouth and throat, which may lead to trouble swallowing or even choking. If it is consumed in larger doses, lidocaine can affect vital organs such as the brain and heart. The CPSC says that anyone who owns this cream should stop using it immediately and contact the company for a full refund. More information can be found here.

By now, you would have thought that coronavirus has reached every corner of the globe one way or another, but that isn't the case for eleven countries.

There are actually places in the world that have completely dodged the coronavirus pandemic, and while that does sound weird since the US is living through the worst of it, it's actually true. What isn't surprising is that the places that are untouched by COVID-19 are Pacific island nations that have barely any outside traffic.

Many of these countries also locked down their countries early in the pandemics' rise, which stopped any outbreaks from emerging. In the entirety of this article, you will find a list of each of the countries that are untouched by COVID-19. If you want more information on this story, check out this link here.