Tag: coronavirus

Domestic Violence More Than Doubled Under Lockdowns, New Study Finds

Analyzing government-mandated lockdowns in India, researchers Saravana Ravindran and Manisha Shah found evidence of a 131 percent increase in complaints of domestic violence in May 2020 in “red zone districts,” or districts that experienced the strictest lockdown measures, relative to districts that had less strict measures (“green zones”).

The researchers, who used a difference-in-differences empirical strategy, found the increase in domestic violence complaints was consistent with a surge in Google search activity for terms related to domestic violence over the same period.

The authors’ findings “contribute to a growing literature on the impacts of lockdowns and stay-at-home policies on violence against women during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The findings, which also found a decline in reported sexual assaults because of decreased mobility, are similar to those from research that found lockdowns led to a 100 percent increase in intimate partner violence calls in Mexico City. A study analyzing data from police departments in four US cities showed smaller increases in domestic violence, 10-27 percent, during lockdown periods.

Globally about one-third of women experience “intimate partner violence” (IPV), which negatively impacts female earnings, labor participation, earnings, mental health, and household consumption.

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Autopsy shows Wellington nurse died of kidney infection, not COVID-19

A report from the Palm Beach County Medical examiner obtained by CBS12 News shows that a young Wellington nurse believed to have passed from COVID-19, was never infected with the virus at all.

The report shows that 33-year-old Danielle DiCenso died from “complications of acute pyelonephritis,” otherwise known as a kidney infection.

DiCenso was quarantining at home when she died suddenly in her sleep. Before she passed away, DiCenso was tested for COVID-19 after she was reportedly exposed to the virus at work.

Her husband, David DiCenso told CBS12 News that the young nurse was not given proper PPE at her job at Palmetto General in Hialeah. He said she began experiencing coronavirus symptoms in late March, and her test came back inconclusive.

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Florida Keys couple jailed for refusing to quarantine

 Two residents of the Florida Keys have been jailed for failing to quarantine after testing positive for the new coronavirus.

Jose Interian, 24, and Yohana Gonzalez, 26, are facing charges of violating isolation rules for a quarantine and violating emergency management disaster preparedness rules, according to jail records. They were arrested Wednesday in Key West, officials said.

The Miami Herald reports Interian and Gonzalez had been ordered by the health department to quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19, but neighbors said they were ignoring the order.

Someone videotaped the couple and gave it to Key West police, according to Greg Veliz, Key West’s city manager.

“There were complaints from the neighborhood of them continuing to be outside, going about normal life functions,” Veliz said.

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Connecticut State Lab Finds 90 False Positives Out Of 144 Coronavirus Tests Administered In Mid-June

90 people in the state of Connecticut were found to actually have been negative for coronavirus after receiving positive tests, MSN reported on Tuesday.

The state’s Department of Public Health said that its state laboratory found a “flaw” in one of its testing systems and that 90 of 144 people who were tested for the virus between June 15 and June 17 received false positive tests. 161 specimens were collected and a total of 91 of those showed false positives. 

Many of those who received the false tests were nursing home residents.

The state said that it reported the flaw to the test manufacturer and the FDA. It has taken “immediate steps” to make sure patients have been notified – hopefully more than just forwarding them a copy of this article. 

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Vaccine developer says people must wear masks and socially distance even after vaccine is available

Several companies are working as quickly as possible to develop a safe and effective vaccine, which has been viewed by some as necessary for lockdowns to end and schools to reopen. While a vaccine may significantly reduce the risk of serious disease from the novel coronavirus, social distancing and face masks may still be a part of life, said vaccine developer Maria Elena Bottazzi.

“They automatically are going to say, ‘oh great, I’m just going to get my little vaccine, and I can go back and do exactly the things I was doing last year,'” Bottazzi told Business Insider. “That is absolutely not true.”

Ideally, Bottazzi said, a vaccine would give sterilizing immunity, meaning it would totally prevent people from becoming infected. Many vaccines don’t reach that level of effectiveness, however, and only reduce the chance of developing severe symptoms of a particular disease.

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Yale epidemiologist: Dr. Fauci running ‘misinformation campaign’ against hydroxychloroquine

Drug is ‘the key to defeating COVID-19,’ says infectious disease expert

Risch, however, is sharply criticizing Fauci’s approach to evaluating the drug’s effectiveness, arguing that repeated trials and tests have shown that it is markedly effective at treating COVID-19 so long as it is administered properly. 

Risch, a professor of epidemiology and the director of Yale’s Molecular Cancer Epidemiology Laboratory, has been pushing for the drug’s use in the fight against the coronavirus for months. Last week in a Newsweek op-ed he called HCQ “the key to defeating COVID-19,” claiming its use — particularly when administered with one of two antibiotics and the nutritional supplement zinc — has been “shown to be highly effective” in treating high-risk coronavirus patients. 

On Tuesday, Risch went further, charging in an interview with Just the News that Fauci is perpetrating a “misinformation campaign” in his opposition to the drug. 

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