Most respondents to a July 2020 American Organization for Nursing Leadership survey said they felt prepared for a future surge of COVID-19. That future is now, with nearly 150,000 new cases being reported daily across the country and multiple hospitals at capacity. Survey respondents said their biggest challenges early in…

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Editor's Note The number of children’s mental health emergency department (ED) visits decreased sharply from mid-March through early April 2020, coincident with the implementation of community mitigation measures enacted to prevent COVID-19 transmission, and then visits increased steadily through October, this study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…

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Editor's Note Moderna Inc (Cambridge, Massachusetts) on November 16 announced that its vaccine is 94.5% effective at preventing COVID-19. Their analysis of a 30,000-person trial (half received the vaccine and half received a placebo) finds that 90 of the 95 COVID-19 documented cases are in the placebo group. The Moderna announcement…

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Editor's Note In this analysis of COVID-19 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the proportion of preterm live births in women with COVID-19 infection during pregnancy was higher than that in the general population in 2019, suggesting that pregnant women with COVID-19 infection might be at risk…

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Editor's Note Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has announced plans to test their COVID-19 vaccine in young individuals between the ages of 12 and 18, the October 30 Reuters reports. J&J started testing its vaccine in 60,000 volunteer adults in late September. Depending on safety, J&J also plans to test the…

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Editor's Note In the October 26 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, an analysis led by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of hospitalization data from 13 states found that 5.9% of adults hospitalized with COVID-19 between March 1 and May 31 were healthcare workers (HCWs). Among…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Office of Biostatistics and Epidemiology is currently developing master protocols to be used in monitoring the safety and effectiveness of a COVID-19 vaccine once it is authorized or approved, in addition to postmarket surveillance requirements, the October 22 Regulatory Focus reports. The…

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Editor's Note In this study from the Vermont Departments of Health and Corrections and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an officer at a correctional facility in Vermont was found to test positive for the COVID-19 virus on August 11 after multiple brief exposures to six infected incarcerated…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on October 21 updated its COVID-19 “close contact” definition to being “within 6 feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period,” even if the time isn’t consecutive. The previous definition…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on October 15 announced that it reissued the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for certain N95 and other filtering face-piece respirators that are manufactured in China and are not approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Institute for Occupational Safety…

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