Cable TV and COVID-19: “Coverage of COVID-19 has dominated the news and resulted in skyrocketing ratings for the nation’s cable news networks. And according to a survey conducted March 10-16, 2020, as a part of Pew Research Center’s Election News Pathways project, responses to that coverage and the pandemic itself vary notably among Americans who identify Fox News, MSNBC or CNN (the three major cable news networks featured in the analysis) as their main source of political news. In particular, the responses to COVID-19 news from those whose main source for political news is MSNBC or Fox News are strikingly different. The views of those who identify CNN as their main news source most often fit somewhere between the two. One such difference emerges around knowledge and understanding of the pandemic. The group who names MSNBC as their main news source is far more likely than the Fox News group to answer correctly that the coronavirus originated in nature rather than a laboratory and that it will take a year or more for a vaccine to become available. On both questions, the portion in the CNN group to answer correctly falls between the MSNBC and Fox News numbers. This analysis comes from a survey of 8,914 U.S. adults who are members of the Center’s American Trends Panel…”

Jamie Hopkins – PublicIntegrity.org: “I wrote a story this week about air pollution’s impact on health and the immune system that included a quick data analysis. Academics who studied the impact of the 1918 flu looked at 180 cities and found that higher-pollution places — as measured by coal use — saw more deaths. I wondered how air quality in those worse-off cities looked these days and used EPA ozone and fine particle data to see.

• Really proud of my colleagues who produced this important story quantifying the ventilators in the nation’s stockpile — an alarmingly small number given the need..”

Mobile carrier T-Mobile has completed its merger with Sprint, creating a more formidable third rival to AT&T and Verizon. CEO John Legere stepped down as part of the merge.

(Image credit: Alastair Pike/AFP via Getty Images)

A next coronavirus relief package should require additional pay for workers like nurses, doctors and first responders, the Senate minority leader said.

(Image credit: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Major pharmacies had already pulled the popular heartburn drug and its generic equivalents due to a contaminant. Now the Food and Drug Administration says definitively they should not be sold or used.

(Image credit: Wilfredo Lee/AP)

Census-taking used to spur innovation. Now, the pace of technology, and the challenge of going go door to door, could force it to adopt existing systems instead.

Some 7,000 volunteers were evacuated in an unprecedented callback. Back home and jobless, they're in limbo — but there's a proposal to enlist them in the fight against COVID-19.

(Image credit: Adam Greenberg)

The White House coronavirus task force calls Italy an example of how the coronavirus could play out in the U.S. The European country's death toll is rising, despite a recent slowdown in cases.

(Image credit: Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty Images)

Ultra-Orthodox Jews make up about 12% of Israel's population — but account for many of Israel's COVID-19 cases. This week a senior rabbi finally urged his followers to obey government lockdown orders.

(Image credit: Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images)

Birmingham, Ala., is under a shelter-in-place order, as officials take a more aggressive approach than state leaders have, in order to curtail spread of the coronavirus.

StateScoop – “New York City’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications this week launched a new website aimed at getting residents to contribute to the city’s response to the novel coronavirus pandemic by self-reporting symptoms or encounters with people who may have been diagnosed with the COVID-19 illness. The “NYC COVID-19 Engagement Portal” is designed to help the city — which is the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak — get a better picture of where potential COVID-19 patients or people in self-quarantine are, and facilitate the city government’s communications with those populations, said Jessica Tisch, New York City’s chief information officer and DoITT’s commissioner…”

Muscovites will have their movements followed through a program required on their smartphones. They will also have to carry a new QR code with their personal data.

(Image credit: Pavel Golovkin/AP)

Tuberculosis is a dangerous infectious disease. The strategies used by wealthy countries to wipe it out within their borders in the 1950s holds lessons for the world.

(Image credit: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty)

TechCrunch: “Nearly 300 million kids are missing school worldwide because of the coronavirus outbreak, including some 54 million in the U.S. alone. That’s left parents scrambling for resources to help continue their children’s education, often while also working from home themselves — an almost insurmountable challenge. Today, the nonprofit media organization Common Sense is launching a site to help parents. Called Wide Open School (WideOpenSchool.org), it combines in one place the best educational resources for publishers, nonprofits and education companies. At launch, this free resource includes content from the American Federation of Teachers, Amplify, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Head Start, Khan Academy, National Geographic, Noggin, PBS, Scholastic, Sesame Workshop, Time for Kids, XQ Institute and even YouTube…”

Atlantic writer Ed Yong warned of a global pandemic two years ago. He says scientists are still working to understand how COVID-19 travels through air — and whether more of us should be wearing masks.

(Image credit: John Locher/AP)

On March 31, the Federal Bureau of Prisons began a systemwide 14-day quarantine for inmates to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

BetaNews: “We are weeks into people self-isolating in their homes due to the Coronavirus (COVID 19), and apparently, many are getting bored. As someone who is staying indoors to help “flatten the curve” and prevent the spread of the virus, I have to wonder if these bored people are nuts. I mean, look, we live in a world where the internet exists, and you can stream thousands upon thousands of films right in your living room. Not to mention video games, books, television, radio, board games, puzzles, and more. In 2020, I don’t know how anyone can be bored, but OK, I guess some people live more exciting lives than me.  If you feel the need to have even more entertainment in your life, I have some great news. SiriusXM is free through May 15! No, this does not include satellite access for your car — it is limited to streaming. But still, it is the same content, including the highly coveted Howard Stern Show! The company is even launching a special channel called “#StayHome Radio,” which will only play feel-good tunes. Best of all, you don’t even need to enter a credit card to get the access, so there is no worry about being charged when the offering ends — there is nothing to cancel…”

Electric Lit Interview – The esteemed science fiction author on how we may never go “back to normal”—and why that might be a good thing – “…Halimah Marcus: This pandemic isn’t science fiction, but it does feel like a dystopia. How can we understand the coronavirus as a cautionary tale? How can we combat our own personal inclinations toward the good/evil narrative, and the subsequent expectation that everything will return to normal? – Ted Chiang: We need to be specific about what we mean when we talk about things returning to normal. We all want not to be quarantined, to be able to go to work and socialize and travel. But we don’t want everything to go back to business as usual, because business as usual is what led us to this crisis. COVID-19 has demonstrated how much we need federally mandated paid sick leave and universal health care, so we don’t want to return to a status quo that lacks those things. The current administration’s response ought to serve as a cautionary tale about the dangers of electing demagogues instead of real leaders, although there’s no guarantee that voters will heed it. We’re at a point where things could go in some very different ways, depending on what we learn from this experience…”

See also Smithsonian Magazine – How Epidemics of the Past Changed the Way Americans Lived – Past public health crises inspired innovations in infrastructure, education, fundraising and civic debate