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June 30, 2020
The good news is that Connecticut is heralded as one of two states, with neighboring Rhode Island, experiencing a consistent decline in COVID-19 cases. The not-so-good news is the World Health Organization revelation that “the worst is yet to come.” WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pointed to the…
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June 26, 2020
The summer season is officially underway and whether you’re spending the Fourth of July holiday weekend at home – again! – or widening your world in some way, chances are you’ll be trying to socialize sometime soon. COVID-19 social distancing guidelines have kept us largely at home. As infection rates…
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June 24, 2020
Wearing a mask in public during the COVID-19 pandemic is great advice. But please don’t wear blinders when reading about the coronavirus, because a lot of the information bouncing around the Internet is inaccurate. Like these 19 COVID-19 myths: 1. You can’t catch COVID-19 unless you’re near someone infected with…
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June 18, 2020
Telemedicine was not a new concept when the COVID-19 pandemic locked society down in March, it was simply underutilized. “I’ve been using virtual visits for several years now with my pacemaker patients,” said Dr. Steven Zweibel, system director of cardiac electrophysiology for the Hartford HealthCare (HHC) Heart & Vascular Institute….
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June 17, 2020
Some people fight it, but you can’t beat a mask for preventing the spread of COVID-19 in public when social distancing isn’t possible. Here’s some evidence: A study released this week in Health Affairs, a peer-reviewed healthcare journal, found that masks prevented as many as 230,000 to 450,000 COVID-19 cases…
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June 10, 2020
Here is an edited version of a recent question-and-answer session with Dr. Faiqa Cheema, a Hartford HealthCare infectious disease specialist for Courant.com subscribers: Q: What are the odds of a recurrence of the pandemic in the fall? A: It is very possible to see a second wave of coronavirus that may…
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June 09, 2020
News that Connecticut’s COVID-19 “positivity rate,” or the number of people testing positive for the virus, is down seems like great news – maybe even cause for celebration that the virus is gone for good – but understanding the numbers tells a more cautionary tale. Dr. Ajay Kumar, chief clinical…
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June 08, 2020
Usually, at this time of year, we like to warn people about the dangers of too much sunshine or too little protection from sunshine. Not today, with the state reopening after so many weeks of self-quarantine during COVID-19. In so many ways, glorious sunshine is good for your health. Here…
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June 08, 2020
Close to a quarter of adult Americans own an Instant Pot, the do-it-all kitchen appliance that’s a pressure cooker, slow cooker, crockpot, rice cooker, steamer, food warmer and your personal saucier. Don’t stop there. More than one study has also shown the surprising hospital-grade abilities of rice cookers — that…
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June 08, 2020
There’s one thing that doesn’t care about your politics in the recent protests across the United States – COVID-19. Demonstrations, protests and marches might prove to be “seeding” or “super-spreader” events that trigger waves of new virus infections, according to Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers of Disease Control…