Study: Southern US hit hardest with mental health concerns during pandemic CIDRAP

A study from researchers at the University of Kansas shows Southern states may have carried the brunt of mental health troubles during the COVID-19 pandemic, with people in that region most consistently worried about finances throughout COVID-19 lockdowns and the emergence of new strains of the virus. The findings were published yesterday in PLOS One.

...

The Great Grift: How billions in COVID-19 relief aid was stolen or wasted An Associated Press analysis found that fraudsters potentially stole more than $280 billion in COVID-19 relief funding; another $123 billion was wasted or misspent. Combined, the loss represents 10% of the $4.2 trillion the U.S. government has disbursed in COVID relief aid AP NEWS

WASHINGTON (AP) — Much of the theft was brazen, even simple.

Becerra says DeSantis bears responsibility for Covid’s outsized toll By way of contrast, Becerra touted the work of the Biden administration and his Department of Health and Human Services in pushing out vaccines. Yahoo News

...

Becerra said that people still dying of Covid are mainly “either unvaccinated or undervaccinated” and that “if you’re dying of Covid today, you didn’t take precautions” in response to a question about DeSantis’ vaccine skepticism from White House reporter Adam Cancryn at POLITICO’s Health Care Summit.

...

Fatigue can lower long-COVID patients' quality of life more than some cancers CIDRAP

Long-COVID fatigue can diminish quality of life more than some cancers, suggests an observational study published yesterday in BMJ Open.

...

This Is Now the Most Common Non-Respiratory COVID Symptom New research shows that fever is the most common non-respiratory symptom of COVID-19. The study also showed that the risk of developing non-respiratory COVID features was higher among people who were not fully vaccinated. If you think you have COVID, get tested whether you have a fever or not. Yahoo Life

...

A third day of smoky air gives millions in US East Coast, Canada a new view of wildfire threat With weather systems expected to hardly budge, the smoky blanket billowing across the U.S. and Canada from wildfires in Quebec and Nova Scotia will possibly persist into the weekend. AP NEWS

...

COVID cases trend down in all world regions CIDRAP

Except for a few hot spots, COVID-19 activity over the past month declined in all six world regions, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its weekly update today.

...

Though two of the countries reporting rising cases—Australia and China—are both in the WHO's Western Pacific region, cases in the area declined 5% over the past 28 days.

...