What's the Deal with Travel? It's Complicated.

DC shakes up COVID travel advisory system, removes every country from its 'Do Not Travel' list.  After months of warning all travelers to avoid a long list of countries due to "very high" COVID-19 levels, the CDC has removed all countries from its "Do Not Travel" list. The federal agency last Monday removed 89 countries from its "Do Not Travel" list. The highest Level 4 designation will now be reserved for "special circumstances" reflecting a dangerous spike in COVID cases, a new variant or health care infrastructure collapse. While the Level 4 list had at one point included well over 100 destinations, there are currently no Level 4 countries. Read more.  USA Today 4/18/22

A federal judge struck down the mask mandate on public transit, although the ruling may not be final. Amtrak dropped its mandate, as did the largest airlines on domestic flights. New York Times 4/19/22  The White House and the CDC still recommend masking during travel for the time being, but the ruling has not been overturned - yet.

Kids’ Shots Show Their Worth—But Youngest Still Waiting 

Unvaccinated 5–11 year-olds in the US were hospitalized with COVID-19 at twice the rate of their vaccinated peers during the Omicron surge, according to CDC data released yesterday, Reuters reports.

• For every 100,000 unvaccinated 5–11 year-olds, 19.1 were hospitalized compared with 9.2 per 100,000 vaccinated kids.
• Black children made up the largest proportion of unvaccinated kids—34%—and represented a third of hospitalizations in this age group.

The report calls for ramped-up vaccination coverage for this age group—especially among racial and ethnic minority groups.

Here's a new "twist" on research: Oreology

The researchers were motivated by a lifetime of frustration to which so many of us can relate: When you twist an Oreo, why does the creme only come out on one side?

MIT researchers subjected ‘milk’s favorite cookie’ to “rigorous materials tests” to figure out if an even Oreo split was even possible, MIT reports.

It seems not.

As it turns out, the pursuit of Oreo split symmetry is a fool’s errand—a Sisyphean task we can all stop attempting.

Like all the best research projects, those behind it knew their ‘why’: “I preferred the taste of the cookies with the creme exposed. If I got a bite of wafer alone it was too dry for me, and if I dunked it in milk the wafer would fall apart too fast,” explained Crystal Owens, who parlayed her childhood frustration into the burgeoning scientific field of Oreology—“the study of the flow and fracture of sandwich cookies,” VICE reports.

Epidemiology is the science at center of public health.

Report: Vaccinations could have prevented 60% of COVID deaths

A new report suggests hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 deaths could have been prevented through vaccination.

By CNN Staff.  Apr. 21, 2022

(CNN) - A recent report suggests COVID-19 vaccinations could have prevented hundreds of thousands of deaths in the U.S.

On Thursday, the Kaiser Family Foundation released an analysis on preventable deaths due to the coronavirus.

Researchers suggested the vaccine could have saved at least 234,000 lives between June 2021 and March 2022, about 60% of the COVID deaths among adults during that same time period.

The initial vaccine series became widely available in the U.S last year, and the report found booster shots could have potentially prevented even more deaths.

From our partners 

The second Addressing Addiction Conference will be held in Patrick County on Thursday, May 26.  There will be six speakers who will deliver messages of hope and help to continue battling this epidemic in our region. In addition to the speakers, the conference will feature a community resource area, Hidden in Plain Sight simulation and optional REVIVE training. The conference fee includes a boxed lunch. A conference flyer and registration form are available via the link below. Organizers encourage you to share the link widely with anyone interested in attending. Pre-registration is required and seating will be limited.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScnYfHWFmIVpaIqkD-Gj8UUlzfcIkU4A6c8mLwFJund5UzMkg/viewform?fbclid=IwAR0hMq97ai3BxXdd6ah-sian8VVmm_KUGt8c5HFZEoOqxv9TanSWSVSnljQ