Editor's Note Data from the National Center for Health Statistics shows a 0.4% decline in cesarean and induced deliveries for preterm births during the COVID-10 pandemic lockdown, between March and December 2020, according to researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta. The researchers also noted other birth trends, including…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) COVID-19 data tracker weekly review published April 8 shows that cases are rising again nationwide, for the first time since January, the April 8 Becker’s Hospital Review reports. The 7-day case average as of April 6 was 26,596, which is…

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Editor's Note In this study, researchers from the University of Washington, Seattle, and University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, find that turnover among nearly all segments of the healthcare workforce has not yet fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, with turnover rates among long-term care workers and physicians worsening over time. Of…

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Editor's Note Researchers at the University of Florida (UF) have helped develop a testing device that can detect COVID-19 infection within 30 seconds, with the sensitivity and accuracy of a PCR test. The hand-held device is powered by a 9-volt battery and uses test strips similar to those used in…

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Editor's Note As of March 31, there have been 82 attacks on healthcare workers and facilities in Ukraine that have resulted in 72 deaths and 43 injuries, and most attacks involved the use of heavy weapons against healthcare facilities, personnel, patients, and medical supplies, according to this JAMA Viewpoint article,…

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Editor's Note This collaborative study by researchers at Duke University, Vanderbilt University, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, finds that COVID-19 healthcare workers (HCWs) experienced high rates of moral injury, comparable to rates among military veterans. Moral injuries are described as actions that conflict with values and beliefs, causing psychological…

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Editor's Note In a March 28 update, the American College of Surgeons (ACS) says it is following the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Ukraine through Operation Giving Back, and that no current role or mechanism exists for safe travel to help in person at this time. ACS notes that healthcare facilities…

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Editor's Note This study from the UK finds that two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were associated with high short-term protection, but this protection waned considerably after 6 months; whereas, infection-acquired immunity boosted with vaccination remained high more than 1 year after COVID-19 infection. Of 35,768 participants analyzed, 9,488 (27%)…

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Editor's Note This French study finds that contact with COVID-19 patients was not the highest risk of COVID-19 in healthcare workers (HCWs). Of 3,234 HCWs enrolled in the study, 120 (3.8%) contracted COVID-19. The highest risk factors were contact with relatives or other HCWs  with COVID-19. Multivariate analysis showed that…

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Editor's Note The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) announced on March 28 that it had honored a request by Pacific PPE Corp to rescind all of its N95 respirator mask approvals, effective immediately. Respirators with NIOSH approval numbers TC-84A-9278, TC-84A-9299, and TC-84A-9313 will no longer be manufactured,…

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