Political leaders in New York State recently ended a policy requiring masks in healthcare settings. In response to the change, local advocacy organization Mandate Masks NY has compiled a list of hospitals and healthcare centers in New York that are still maintaining mask requirements independently of the state policy.
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For several days now, the New York City Department of Education’s COVID-19 case map has had a significant error: on this dashboard, a number of schools are erroneously located in Colombia. Like, the South American country.
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My second big story this week is a detailed report about New York City’s wastewater surveillance program, highlighting its lack of transparency. I’m particularly excited to share this one with NYC-based readers, as it uncovers a public program that’s been running under our feet for nearly three years.
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The COVID-19 Data Dispatch does not endorse the New York MTA’s newly-relaxed mask guidance on pubic transit.
Read MoreMany of the public health failures we saw early in the COVID-19 crisis are now being repeated with monkeypox—which the WHO just declared a global health emergency.
Read MoreSources and updates for the week of July 24 include drug overdose deaths, COVID-19 testing options, a Congressional hearing on Long COVID, and more.
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New York City has been closing PCR testing sites, even as the city faced a major Omicron resurgence this spring. The trends I found in a local story—and the pushback that the piece received from city health officials—are pretty indicative of the national state of COVID-19 testing right now.
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I’ve recently been getting a lot of questions about test positivity rates, both from COVID-19 Data Dispatch readers and from friends outside this project, which reminded me of just how confusing this pandemic metric can be. So, here’s a brief FAQ post about test positivity.
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WWe keep learning about this dangerous variant as it spreads through the U.S. and the world. A few major updates from this week include Omicron’s enormous potential for transmission and the U.S.’s lack of preparedness.
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The Omicron surge has arrived in the U.S. While national COVID-19 cases are not significantly up from last week to this week, last week’s bump in the numbers from delayed Thanksgiving reporting has been replaced with a true increase, thanks to the combined pressures of both Delta and Omicron.
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