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A searing report released Tuesday by the Black Coalition Against COVID details the immense toll the Covid-19 pandemic has taken — and continues to take — on Black communities, and calls for continued vigilance and action to prevent further losses even as the rest of the nation is eager to move on. The report’s authors — physicians and public health and policy experts — note with alarm that even as case rates began to fall sharply across the country earlier this year, the Covid-19 hospitalization rate for Black people was higher than it had been at any time during the pandemic for any racial or ethnic group. For the week ending Jan. 8, 2022, the hospitalization rate for Black Americans was 64 per 100,000 — more than twice the overall rate. Rates for all Americans have since fallen, though they remain much higher for Black people. (McFarling, 3/29)

A US study of 3,506 cancer patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 in 2020 shows that Black patients were significantly more likely than their White peers to have severe illness, regardless of demographic and clinical risk factors and cancer type, status, and therapy at COVID-19 diagnosis. (Van Beusekom, 3/29)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released an online calculator Thursday to help people determine if they should isolate or quarantine after contracting COVID-19 or being exposed to someone with the virus. The tool can be accessed on a desktop or on a mobile device. Once a person answers a few questions, the calculator will help discern how long one should isolate or quarantine, whether they should get tested, and how long they should take precautions, such as wearing a mask around others in public. (Thomas and Kekatos, 3/29)

The White House is pivoting to emphasize that poorly ventilated indoor air poses the biggest risk for coronavirus infections, urging schools, businesses and homeowners to take steps to boost air quality — a move scientists say is long overdue and will help stave off future outbreaks. “Let’s Clear the Air on COVID,” a virtual event hosted Tuesday by the White House science office, came after President Biden’s coronavirus response team and other leaders have elevated warnings that airborne transmission is the primary conduit of coronavirus infections, a reversal of earlier federal guidance. (Diamond, 3/29)

Two years into an airborne pandemic, many buildings around the country are still poorly ventilated and lack sufficient filtration systems to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other infections, experts say. The White House on Tuesday renewed its push to improve indoor air quality at workplaces and schools at a time when mask mandates have been largely discontinued and another more transmissible version of the virus, known as BA.2, is widely circulating. “For decades, Americans have demanded that clean water flow from our taps and pollution limits be placed on our smokestacks and tailpipes,” Dr. Alondra Nelson, head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said during a White House virtual event. “Our indoor air should be clean and healthy too. It’s just as important as the food we eat and the water we drink.” (Lazar, 3/29)

To administer this COVID test, Todd Kautz had to lay on his belly in the snow and worm his upper body into the narrow den of a hibernating black bear. Training a light on its snout, Kautz carefully slipped a long cotton swab into the bear’s nostrils five times. For postdoctoral researcher Kautz and a team of other wildlife experts, tracking the coronavirus means freezing temperatures, icy roads, trudging through deep snow and getting uncomfortably close to potentially dangerous wildlife. (Ungar, 3/30)

A new report raises questions about Tom Cruise’s presentation of himself as the safety-conscious star of “Mission: Impossible 7,” who was so vehement about protecting the production from COVID-19 that he notoriously yelled expletives at crew members who purportedly violated COVID safety protocols. Indeed, the investigative report by the Hollywood Reporter said it is believed that Cruise didn’t get the COVID-19 vaccine, at least as of June 2021. That means he remained unvaccinated after an audio recording of his infamous dressing down of crew members was leaked to the media in December 2020. (Ross, 3/29)

The light at the end of the tunnel for the COVID-19 pandemic might just be overhead. A new study shows a hands-off approach using ultraviolet light, called far-UVC light, reduced transmission of indoor airborne pathogens by more than 98% in less than five minutes, according to a recent statement. "Far-UVC rapidly reduces the amount of active microbes in the indoor air to almost zero, making indoor air essentially as safe as outdoor air," said co-author Dr. David Brenner, director of the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. (Sudhakar, 3/29)

Imagine being able to swab the inside of your mouth, place it in a device and quickly know whether you’re infected with COVID-19.Johns Hopkins University researchers say they have developed a simple sensor that could quickly and accurately detect the virus that causes COVID-19 in saliva. The sensor isn’t on the market yet, but soon could revolutionize testing, the researchers say. It could be stationed at the entrances of hospitals, airports and schools, and potentially be put into handheld and even wearable devices. It also can detect other viruses. (Cohn, 3/29)

KHN: Covid And Schizophrenia: Why This Deadly Mix Can Deepen Knowledge Of The Brain Disease 

Most of the time, the voices in Keris Myrick’s head don’t bother her. They stay in the background or say nice things. But sometimes they get loud and mean — like when a deadly pandemic descended on the world. “It’s when things go really, really fast and they seem overwhelmingly disastrous. That’s when it happens,” said Myrick, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia 25 years ago. “The attacking voices were calling me stupid. … I literally had a meltdown right here in my house. Just lost it.” (Dembosky, 3/30)