Deaths

In mid-January, the southern tip of South America suffered its worst heat wave in years. In Argentina, temperatures in more than 50 cities rose above 40°C, more than 10°C warmer than the typical average temperature in cities such as Buenos Aires. The scorching heat sparked wildfires, worsened a drought, hurt agriculture, and temporarily collapsed Buenos Aires’s electrical power supply. It also killed at least 3 people, although experts estimate the true number might be much…

Photo: Shutterstock (Shutterstock)The first year of the pandemic in America saw a startling and disproportionate rise in maternal mortality, according to new research released Tuesday. In 2020, the study found, deaths during or soon after pregnancy rose even higher than the spike in mortality seen nationwide. This jump in mortality was felt hardest among Black and Hispanic mothers. The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics reported this February that maternal deaths rose by about 18% in 2020 compared to the previous…

According to a new modeling study, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, COVID-19 vaccines are estimated to have prevented 20 million deaths worldwide in the first year of the vaccine program.First modeling study to quantify the impact of <span class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>COVID-19</div><div class=glossaryItemBody>First identified in 2019 in Wuhan, China, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious…

Credit: Map: The Conversation, CC-BY-ND Source: Newsweek Lawmakers in Congress are poised to pass the first gun control legislation in three decades. Among the elements in that legislation is support for states to pass what are called "red flag laws." …

Credit: Shutterstock About a year ago, many of us were in lockdown. State premiers fronted the media every day to reveal how many people had tested positive for COVID and how many people had died. …

A panel of experts convened by the US Food and Drug Administration unanimously recommended COVID-19 vaccines Wednesday for children under five, the final age group awaiting immunization in most countries.  ​Formal authorizations for Moderna and Pfizer should follow soon, with the first shots in arms expected early next week, just over a year-and-a-half after the first COVID vaccines were greenlighted for the elderly in December 2020.​"This recommendation does fill a significant unmet need for a really ignored younger…

The latest report released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) has highlighted the importance of wearing a helmet when riding a two-wheeler. Going by the figures, more than 39,000 people lost their lives in road accidents in 2020 as they did not wear a helmet. 12 percent of these fatalities were recorded in Maharashtra alone. The report showed that 83 percent of all the bikers that were killed in road crashes in Maharashtra in 2020 were not using a helmet. A total of 4,878 two-wheeler users died in the…

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. GT -0.99% has told U.S. auto-safety regulators it is recalling a tire that has been linked to at least eight deaths and several dozen injuries, after years of resisting such a move and defending the tire as safe.Goodyear, in a notice published Tuesday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said the recall campaign covers 173,000 tires made between 1996 and 2003 and sold for use on motor homes under the G159 model name. The…

With a million Americans dead from Covid 19, families across the country are struggling with unimaginable grief and loss. More than 200,000 American children are now orphans, having lost a parent or primary caregiver to the pandemic. This short film introduces Avion Simon, a teenager from the Midwest who is struggling to comprehend the loss of his mother to Covid, only two years after his stepfather passed away. He is finishing high school while helping to care for and console his two younger siblings, C.J. and Momo.…

Looking at COVID data in recent months, it may appear that a significant proportion of the people who have died of COVID were vaccinated against the disease. But it is important to put those numbers in context. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has compiled data from 28 geographically representative state and local health departments that keep track of COVID death rates among people age 12 and older in relation to their vaccination status, including whether or not they got a booster dose, and age group.…