COVID-19 Online Newsroom

Researchers have developed a DNA test to quickly identify secondary infections in COVID-19 patients, who have double the risk of developing pneumonia while on ventilation than non-COVID-19 patients.

An analysis of the first 250,000 patients admitted to hospital with coronavirus reveals a high mortality and inequities in the quality of healthcare across regions

The US fishing and seafood sector years generated more than $200 billion in annual sales and supported 1.7 million jobs in recent years. It experienced broad declines in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 public health crisis, according to a new NOAA Fisheries analysis released today.

As the vaccination of older adults against COVID-19 begins across the country, new poll data suggests that many of them don't yet have access to the 'patient portal' online systems that could make it much easier for them to schedule a vaccination appointment. The poll finds that 45% of adults aged 65 to 80, and 42% of adults aged 50 to 80, said they hadn't set up an account with their health provider's portal system.

A University of Saskatchewan study has found that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant worsening of already poor dietary habits, low activity levels, sedentary behaviour, and high alcohol consumption among university students.

COVID-19 deaths are indeed different from other lung failure deaths, according to two recent studies, with 56% of COVID-19 patients dying primarily from the lung damage caused by the virus, compared with 22% of those whose lungs fail due to other causes. But, the researchers conclude, the kind of care needed to help sustain people through the worst cases of all forms of lung failure is highly similar, and just needs to be fine-tuned.

In a multicenter study funded by the National Institutes of Health, a combination of two drugs, baricitinib and remdesivir, reduced time to recovery in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The results from sites including UT Health San Antonio and University Health were published Dec. 11 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

A new study finds that due to COVID-19 deaths last year, life expectancy at birth for Americans will shorten by 1.13 years to 77.48 years -- the largest single-year decline in life expectancy in at least 40 years.

As a new, apparently more transmissible version of the virus that causes COVID-19 has appeared in several countries, new research finds that the transmissibility of viral strains and the population density of a region will play big roles in how vaccination campaigns can help towns and cities return to more normal activities. The findings suggest that directing vaccines toward densely populated counties would help to interrupt transmission of the disease.

Use of the diabetes drug metformin -- before a diagnosis of COVID-19 -- is associated with a threefold decrease in mortality in COVID-19 patients with Type 2 diabetes, according to a racially diverse study at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Diabetes is a significant comorbidity for COVID-19. This beneficial effect remained, even after correcting for age, sex, race, obesity, and hypertension or chronic kidney disease and heart failure.

A novel study showed that people who wear face coverings tend to have more contacts with others, putting them at risk of contracting COVID-19. Masking directives should accompanied by forceful messaging stressing the importance of social distancing.

A new national research project to study the effects of emerging mutations in SARS-CoV-2 will be launched with £2.5 million of funding from UK Research and Innovation. The 'G2P-UK' National Virology Consortium will study how mutations in the virus affect key outcomes such as how transmissible it is, the severity of COVID-19 it causes, and the effectiveness of vaccines and treatments.

SEATTLE (January 15, 2021) - A University of Washington physician and professor, whose team of researchers identified the first case of the coronavirus in the United States, has been named "Washingtonian of the Year."

On Friday, January 15, NOAA Fisheries will hold a media teleconference to discuss findings from a new report detailing the COVID-19 pandemic's early economic impact on the US fishing and seafood sector.