California Judge Blocks Enforcement of State and Local Bans on Restaurant Dining in San Diego County
The decision says the government failed to present any evidence of virus transmission in restaurants that follow COVID-19 precautions.
Epidemics
Why Use Two Doses of COVID-19 Vaccines When One Works Almost as Well?
We could double the number of Americans vaccinated against COVID-19.
SCOTUS Declines To Let Kentucky Religious Schools Reopen Without Addressing the Constitutionality of Closing Them
The justices emphasized that K-12 schools are currently scheduled to reopen after winter break.
Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine 'Highly Effective,' Says FDA Analysis
Now we wait for the FDA to get around to approving it later this week.
California's Health Secretary Concedes There Is No Empirical Basis for the State's Ban on Outdoor Dining
The ban is "not a comment on the relative safety of outdoor dining," Mark Ghaly says, but part of the effort to keep people from leaving home.
'I'm Not Sure We Know What We're Doing,' Says a Newly Skeptical California Lockdown Advocate
San Mateo County Health Officer Scott Morrow, who supported last spring's stay-at-home orders, airs his misgivings about reviving that policy.
Are Americans Insufficiently Alarmed by COVID-19?
Press coverage of the pandemic tends to exaggerate risk and ignore encouraging information.
The U.K. Approves COVID-19 Vaccine While the U.S. FDA Dawdles
It's not like we're in the middle of a pandemic or anything, right?
Paul Krugman Thinks Holding Religious Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic Is Like 'Dumping Neurotoxins Into Public Reservoirs'
The New York Times columnist misconstrues the issues at stake in the challenge to New York's restrictions on houses of worship.
SCOTUS Blocks New York's COVID-19 Restrictions on Houses of Worship, Saying They Are Not 'Narrowly Tailored'
Gov. Andrew Cuomo described his policy as a "fear-driven response," cut by a "hatchet" rather than a "scalpel."
Senseless Restrictions on Outdoor Activities Undermine the Goal of Curbing COVID-19
By arbitrarily foreclosing relatively safe social and recreational options, politicians encourage defiance, resentment, and riskier substitutes.
Americans Are Nowhere Near Herd Immunity to COVID-19
Blood test study finds that only about 10 percent of Americans are immune to the virus.
Gavin Newsom's French Laundry Outing Crystallizes the Arrogance of COVID-19 Dictators
After violating his own rules, California's governor offers deceitful excuses and announces new restrictions for the little people.
A New Prevalence Estimate Suggests the COVID-19 Infection Fatality Rate in Texas Is Roughly 0.4 Percent
That makes the disease much deadlier than the seasonal flu but not nearly as deadly as modelers initially assumed.
Cuomo's COVID-19 Rules Discriminate Against Religion
The case gives SCOTUS another chance to enforce constitutional limits on disease control measures.
Arbitrary COVID-19 Control Measures Will Not Make Americans More Likely To 'Hang in There' Until Vaccines Are Available
Legal responses to this fall's surge in new cases, like last spring's lockdowns, are frequently illogical and unscientific.
Justice Samuel Alito Highlights the Legal Issues Raised by 'Previously Unimaginable' COVID-19 Restrictions
When "fundamental rights are restricted" during an emergency, he says, the courts "cannot close their eyes."
Joe Biden's COVID-19 Death Forecast Looks Less Plausible Every Day
So far the president-elect's "expectation" is off by a factor of more than three, which does not bode well for his approach to the pandemic.
How Biden Would Handle the COVID-19 Pandemic
Unfortunately, COVID, COVID, COVID this winter is unlikely to be Fake News.
Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Is 90% Effective
And there looks to be more good vaccine news coming.
Why Is Donald Trump So Mad at Anthony Fauci?
The president's COVID-19 adviser is not always right, but at least he is attempting to describe reality.
What Current Data Tell Us About How the Pandemic Could Play Out This Winter
Peaks and valleys, a fall peak, or a slow burn?
New Evidence Suggests Better Treatment Is Contributing to Falling COVID-19 Fatality Rates
Even after adjusting for age and comorbidities, researchers in New York and England found large improvements in patient survival.
White House Says 'President Trump's Coronavirus Response Has Saved Over 2 Million Lives'
That claim is wildly implausible and contradicted by the president's suggestion that COVID-19 was never much of a threat.
Trump and Biden Are Both Misleading Us About COVID-19
The president claims success based on a completely implausible worst-case scenario, while his opponent projects more than 3,700 deaths a day.
A New Study Estimates That COVID-19 Is Responsible for 2.5 Million Years of Life Lost in the U.S.
That is much lower than the toll from unintentional injuries, cancer, or heart disease but higher than the loss attributed to suicide or homicide.
The CDC's Latest Antibody Data Confirm Huge Interstate Differences in COVID-19 Fatality Rates
The findings suggest that people infected in Connecticut were 10 times as likely to die as people infected in Utah or Oregon.
An Overdue Rebuke to Politicians Who Think Anything Goes in a Pandemic
Two courts say COVID-19 lockdowns in Michigan and Pennsylvania were unconstitutional.
Trump's Muddled Mask Message May Be His Best Attempt To Reconcile Irreconcilable Extremes
Both sides in the debate about face masks make claims that are not justified by the scientific evidence.
The Latest CDC Estimates of COVID-19's Infection Fatality Rate Vary Dramatically With Age
In younger age groups, the estimated risk is substantially lower than the overall IFR for the seasonal flu.
Why Have Belarus and Other Eastern European Countries Seen Relatively Few COVID-19 Deaths?
And is their luck running out?
Biden and Trump Now Agree: The President Has No Authority To Impose a Nationwide Mask Mandate
If only that signaled a broader respect for legal limits on executive power.
Suggesting That Face Masks Are More Effective Than Vaccines, the CDC's Director Exemplifies the Propaganda That Discourages People From Wearing Them
Government officials think Americans can't handle the truth, an assumption that tends to backfire.
How Much Difference Do COVID-19 Lockdowns Make?
The comparison between Sweden and the U.S. casts doubt on the importance of broad legal restrictions.
The COVID-19 Death Toll Is Rising Much Faster in the U.S. Than in Sweden, Which Now Has Fewer Deaths Per Capita
The trends suggest that Sweden's less restrictive policy has been more successful at reducing fatal outcomes.
Massachusetts Abandons Its Puzzling Public Health Distinction Between Casinos and Video Arcades
A week after being sued over his arbitrary COVID-19 policy, Gov. Charlie Baker says he will allow arcades to reopen.
Are Video Arcades More Dangerous Than Casinos During a Pandemic?
A federal lawsuit argues that the distinction drawn by Massachusetts is unconstitutional.
Is Sweden's COVID-19 Policy 'Relatively Rational' or 'Calamitous'?
If the goal is minimizing the death toll over the long run, it is too soon to say.
Let Volunteers Expose Themselves to COVID-19 To Speed Up a Vaccine
"Economists are accustomed to thinking about tradeoffs," says economist and Nobel laureate Alvin Roth. "It appears that at least in some parts of the ethics community, they are not."
Poll: Americans Worry COVID-19 Vaccine Approval Is Politicized
67 percent say they would get vaccinated as soon as an inoculation becomes available.
CDC Data Confirm That Young People Face a Negligible Risk of Dying From COVID-19
The risk for the elderly is much higher, probably largely because of preexisting medical conditions.
Trump Promotes the Outlandish Claim That COVID-19 Has Killed a 'Minuscule' Number of Americans
The assertion, which contradicts the president's own warnings about the virus, is based on a misinterpretation of CDC data.
Could the COVID-19 Epidemic Fade This Fall Without New Lockdowns?
A new study suggests that a second higher wave of infections can be avoided.
Do Legal Restrictions Account for the Downward Trend in New COVID-19 Cases?
The New York Times thinks so, but the data do not fit that hypothesis very well.
Are the Democrats Right That We Are Seeing an 'Epidemic of Gun Violence'?
The rhetoric may not be accurate, but it is definitely useful.
The 'Highest Single-Day of COVID-19 Deaths' That Wasn't
The coronavirus pandemic has ushered in an age of sloppy, inaccurate journalism and a heightened need for media literacy.
Citing a Dubious Study, This Congressman Wants the FDA To Ban E-Cigarettes As a COVID-19 Hazard
The study suggests that vaping raises your risk of catching the disease, but only if you stop.
