Viewpoints: Should We Be Worried About Avian Flu Crossover?; Sewage Data Is The Future Of Covid Tracking
Opinion writers tackle bird flu, covid, and virus research safety.
The New York Times:
What Viral Chatter Tells Us About Bird Flu
In early September, scientists at the University of Florida confirmed that a bottlenose dolphin, found dead in a canal in the Gulf Coast in March, carried a highly pathogenic kind of avian influenza. Its brain was inflamed. (David Quammen, 10/31)
Bloomberg:
How To Solve The Covid Testing Data Problem
For the first time, we’re heading into a Covid winter mostly free of restrictions. People are tired of mandates and rules, tired of lining up for tests and even, as booster rates show, tired of getting shots. (Faye Flam, 10/29)
The Boston Globe:
Long COVID Affects Millions. What Is Being Done About It?
Recent data have brought more bad news about long COVID-19. Roughly 18 million American adults (7 percent of the adult population) have at least one symptom that has lasted 12 weeks after infection. (Katie Bach and David Cutler, 10/31)
The Atlantic:
Let’s Declare A Pandemic Amnesty
I have been reflecting on this lack of knowledge thanks to a class I’m co-teaching at Brown University on COVID. We’ve spent several lectures reliving the first year of the pandemic, discussing the many important choices we had to make under conditions of tremendous uncertainty. (Emily Oster, 10/31)
The New York Times:
A Plea For Making Virus Research Safer
Viruses far more devastating than the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 have plagued humankind. Smallpox, for example, killed up to 30 percent of people it infected. Thanks to science, it’s now a plague of the past, with the last natural infection occurring in 1977. (Jesse Bloom, 10/30)
