(HealthDay News) — As millions of Americans try to navigate a safe re-entry into public life, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday released recommendations to guide schools, businesses and restaurants through reopening during the coronavirus pandemic. Six “checklists” — which also offer advice to day care centers, mass transit and camps — come after many states have already begun to ease social distancing on their own. These final guidances are less detailed than draft recommendations the agency sent to the White House for review last month, the Washington Post reported. A CDC spokesman told the Post that additional recommendations may still come from the agency. The six checklists were ready for release, so the Trump administration decided to put them out while other guidelines make their way through the review process, the spokesman added. The documents are aimed at helping facilities decide if they’re ready to open and inform how they do so, the spokesman told the newspaper. “This was an effort on our part to make some decision trees we thought might be helpful to those moving forward with opening their establishment,” the spokesperson said. But some public health officials say more is needed. “We need to unleash the voices of the scientists in our public health system in the United States so they can be heard, and their guidance…  read on >

Sense of smell most often diminishes by the third day of infection with the new coronavirus, and many patients also lose their sense of taste at the same time, a new study finds. The findings may help identify patients most likely to benefit from antiviral treatment, according to the researchers. “The relationship between decreased sense of smell and the rest of the COVID-19 is something to be aware of. If someone has a decreased sense of smell with COVID-19, we know they are within the first week of the disease course and there is still another week or two to expect,” said principal investigator Dr. Ahmad Sedaghat of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. His team examined characteristics and symptoms of 103 patients in Switzerland who were diagnosed with COVID-19 over six weeks. The patients were asked how many days they had COVID-19 symptoms and also about the timing and severity of lost or reduced sense of smell, along with other symptoms. At least 61% of the patients reported reduced or lost sense of smell, and the average onset for this was 3.4 days, according to the study. The findings were published online recently in the journal Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. Problems with sense of smell were more likely to occur in younger patients and women. “We also found in this study that the…  read on >

(HealthDay News) — The coronavirus crisis has pushed almost 3 million more Americans into the ranks of the unemployed, according to new statistics released Thursday. At the same time, the World Health Organization warned that the new virus could be here to stay. In the past eight weeks, a whopping 36 million Americans have lost their jobs as the country went into lockdown to try and slow the spread of COVID-19. The statistics served as a grim reminder of the economic carnage the coronavirus pandemic has wrought so far, with no end in sight. “It is important to put this on the table: This virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities, and this virus may never go away,” Mike Ryan, the head of the WHO emergency response team, said Thursday, the New York Times reported. And as many states across America continued to move through reopening plans, the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a stay-at-home order extension issued by Gov. Tony Evers, the Washington Post reported. Some Wisconsin counties and major cities, including Milwaukee, still plan to keep their local restrictions in place, the newspaper reported. Even as the country’s top health officials testified to Congress on Tuesday about the dangers of reopening too quickly, a new report shows millions more Americans are now venturing out in public. About 25…  read on >

As coronavirus pandemic restrictions are lifted, many Americans will face physical and mental health challenges — including fear and anxiety — as they return to work. “Uncertainty and unpredictability can really create an unhealthy amount of fear and stress, especially when it’s sustained over such a long period of time,” said Dr. K. Luan Phan, head of psychiatry and behavioral health at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. “Challenges will remain as businesses reopen, and the typical workplace will look very different following this pandemic,” he said in an OSU news release. Phan said it’s essential to find new ways to work as a team while maintaining your distance from colleagues and preventing the spread of infection. Infection precautions such as taking each worker’s temperature on arrival, providing face masks, keeping work stations at least 6 feet apart and wiping down surfaces can make everyone feel safer and less anxious. “Physical and mental health are closely intertwined. While you practice good hygiene and physical distancing in the office, you should also practice stress-reduction,” said Bernadette Melnyk, dean of the College of Nursing and OSU’s chief wellness officer. For instance, she suggests taking five deep, abdominal breaths as you wash your hands for at least 20 seconds. “Doing this at least five times a day can reduce anxiety and even lower your blood pressure,”…  read on >

(HealthDay News) — Even as the country’s top health officials testified to Congress on Tuesday about the dangers of reopening too quickly, a new report shows millions more Americans are now venturing out in public. About 25 million more people went out on an average day last week than did during the six weeks of the U.S. lockdown, a New York Times analysis shows. From March 20, when states began urging people to stay home, to April 30, when many states started easing those restrictions, 43.8 percent of U.S. residents stayed home, the Times analysis showed. But last week, only 36.1 percent of Americans stayed home. The biggest drop in share of people staying home was in Michigan, where stay-at-home orders are actually still in place, the analysis showed. But during testimony delivered remotely on Tuesday to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned of the dangers of that trend, the Times reported. While more than 82,000 Americans have already perished from COVID-19, Fauci cautioned that the number is likely higher and will spike even more if some parts of the country reopen prematurely, the Times reported. “If that occurs, there is a real risk that you will trigger an outbreak that you may not be able to control,” Fauci testified. That could result not only in “some suffering and…  read on >

Since the coronavirus pandemic began, rates of hospital admission and death from COVID-19 have been significantly higher in men than women. Now, new Dutch research suggests a reason why: Compared to women, men have higher concentrations of a blood enzyme that helps the new coronavirus infect human cells. The enzyme is called angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). “ACE2 is a receptor on the surface of cells,” explained lead researcher Dr. Adriaan Voors, a professor of cardiology at the University Medical Center Groningen, in the Netherlands. His team published their findings May 11 in the European Heart Journal. ACE2 “binds to the coronavirus and allows it to enter and infect healthy cells,” Voors explained in a journal news release. “High levels of ACE2 are present in the lungs and, therefore, it is thought to play a crucial role in the progression of lung disorders related to COVID-19.” Because of the importance of ACE2 in heart failure, the Dutch team was already exploring the enzyme’s role in cardiovascular health long before the new coronavirus appeared on the scene. In their study, the researchers tracked ACE2 concentrations in the blood of almost 1,500 men and more than 500 women. All were older people treated for heart failure at medical institutions in 11 European countries. In a long list of possible factors that might influence ACE2 concentrations in the blood,…  read on >

(HealthDay News) — As states across America move through the early phases of reopening their economies, the nation’s top infectious disease expert plans to issue an ominous warning during a Senate hearing on Tuesday: Open too quickly, and “needless suffering and death” will follow. Dr. Anthony Fauci is one of four top health officials who will testify remotely before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, the New York Times reported. “The major message that I wish to convey to the Senate HLP committee tomorrow is the danger of trying to open the country prematurely,” he wrote to a Times reporter late Monday night. “If we skip over the checkpoints in the guidelines to ‘Open America Again,’ then we risk the danger of multiple outbreaks throughout the country. This will not only result in needless suffering and death, but would actually set us back on our quest to return to normal.” Fauci is one of three top health officials who have begun to quarantine themselves after being exposed to two White House aides who have been diagnosed with COVID-19. The other officials are Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and Dr. Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Washington Post reported. Fauci said Sunday that he was told his exposure risk was low,…  read on >