Pandemic

In 2020, as most of the world imposed strict lockdowns to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, Belarus took a vastly different approach.  Its authoritarian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, dismissed the virus as insignificant, famously suggesting that a few shots of vodka and a sauna were all that was needed to fend it…

The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has said the number of people starting construction apprenticeships needs to triple to plug labour shortages.  In a report, the CITB says that the 2023/24 education year saw 33,000 construction apprenticeship starts, an improvement since the pandemic but still “a long way short of…

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New business applications in the U.S. declined by 4.76% in 2024, signaling a cooling after the post-pandemic entrepreneurial boom. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 5.2 million new business applications were filed last year, down from 5.46 million in 2023, which marked a record high. Despite the overall decline, Wyoming…

TOPLINE: The COVID-19 pandemic led to a 17.9% overall reduction in the rate of common ophthalmic procedures among Medicare beneficiaries, with laser peripheral iridotomy showing the steepest decline. The Northeast, one of the regions most affected by the pandemic, experienced the steepest declines, particularly in cataract surgeries. METHODOLOGY: Researchers conducted…

Third baseman Anthony Rendon was expected to be a cornerstone for the Los Angeles Angels when he signed a seven-year, $245 million contract in December 2019. Instead, he has been an albatross. Rendon was healthy during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He appeared in 52 games and finished tenth in the…

By Fred Ezeh, Abuja Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has sounded an alarm to Nigerians on the expected epidemics and possibly pandemic outbreaks that might be recorded in 2025, advocating public support and collaboration to minimize the catastrophic effect of the outbreaks. It predicted that more cases of these…

A new review study traces the complex links between biodiversity loss and emerging infectious diseases — though one doesn’t necessarily lead to the other. Instead, complex interactions between factors (including climate change, habitat loss, agricultural practices, and closer contact between wildlife, livestock and people) can contribute to emergent infectious diseases…

Air passenger numbers in Europe are back to pre-pandemic levels. Photo by David GANNON / AFP European airports welcomed more passengers last year than in 2019, surpassing pre-Covid levels for the first time since the pandemic, industry figures showed on Wednesday. Passenger traffic reached 2.5 billion in 2024, up 7.4…

D.C. school recovering from pandemic learning loss How a D.C. school is working to reverse pandemic learning loss 05:24 National test results released last month show that not a single state scored above pre-pandemic levels in both math and reading, despite nearly $190 billion given to schools in federal pandemic…