PLUS: The Covid-19 headlines you need to know, a distraction, and something to read.
By Eve Sneider | 08.04.22 |
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| The CDC is expected to update guidelines, the German government prepares for another surge, and case counts rise in Russia. But first, here's this week's big story: | |
Scientists get closer to uncovering Covid-19's origin story Ever since the first cases of a mysterious flu-like illness emerged in Wuhan, researchers, policymakers, and people everywhere have been asking: Where did Covid-19 come from? Scientists across the world have spent the ensuing years using a wide array of strategies to trace the virus back to its roots. Their research, published last week, tells a story more complicated than many originally thought: While the virus does indeed seem to have jumped to humans in the markets of Wuhan, genetic data suggests that there were actually two strains of Covid circulating in the area in late 2019, and perhaps as many as a dozen separate crossover events. Significantly, multiple crossover events would poke a hole in the theory that the SARS-CoV-2 virus escaped from a lab. This so-called lab leak theory has been fueled, in part, by the narrative that Chinese officials have obstructed access to information. While that is true to some extent, this detailed study of the start of the pandemic was only made possible with the help of data collected by Chinese scientists. | |
Headlines The CDC is expected to update its Covid-19 guidance, including for schools, as early as this week. New recommendations may include easing quarantine requirements and deemphasizing regular testing. (CNN) In anticipation of a surge during the colder months, the German government announced new Covid measures yesterday. These include wearing masks on planes and long train and bus rides, as well as in hospitals and nursing homes. (Associated Press) New Covid cases in Russia surpassed 12,000 per day this week for the first time since April. New infections are surging in St. Petersburg, in particular, where cases rose to about 1,500 per day for the first time since March. (Radio Free Europe) As colleges prepare for the start of the school year, some are doing away with Covid precautions, like mandatory masking and testing and bans on large indoor gatherings. (Wall Street Journal) | |
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| When schools went virtual at the height of the pandemic, some sent kids home with devices containing software that let teachers see what they were actually up to online. Now the majority of American students are back in classrooms, but many of their school-issued devices are still spying on them. | |
| Whether you're doing dishes or out on a walk, there's rarely a bad time to tune in to a podcast. Here are some of our favorites. | |
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