Microsoft will grant parents 12 weeks paid parental leave during COVID-19
Washington announced this week that schools across the state will stay closed for the remainder of the academic year, leaving parents with the daunting prospect of keeping kids entertained at home for at least two more months. After watching employees juggle work and childcare during the COVID-19 Read More...
OPTIMIST VIEW: Snapshots of Life in a Time of Coronavirus
BY KRISTY JANSEN AND AMELIA BUCKLEY KRISTY: Last Saturday I ventured out to the local Costco. My household was down to our last few rolls of toilet paper, and my 75 year old mother’s household - where she’s been in self-protective isolation with her two 70+ housemates for the past month - Read More...
Engineers create a new ventilator prototype from breast pumps
The global shortage of ventilators needed to treat severe cases of COVID-19 has led companies like Dyson, Apple, and Ford to create innovative new products to meet hospital demands. An innovative team in Maryland is joining the effort and creating ventilator prototypes out of breast pumps. The Read More...
New York landlord waives April rent amid COVID-19 crisis
COVID-19 has many of us worrying about our health and economic futures, and for individuals who are unemployed as a result of the crisis, the question of how to pay the rent next month is a pressing concern. Fortunately, there are people in the world like Mario Salerno, a landlord in New York who Read More...
Residents of Punjab see tops of Himalayas for the first time in 30 years
After 21 days in lockdown to slow the spread of COVID-19, residents in Jalandhar, Punjab were rewarded with a view not seen in 30 years: the tops of the Himalayan Mountain range. Reduced smog and pollution due to national shutdowns have revealed the tops of the mountains, which residents say Read More...
Why group testing helps us make the most of limited COVID-19 tests
When it comes to coronavirus testing, the problem is simple: there are too many people to test, and too few kits to test them with. That’s why researchers across the world are having to improvise. One promising technique is group testing, in which multiple people are testing at once. Group Read More...
COVID-19 and the 5 stages of grief
We are grieving as a nation and as a world. In the very literal sense, we are grieving the thousands of lives lost to COVID-19, but we are also grieving the loss of our normal lives. The loss of work, school, eating out, hugs with friends, travel, and so much more. Assessing our current situation Read More...
Study finds plasma from coronavirus survivors can help severely ill patients
Good news in the battle against coronavirus. In a recent story published in The Guardian, it was reported that doctors have found tentative evidence that seriously ill coronavirus patients can benefit from infusions of blood plasma collected from people who have recovered from the disease. Two Read More...
“Hospitality for Hope” connects medical workers with free hotel lodging
Medical staff working to treat COVID-19 patients often have to make the difficult decision of whether or not to sleep at home with their families given their high risk of exposure to the virus. Fortunately, the “Hospitality for Hope” gives these doctors and nurses a comfortable and safe Read More...
How to plan a quarantine-approved date night
Among the canceled workdays and classes, something more mundane, yet important, has also gone out the window: date night. So how can you keep the romance alive without restaurants, museums, or theaters? Here are some quarantine-approved date nights to try if COVID-19 has turned your love life Read More...