Table of Contents
The latest on COVID-19
Borders
Beginning November 1, the United States will reopen the borders of Mexico and Canada for fully vaccinated individuals.
Fully vaccinated foreign travelers, who come to visit friends or family, will be able to enter through customs points.
Commercial trucks, students, and others who must regularly cross the border must also be fully immunized.
Customs officers will ask travelers about their vaccination status, and may eventually send them for a second check to show proof of immunization.
The sister cities on the border, through which thousands of residents cross every day, have been particularly affected: many buy food, seek medical attention or even visit relatives in the neighboring country.
Johnson & Johnson
Pharmaceutical Johnson & Johnson asked the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve its single-dose vaccine as a booster vaccine as well.
In September, the drugmaker had announced that its COVID booster vaccine is 94% effective if given two months after the first dose.
J&J said that even a booster six months after the first dose raises the antibodies to a very high level of protection.
If the FDA authorizes this booster, it would enable the drugmaker to administer them to the 14.8 million people who have already received the single dose.
Infant dosage
Pharmaceutical Pfizer said its vaccine works in children ages 5 to 11, and it will submit data from studies to gain approval.
Pfizer said the vaccine is safe and effective, with the potential for the same side effects.
MU variant expanded
A new variant of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, called Mu, continues to spread and begins to worry epidemiologists more.
This variant arose in Colombia, where it represents about 35% of the cases. In Ecuador it represents more than 10% of the cases. Cases have already been reported in the United States and their spread in the United Kingdom is being investigated.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that it is present in at least 40 countries.
Controversy, masks and schools
While millions of students have returned to the classroom in the United States, school districts in some areas of the country face bitter controversy.
In some states, such as Maryland, the wearing of masks is mandatory in school buildings. But in others, like Texas, the state has banned these mandates, as some systems have challenged.
The result is schools where some children go to school with their masks and others do not.
Multiple COVID outbreaks have already been recorded within days of starting the school year in most of the country.
Johns Hopkins University created a near real-time case map that you can also view and follow here:
What are coronaviruses
Coronaviruses (CoVs) are a broad family of viruses that can cause a variety of conditions, from the common cold to more serious illnesses, such as the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and the respiratory syndrome coronavirus. severe acute (SARS-CoV). A new coronavirus is a new strain of coronavirus that has not been found before in humans.
How do you get the coronavirus?
Coronaviruses can be transmitted from animals to people (called zoonotic transmission). Studies confirmed that SARS-CoV was transmitted from the civet to humans and that transmission of MERS-CoV from dromedary to humans has occurred. In addition, it is known that there are other coronaviruses circulating among animals, which have not yet infected humans.
Characteristic symptoms
These infections usually cause fever and respiratory symptoms (cough and dyspnea or shortness of breath). In the most severe cases, they can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure, and even death.
Also headache and loss of taste and smell.
How to prevent contagion
The usual recommendations to avoid spreading the infection are to wash your hands frequently and cover your mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing (with your arm, not your hand). Masks should be used, especially indoors.
Close contact with anyone with signs of a respiratory condition, such as coughing or sneezing, should also be avoided. Comply with 6-foot (two-meter) social distancing and stay home if symptoms appear.
Sources: WHO, CDC, Johns Hopkins.
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