The White House is clamping down on communication issued from government health officials and scientists about the spread of coronavirus following a decision by President Trump to put Vice President Mike Pence in charge of the U.S. task force addressing the public health threat, according to a report in the New York Times. On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notably failed to hold a telephone press briefing despite the fact that California has reported a confirmed case where the infected person who did not have any exposure to someone known to have the virus and who did not travel to any of the countries where there has been an outbreak.
How much should we worry about the new coronavirus?
Just in the last few days, as the World Health Organization declared a Global Health Emergency and a similar Public Health Emergency declaration was made in the U.S., there has been growing evidence of possible person to person transmission of the Wuhan coronavirus, and it is increasingly likely that people can be contagious even before the appearance of symptoms. So, it should come as no surprise that public concerns about this new public health threat are also on the rise. Still, many questions remain unanswered and unanswerable at the moment.
Most states make it difficult for children to get a flu shot
(CNN)When adults want a flu shot, they have two choices: go to the doctor or go to a pharmacy.
But in most states, laws prevent parents from just walking into a pharmacy and getting their children vaccinated for the flu. Public health experts say that's costing children's lives.
"Parents should have no barriers whatsoever to getting a flu shot," said Dr. Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University. "It's what we'd call a no-brainer."
Currently, 40% of children don't get a flu vaccine, and public health authorities are keen to change that. Flu kills children every year; last year, 143 children lost their lives to the flu.
New York City’s Duane Reade branches are disappearing
In California there's an opportunity to lead the nation in building resilience
The scourge of wildfires yet again in California has the hallmarks of recurrent disaster nightmare for America’s most populous state. Last year’s fire season — in which the Camp Fire took more than 80 lives in the devastated town of Paradise alone — may have been the first glimpse into a future of almost dystopian threats to communities throughout the state, and the nation. However, from understanding the complexity of the causes of these events, there is an opportunity to re-write the way California approaches wildfires. In doing so, they can also provide a much needed roadmap for resilience for the rest of the nation.
OC Disaster Alert System Lags
California blackouts are a planned disaster
Loss of economic activity because businesses can’t open, schools closed, perishable foods going bad, mobile phones can’t be charged and people with medical dependencies unable to plug in life sustaining equipment. These are all things that are commonly seen in the aftermath of a disaster that can hinder a community’s recovery and even lead to additional injuries and deaths. In the case of California’s blackouts, these effects are occurring in the name of preventing disasters.
The other existential threat candidates must confront
It now seems within the realm of possibility that over the next few years, the most important nuclear arms control treaties -- negotiated among the world's nuclear powers over nearly four decades of painstaking diplomacy -- will have expired or been eliminated. This would open the floodgates to a 21st century arms race that could be far more chaotic and dangerous than what threatened the world following World War II.
How Florida is Preparing for Hurricane Dorian
Health screenings help kids succeed in the classroom
Mass shootings: Reassuring Children After a Traumatic Event
America is reckoning with two new mass shootings, one in Dayton, Ohio and the other in El Paso, Texas – believed to be the eighth deadliest in modern U.S. history.
While processing the constant stream of disturbing media, parents must also anticipate the needs of their children by helping them process the upsetting news.
Our planet is in crisis. But until we call it a crisis, no one will listen.
When Senator Kamala Harris was asked about climate change during the Democratic debate in June, she did not mince words. “I don’t even call it climate change,” she said. “It’s a climate crisis.”
She’s right – and we, at Columbia University’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness, wish more people would call this crisis what it is.
Is New York Ready for the Next Big Hurricane?
Sanctuary Magazine Special Issue: Celebrating the Men in Our Lives
A 16-year-old boy died in CBP custody. Blame immigration policy.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced Monday the death of a 16-year-old boy from Guatemala who had just days earlier crossed the southern border illegally as a so-designated “unaccompanied minor.” While only minimal details were released, the young man was likely headed to relatives waiting for him somewhere in the United States.