Events:

COVID-19 pandemic

Coverage of the novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the resulting pandemic.

Health

Get a Flu Shot to Prevent a “Twindemic”: Health experts say vaccinations are more important than ever

“Twindemic” is the trendy buzzword for the nightmare scenario in the medical community right now: seasonal influenza rampaging at the same time as the COVID-19 pandemic, two respiratory illnesses with similar symptoms – fever, headache, cough, sore throat, muscle aches, fatigue – stressing health care resources, especially hospital beds. “Getting vaccinated against the flu is […]

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Health

RI COVID-19 Exposure: Surprisingly low, but highly disproportionate by race

Only 2.2% of Rhode Island residents have antibodies in their blood, known as “sero-prevalence,” against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, Brown University Professor Philip Chan, MD, the consultant medical director for the Division of Preparedness, Response, Infectious Disease, and EMS at the RI Department of Health (RIDoH), announced this morning on a press conference […]

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Health

RI Enters Phase 1 of Reopening: The rules are clear, but poorly communicated

RI Gov. Gina Raimondo allowed her stay-at-home executive order to expire March 8, the next day beginning “Phase 1” of at least three such phases, each expected to last at least two weeks. On April 27, she laid out six specific criteria that all had to be met before any of the phased reopening could […]

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Health

A Toast!: RKO Army Raises $4,100 for RI Pride Food Drive

“The Rocky Horror Stay-at-Home Show” was an online event on May 8 that raised more than $4,100 for the RI Pride Emergency Supply Drive, a COVID-19 relief program that provides boxes containing a one-week supply of food and hygiene supplies to those in need. After The Rocky Horror Picture Show film was released in 1975 […]

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Health

Smoothing the Curve: Recent data display from the gov is more artistic than mathematic

RI Gov. Gina Raimondo at her press conference on Saturday, May 2, displayed a chart showing new hospitalizations per day from March 13 to April 26. The point of the chart, the governor claimed, was to illustrate discontinuities on April 1, “Two weeks after first closures,” and April 13, “Two weeks after stay at home […]

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Books

Pandemic Non-fiction: What you don’t know can kill you

There is no shortage of books about diseases through human history, but a few have become definitive classics. I’ve curated an admittedly highly opinionated selection of the best. Some books that arguably would have qualified have been left off simply because they are too old, and medicine changes so rapidly that it could be misleading […]

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Health

Mask Up!: Project Mask RI relies on volunteer help to get masks to those in need

Last month, the CDC revised its guidelines on face masks, encouraging people to wear some kind of face covering, and overnight, face masks became a fixture of our coronavirus world. But with mass shortages in stores and online retailers, how are people supposed to get the PPE they need? Enter Project Mask RI. They’re a […]

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