The rate of transmission a virus has determines how infectious it is. The higher the R0 or Basic Reproductive Number is, the more contagious the virus is and the more people it will infect.
The rate of transmission a virus has determines how infectious it is. The higher the R0 or Basic Reproductive Number is, the more contagious the virus is and the more people it will infect.
The COVID pandemic has brought a lot of ugly divisions to the forefront of our nation, which was already reaching a boiling point across political parties and races. To wear a mask or not to wear a mask; to stay 6ft apart or not; to get the vaccine or not; all of these issues have caused more rifts and greater distance among American citizens and even among friends and family. There are many things which are appropriate and even positive to debate and discuss from opposite ends of the spectrum, but health and safety should not be issues about which we base our opinions on the popular view of our political affiliates, nor the peers of our races. COVID affected the entire world, regardless of creed, color, economic status, or political leaning.
Reflecting back on one year after the pandemic outbreak started making the news, nursing homes - in an industry that isn’t usually so in the spotlight - was front and center. Our eldery population is among the most vulnerable to COVID and therefore special precautions must be made. Many seniors were facing challenges that were new, such as an unprecedented loneliness by not having physical access to their guests, friends, and loved ones Now that the world is hopefully rebuilding from the start of the pandemic, how do we safely build the future of nursing homes and set up the industry for success?
Families in America have been on the slight decline for almost two decades now according to recent data from the US Census Bureau. There are many reasons people having less children in America including but not limited to, financial insecurity, climate change, affordability, COVID-19 among many other factors. Data from the US Census shows that households with children under the age of 18 has declined by over three million in the last year alone! The big question here if whether or not the COVID- 19 pandemic will further accelerate this alarming trend or lead to more people having children once the pandemic has passed.
Ever since the Covid-19 vaccination campaigns began, there
has been a lot of chaos around the availability of limited shots in hospitals
and local health departments, the issues with sign-up websites and other online
tools. Moreover, in New York particularly, vaccines are being distributed
across several different sites. As a result, people are struggling with multiple
registration websites as they look for open slots.
As a plan to offer a better solution to these issues, software developer Dan Benamy worked on creating a platform along with other volunteers to pull every open vaccine appointment into one, easy-to-use site. The platform pulls in vaccine appointments from around 40 locations currently.
It’s been two months since the COVID-19 vaccination campaign
began, and researchers are preparing for a situation that was predicted by
experts during the early days of the pandemic: the alteration in vaccines to combat
the mutations of the virus.
There are evidences that report that some COVID-19 vaccines
such as the Novavax and the Johnson and Johnson vaccines in South Africa are
not as effective against the virus’ variant.
In the US, the current vaccines seem to be only partially effective against the newly identified strain of the virus. One of the companies, Moderna, has announced that it has already started to work on developing another version of the vaccine.
Prisoners in American correctional facilities have been infected by COVID-19 at a disproportionate rate. Estimates from the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy report that prisoners are infected at a rate 5.5 times higher than the rest of the general population. Close quarters without the ability to social distance as well as swaths of people moving in and out of correctional facilities make for prime locations for infection to spread.
This graphic visualizes the states with the highest COVID-19 rates for prisoners in correctional facilities in America. Of all the states in the country, Arkansas has the highest COVID-19 infection rate among prisoners. The analysis shows that the state has seen 4,502 cases per 10,000 prisoners. In terms of COVID-19 deaths, New Jersey has the highest death rate at 34 per 10,000 prisoners. Florida has had 161 prisoners die of COVID-19, the highest in the country.
While hopefully the COVID-19 vaccine helps slow the spread of the virus, individuals in correctional facilities continue to be at risk.
Infographic by: statutes-of-limitations
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The free global online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, has been a widely
used tool for people of all ages and from all walks of life, to find authentic
information of any kind whatsoever. The website cites relevant links and
resources where it takes the content from and gives the public free access to
make relevant changes to articles according to latest updates.
This year especially, Wikipedia’s parent organization, the
Wikimedia Foundation has struggled to keep the site as up-to-date as possible,
to provide information on every breaking news of the year, from the Corona
virus to the US elections.
Wikimedia’s security, product, legal, and communications teams worked hard to keep the site free of false news. It formed a disinformation task force to target people circulating any fake news regarding the 2020 US Elections. The site has been managed by 56,000 unpaid volunteers who worked as editors to monitor around 2000 pages related to elections.
Of all the negative things to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic, one positive note has been the United States real estate market. Demanding for housing is way up in 2020 combined with interest rates at historical lows making the market for housing more competitive than ever in 2020.
New data from Lombardo Homes found that over 42% of listings for homes across the country have gone off the market in under two weeks. To learn more about where homes are selling the quickest in America during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lombardo Homes recently analyzed housing market data to try and determine which cities and real estate markets have been the most competitive over the past nine months.
Where homes have sold the fastest during the COVID-19 pandemic
1. Seattle, Washington with 71% of homes off-market in under two weeks with an average of 10 days on the market.
2. Omaha, Washington with 67% of homes off-market in under two weeks with an average of 13 days on the market.
3. Lexington, Kentucky with 67% of homes off-market in under two weeks with an average of 15 days on the market.
4. Denver, Colorado with 65% of homes off-market in under two weeks with an average of 12 days on the market.
5. Indianapolis, Indiana with 65% of homes off-market in under two weeks with an average of 16 days on the market.
6. Portland, Oregon with 62% of homes off-market in under two weeks with an average of 19 days on the market.
7. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with 60% of homes off-market in under two weeks with an average of 19 days on the market.
8. Sacramento, California with 59% of homes off-market in under two weeks with an average of 16 days on the market.
9. Oakland, California with 59% of homes off-market in under two weeks with an average of 16 days on the market.
10. Tulsa, Oklahoma with 59% of homes off-market in under two weeks with an average of 22 days on the market.
11. Fresno, California with 57% of homes off-market in under two weeks with an average of 20 days on the market.
12. San Diego, California with 55% of homes off-market in under two weeks with an average of 20 days on the market.
13. Tampa, Florida with 54% of homes off-market in under two weeks with an average of 25 days on the market.
14. Austin, Texas with 53% of homes off-market in under two weeks with an average of 25 days on the market.
15. Detroit, Michigan with 52% of homes off-market in under two weeks with an average of 26 days on the market.
16. Chicago, Illinois with 52% of homes off-market in under two weeks with an average of 34 days on the market.
17. New Orleans, Louisiana with 51% of homes off-market in under two weeks with an average of 39 days on the market.
18. Bakersfield, California with 51% of homes off-market in under two weeks with an average of 26 days on the market.
19. San Jose, California with 50% of homes off-market in under two weeks with an average of 22 days on the market.
20. Baltimore, Maryland with 49% of homes off-market in under two weeks with an average of 31 days on the market.
21. El Paso, Texas with 48% of homes off-market in under two weeks with an average of 43 days on the market.
22. San Francisco, California with 48% of homes off-market in under two weeks with an average of 23 days on the market.
23. Louisville, Kentucky with 48% of homes off-market in under two weeks with an average of 31 days on the market.
24. Minneapolis, Minnesota with 47% of homes off-market in under two weeks with an average of 24 days on the market.
25. Houston, Texas with 47% of homes off-market in under two weeks with an average of 40 days on the market.
Lombardo homes also found that on average it takes 3.5 months for a home buyer to spend searching for a new home. The average home buyer looks at 7 houses on average before deciding to purchase a home. Respondents were split on whether or not the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the home buying process. 53% said that they COVID-19 pandemic did in fact accelerate the home buying process for them. 47% send that the pandemic did not accelerate the home buying process. Home buyers did say they had to compete against more offers during the pandemic with an overwhelming majority (73%) saying they had to compete against multiple offers. Only 27% of home buyers said they did not see more competition during the pandemic.
On top of more competition, home buyers reported issues with a house they had interest in being sold before they could formally make an offer for the home. 73% of home buyers reported the house they wanted selling before they could make an offer for the home. The way that home buyers searched for homes also saw some trends shifting the pandemic as well. In May of 2020, 51% of home buyers said they found homes through an agent or realtor, 38% found homes by searching online and only 11% said they passed the home in their current neighborhood. Compare that to October of 2020 just 5 months later and 65% of home buyers said they were currently searching for homes online. 32% said they were using an agent or realtor and only 3% said they passed by. As you can see home buyers are shifting towards online shopping for homes during the pandemic.
Certain features in the home itself became more important for home buyers during the pandemic as well. One in three surveyed respondents said a dedicated home office space is the most important home feature in 2020. This is largely because of all the people working from home as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kitchen sizes and room sizes also became more appealing to home buyers during the pandemic.
Infographic by: lombardohomes
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The coronavirus vaccination processes have begun and new
findings related to the vaccines are reported every now and then, including potential
side effects. Recently, a doctor at the Boston Medical Centre was found to have
developed a severe allergic reaction to Moderna's coronavirus vaccine.
According to the doctor, the reaction took place immediately
after he received the shot of the vaccination. The symptoms he developed as a
result included dizziness and a racing heart.
Between the COVID-19 pandemic and stress in the workplace, many Americans are dealing with more stress than ever before. After this year, many Americans are ready to put the feelings of stress, COVID- 19 exhaustion and worries behind them.
Verilife recently surveyed 2,000 Americans to ask them about their experiences with burnout, symptoms of burnout and how they cope with stress and exhaustion in 2020. Burnout is something that several impacts many people in this country. The survey found that over 92% of Americans say they deal with some form of burnout in their daily lives. That is nine in ten Americans! Left untreated, burnout can lead to many physical and mental problems for many people. Burnout is generally caused by prolonged stress or exposure to stressful situations. Many people have burnout from dealing with their jobs and in 2020 many people are experiencing COVID-19 related burnout. Let’s take a deeper into what the survey on burnout in America found.
Dealing with package theft or porch pirates as they are more commonly known is one of the more unfortune side affects of ordering things online with the rise of e-commerce and online shopping. Normally porch pirates strike during the holiday shopping season when a majority of people have holiday gifts shipped to their home. The COVID-19 pandemic has only amplified the amount of online ordering taking place because many people are scared to leave their homes or don’t want to shop at a busy store during the holiday season. Because of this, many experts expect a spike in package theft this holiday season.
So, what can you do to protect yourself against package theft? The first thing you can do is to realize where package theft happens the most. The sad reality is that package theft is happening everywhere. Recent data shows that over 36% of Americans have reported dealing with a stolen package in the past year. That’s over one in every three people in this country. These numbers only continue to rise each year and each holiday shopping season.
Experts predict a rise in package theft to coincide with the holiday season as many consumers shop from home because of the COVID-19 pandemic. To get a feel for the top cities for package theft during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bid-On-Equipment recently analyzed Google search volume in U.S. cities across the country to determine where package theft has been most prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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