The Covid-19 pandemic is changing the world in unexpected and unprecedented ways, going well beyond wild animals reclaiming urban spaces and amateur music performances on Instagram. At the time of writing this, close to two million people around the world have tested positive for the virus with over 125,000 deaths,^[1] and the projections go well over what we’d call ‘manageable’. The human cost also includes the many millions around the world who’ll suffer in the forthcoming financial recession, which—by some expert estimates—may be our worst one since the Great Depression.^[2]

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The virus is also peculiar in that we simply don’t know how it works. It’s one of those things where the real—and responsible—experts tell you that they don’t know for sure, as there are still huge gaps between how we expect the virus to behave, and what we’re witnessing among the patients on the ground.

10 Why Are Young, Fit People Dying, Too?

One of the most concerning parts of the pandemic is the disproportionately high rate of fatalities among the elderly. This allows the virus to spread virtually undetected among younger, less vulnerable parts of the population. You may think that’s a good thing, but it’s not. SARS Cov-2 can lie undetected and spread far and wide, until it reaches the older hosts and wreaks havoc on them. If the symptoms were a bit more severe and detectable in their early stages, the virus would have had a far harder time reaching its older targets.

That doesn’t mean that the younger people are immune, though, as quite a few of them have died from the virus, too. It’s something we don’t yet completely comprehend, as according to our current understanding of the pandemic, relatively fit and younger folks should not be developing the more serious symptoms. It’s a big part of the larger question of how the virus affects different people in so many different ways, and answering it is crucial to preventing future, potentially-deadlier outbreaks.^[3]

9 Can We Infect Animals?

Despite the rather long list of things we still don’t know about the Covid-19 pandemic, we do know that it came from animals. There’s still fierce debate around exactly which animal it was—with pangolins, bats and even poultry as potential suspects—though we’re guessing researchers will get to the animals once they’re done with the humans.

What’s baffling scientists, though, is how the mutated, human form of the virus is now transmitting back to animals, something no one had predicted. Among wild animals, a tiger at Bronx Zoo was recently diagnosed with the Covid-19 strain, along with several others starting to show similar symptoms. While it’s hardly the only case of its kind, all of the other cases of human-to-animal transmission involve household pets.

This is the first instance of the SARS Cov-2 strain infecting wild animals, and no one is sure how. Our best guess is that it came from one of the infected zoo workers without any symptoms. If that’s the case, it should have passed on to other animals, too. No other animal—not even the other big cats—have shown any symptoms yet, so it’s possible that it just affects tigers for some reason.^[4]

8 We Still Don’t Understand Its Biology

It’s true that the Covid-19 outbreak has disportionately affected the first world, meaning that some of the world’s best healthcare experts are currently hard at work trying to understand how it works. Worryingly, though, that hasn’t meant much, as the SARS Cov-2 strain has proven to be far more difficult to understand than we ever imagined.

At the heart of the problem lies the big question about the fundamental biological structure of the virus. While we do know that it’s shaped like a spiky ball—with the spikes meant to break into living tissue—exactly how that translates into the unrealistically-high rate of its spread remains a mystery, as many other relatively-harmless viruses—including other coronavirus strains—have the capability to do that, too. We simply don’t know what it is about the SARS family of coronaviruses that makes them so deadly to humans, or even—as we’ll come to in a bit—how it learned to affect humans at all.^[5]

7 Its Evolution In Humans Is Still Poorly Understood

The biology of the virus may help us better understand its effects, though there’s still the question of exactly how the SARS Cov-2 strain learned to infect humans at all. While we’re no strangers to coronaviruses infecting people, they’ve always needed some time to mutate and learn to infect new hosts. The last SARS strain—also called SARS-classic—needed some time to mutate in the human body before causing any real damage. The current virus, however, seemingly knew how to infect and kill from the get go, as it hasn’t changed in any considerable way since the start of the pandemic.

That doesn’t mean that it isn’t mutating, though none of the mutations have been able to gain dominance over the original one. Put it this way; the current SARS Cov-2 strain doesn’t need to change itself to infect more hosts (yet), as it’s already able to do that without much effort.^[6]

6 People Are Testing Negative, And Then Positive

While we grapple with tens of thousands of cases showing up around the world every day, doctors are faced with a new unexplained problem. Many patients that were previously found to be negative are now testing positive, calling into question the very methods and tools we’re using to detect it.

While it’s true that the virus can remain dormant for some time before it shows any symptoms, nearly every country is already taking that into account before discharging suspected patients. Guidelines from the now-disgraced and defunded WHO require that all recovered patients should test negative for the virus twice, with an interval of at least 24 hours between the tests. Concerningly some of those recovered patients are now testing positive for the virus, and we have no idea why.^[7]

According to some experts, the virus may have the ability to deactivate and reactivate itself inside a human host, though it could also be patients getting re-infected from other sources after being discharged, or something else entirely. We just don’t know. All of those possibilities, though, fly in the face of the popular notion that the recovered patients would develop some kind of an immunity towards the virus—as it works in most other diseases we know of— which would in turn strengthen the collective immunity of the whole population. Moreover, if the virus can just reactivate itself on a whim, what does ’recovered’ even mean?^[8]

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5 The Carriers With No Symptoms At All

If you study the various pandemics in history, you’d realize that the secret of the Chinese virus’s success isn’t its high rate of spread or even fatalities. We’ve dealt with far deadlier diseases than this one in the past; it’s nowhere close to the Black Death or the Spanish Flu in its death count or rate of infection. It is, however, different in one way; infected people could go about their lives with mild or even no symptoms at all, helping it reach even more people than any of those diseases ever could. It creates, in effect, a society full of “Typhoid Marys”, or perhaps more fittingly for our time: “Coronavirus Karens”.

What scientists don’t know, though, is how many of these cases are out there. At this point, it’s clear that known infections or popular hotspots can’t be solely responsible for the deluge of cases pouring in by the minute. While there have been many cases wherein patients with mild or no symptoms were tested positive for the virus, those are only the ones we were able to test. People with a runny nose or cough tend to not think of it as a big deal, and according to many doctors and scientists, they may be the primary reason behind the mind-bogglingly rapid spread of the virus.^[9]

4 Why Are Children So Good At Fighting It?

It’s no breaking news that the novel coronavirus strain affects everyone differently. The number of fatalities are way higher for the relatively-older people, which is popularly explained by their weakened immunity. That sounds like an intuitive explanation, though not if you consider that the virus is virtually ineffective on children. Compared to adult fatalities, the number of fatalities among children have been – thankfully – almost negligible.^[10]

While it’s definitely great news, it’s also inexplicable, as kids these days are hardly known for their high immunity to viruses, or fitness. In fact, children are usually at a disproportionately higher risk of contracting respiratory viral infections, like the common flu. And yet, many more people expected to have better mechanisms to fight off the virus have died from it than kids, and we really have no idea why.^[11]

3 How Do Patients Recover?

At this point, we have a fairly good idea about how the novel coronavirus kills its victims, even if many of the conditions leading up to that point are still shrouded in mystery. What we still don’t completely understand, though, is how anyone recovers from it?

Usually for other diseases, patients recover by developing antibodies, which don’t just help them fight off the current illness, but also secure their body against future attacks by the same strain. That immunity may not be permanent, like in the case of the Influenza virus, though the body still retains some signs of having fought off the disease.

That’s not the case for a surprisingly high number of recovered Covid-19 patients, and researchers are struggling to understand why. In one study done in China, most of the recovered had developed antibodies specifically meant for the SARS Cov-2 strain, which is how we’d expect it would work. 30% of the patients, however, had no signs of those or any other related antibodies, and it’s unclear how their bodies recovered at all.^[12]

2 The Invisible Line Of Transmission

Even if the number of cases around the world is growing at an alarming rate, we can at least trace most of them to potential sources of the virus. Knowing that a hospital is a hotspot can help us quarantine and isolate the area, contact everyone who may have been in its vicinity during the pandemic, and ensure that it doesn’t contribute towards any more infections.

Worryingly, though, we’re also seeing quite a few baffling cases from around the world without any discernible route of infection. For one, a toddler in Gujarat, India^[13] got infected and died despite there being no known cases in that entire district. And one man in California^[14] became the first American to contract the virus without coming into contact with any potential host.

1 How Does It Spread?

Most countries around the world are doing their best to stem the rate of infection, including strict measures like legally-enforced lockdowns and social distancing rules. All of that, however, is based on the assumption that everything we know about the virus is correct. As more and more research is showing us, we know very little, and our prevention techniques will have to consistently evolve if we have any chance of fighting this.

The biggest mystery of the Covid-19 pandemic is that we simply have no idea how it spreads, and anyone who says they do is just hazarding a guess. While it was earlier believed that it could only spread via physical touch, new research suggests that the virus could remain afloat in the air for much longer than we previously thought, and doesn’t require carriers like cough droplets to spread. In a possibly-related case, an entire choir was infected with the virus despite keeping their distance from each other at all times. Again, it’s our best guess that they got it from the air, as we’re still not clear on all the ways it could spread.^[15]

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The COVID-19 lockdown has changed the way we live … and the way we buy. In the U.S., first-quarter sales of consumer packaged goods (CPG) were $23.7 billion higher than the same period a year ago: higher, in fact, than the CPG sales growth over the entire 2019 calendar year.

Americans have modified not only *how much* they purchase, but also *what* they’re buying. “You can definitely see that as people have stayed home, their focus shifted,” said Walmart CEO Doug McMillon.

When the shutdowns began, true panic purchasing kicked in. The first things to fly off the shelves (in stores and online) were protective face masks, toilet paper, and disinfectant cleaning products. Nielsen reported that, during the first week of March, hand sanitizer sales rose 470 percent from the same period in 2019. Bath tissue, facial tissue, and paper towels all saw triple-digit sales increases during the second week of March, and aerosol disinfectant sales skyrocketed by 519 percent.

While these types of panic purchases were somewhat expected, it’s been fun to see what else consumers have been buying up during their weeks of quarantine.

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10 Elastic

At the beginning of the quarantine, there was a lot of controversy about face masks. Celebrities were donning N95 masks, while healthcare providers were going without. Medical experts advised others against wearing face masks but later recommended that all frontline workers and shoppers wear them.

As such, basic face masks were hard to come by. So, people got creative.”How to make your own face mask” videos and tips flooded social media. Masks were crafted from bandanas, scarves, t-shirts, socks, and bra cups. Most of the DIY masks required elastic to function effectively.

The shortage continued, and folks stepped up to make masks not just for themselves but for those in need as well. A call for volunteers from Joann stores has thus far collected more than 114 million “Masks for America.” Singer donated sewing machines to fashion designers and hospitals to boost mask supplies for frontline workers.

It’s no surprise then that elastic continues to hold the top spot on Amazon’s best sellers in arts, crafts, and sewing. Those homemade masks aren’t going to stay up on their own!^[1]

9 Baby Wipes

With hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes so difficult to come by, consumers are turning to baby wipes to keep the virus at bay. Currently, more than half of Amazon’s best-selling baby products are wipes. This is a new dynamic, as sales of disposable baby products had been slowing, thanks to declining birth rates. (Perhaps several weeks in quarantine will result in an uptick of new babies in about nine months or so!)

It is worth noting that most baby wipes will not guard against the coronavirus. In order for a “sanitizing” wipe to protect from germs, bacteria, and viruses, it must contain 70 percent isopropyl alcohol. Consumers may be better served by keeping paper towels in a coffee can filled with a bleach solution.^[2]

8 Yeast

SSA & Company, a global management consultant, estimates that–thanks to the lockdown–between 35 and 40 percent of consumers are eating home-cooked meals for the first time.

Sales of baking products increased during the second half of March. Surprisingly, baking yeast sales increased by 647 percent, more than any other consumer packaged goods product. And spiral hams spiked by 622 percent over the same time in the previous year (boosted, in part, by the approaching Easter holiday).

Amazon’s grocery and gourmet sales during the first week in April were 77 percent higher than they were just two months earlier. The Walmart Grocery app surpassed Amazon by 20 percent and reached an all-time high: as of April 5, average daily Walmart Grocery downloads were up 460 percent over January.^[3]

7 Kitchen Scales

Interestingly, food scales have ranked high on the list of best sellers. As more people are cooking at home, they’re discovering equipment and utensils that make the job easier. All-in-one instant pots, air fryers, and waffle makers have also been in demand, up 7 percent from the previous April. Other “nonessential” kitchen helpers include rice cookers, vacuum sealers, and soda makers.^[4]

6 Portable Ice Makers

Consumers continue to purchase fresh meats and produce from grocery stores and home-delivery services, but they’re also seeking out items that have a longer shelf life
Sales of frozen and shelf-stable fruit, for example, grew nearly five times the rate of fresh fruit in the first three months of 2020.

Chest freezers were the top-selling appliances on Amazon during the first month of quarantine. This is a response to the initial concerns that supermarkets would run out of food (especially meat). The freezers can also be used to safely store the increasing amounts of food that are now being prepared at home. A vacuum sealer (see #5) is a great add-on to a freezer.

Now that the freezers are in place, portable ice maker machines are dominating the appliances category. Consumers can’t get out to the bars, and they’re wary of drive-through iced coffees and convenience store fountain drinks. So they are opting to make their own refreshing beverages at home.^[5]

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5 Eyebrow Razors

Because more people are staying home, overall sales of beauty products (along with apparel) have gone down–about 50 percent year-over-year. But remote workers want to be presentable for Zoom meetings. So, as salons and barber shops were shuttered, consumers sought out products that would enable them to groom their own hair.

Sales of hair clippers increased 166 percent, and hair color rose 23 percent. “People are starting to need a haircut,” McMillon said in April. “You see more beard trimmers and hair color and things like that. It’s interesting to watch the dynamic play out.”

Women’s eyebrow razors are currently among Amazon’s top five beauty and personal care category, as salon waxing and tweezing serves are suspended. Sales of men’s nose and ear hair trimmers peaked and are now on the decline. Fortunately, nose whiskers are slow-growing.^[6]

4 Ping Pong Paddles

After urgently addressing their personal protection, food, and grooming needs, consumers looked for ways to fill the hours being spent at home. Puzzles (which were actually trending before COVID-19), colored pencils, and games (Jenga or Connect 4, anyone?) have been in high demand, purchased for at-home use (as well as to send to Grandma and Grandpa to encourage them to stay put). Weirdly, ping pong paddles stand out, as sales are up 89 percent!

As the weather warms, outdoor gems like bubbles, wading pools, and sidewalk chalk are flying off Amazon’s shelves. Exercise apparel and equipment are on the rise, too. Even bird watching items (seed, feeders) were up 91 percent as of early April.^[7]

3 Tailbone Relief Cushions

As of late March, about 16 million U.S. knowledge workers began working remotely, converting kitchen islands and dining room tables into home offices. Weeks later, that number is likely much higher.

These telecommuters are burning through personal supplies of copy paper and printer ink and turning to Amazon, Walmart, Staples, and other office supply stores for reams of paper, boxes of envelopes, and packages of high-yield ink cartridges. Packaging tape, Sharpies, and tailbone pain relief cushions round out the top ten.^[8]

2 Sticks, Switches, and Dots

For anyone stuck at home, there’s the comfort of home entertainment. Gaming, streaming, and binge watching help to fill the days but are frustrating (if not impossible) without the right equipment.

BGR (Boy Genius Report) rounded up the top-selling electronics among its readers “because everyone is looking for new toys to play with while sheltering in place.” The site found that AirPods are hugely popular, even more so now that they’re selling at the lowest prices ever. But their popularity pales in comparison to Amazon’s real top sellers. Could that mean that families are removing their earbuds in favor of communicating with family?

Streaming media players (or streaming sticks) are hands-down the best-selling electronic. They topped the charts at the start of the lockdown and remain the solid frontrunner. The Roku Streaming stick and the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K can each be had for under $50.

The Nintendo Switch Lite, which was temporarily off the best-seller list only because it was out of stock, is the best of the handheld gaming devices. It can be had now in just about any color, but mostly in pre-owned condition.

The Echo Dot is like having another person in the house. One of Amazon’s best-selling devices of all time, it helps users do just about anything with a mere voice command. Check the weather or top news stories. Request favorite songs. Set thermostats and oven timers. Buy multiple Dots and talk to the rest of the family who are hiding out in their own rooms during lockdown! Because, with or without earbuds, everybody’s still doing their own thing.^[9]

1 Poop Bags

Many animal lovers never adopt because they’re not at home enough to adequately care for their pets. But quarantines and lockdowns make it possible to bring in a furry friend!

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Los Angeles saw a 70 percent increase in animals going into foster care. New York City pet shelters experienced a sudden rush of adoptions and fosters. Muddy Paws Rescue and Best Friends Animal Society reported that the shelters they work with were nearly out of cats and dogs: applications were up ten-fold by the end of March. “For the moment, we definitely don’t have any dogs left to match” with foster volunteers,” said Muddy Paws marketing director Anna Lai. “Which is a great problem to have.”

And while the stock market suffered, shares of Chewy Inc. and PedMed Express Inc. soared. Both were up 7 percent by the end of the first quarter. Chewy, with a home-delivery model that is tailor-made for a lockdown, saw a 35 percent increase in sales. And pet supplies (food, litter) are more or less recession-proof.

Meanwhile, over at Amazon, pet nail clippers, flea medicine, fur trimmers, and poop bags top the best-sellers list. Sales leveled off in April as consumers used up their panic-purchase stockpiles, but they remain solid.

Let’s just hope that quarantine foster parents hang on to their newfound pets after the economy gets back up and running again.^[10]

Top 10 Unsolved Mysteries Of The COVID-19 Pandemic

It’s likely COVID-19 will be what the year 2020 will be best known for once it comes time to write the history books, but the virus isn’t the only thing going on in the world right now.

10 Serious Problems With How We Get The News

Despite running rampant through the news media almost as quickly as it infects the world, plenty of interesting things have been happening behind the scenes.

Unfortunately, most barely get a mention these days, and you might not be aware of these crazy news items that have been suppressed by COVID-19 coverage.

10 Korean Police Release Identity Of Man Behind “Nth Room” Sex Crime Case

On March 24th, Korean police released the name of the main suspect involved in the “nth chatroom” sex crime case as 24-year-old Cho Ju-bin, a volunteer at an orphanage and editor of his college newspaper. The case revolved around a Telegram chat room called “nth chatroom,” where he operated under the username “doctor.” Cho stands accused of tricking 74 people into sending him nude pictures, which he used for blackmail. Sixteen of those were children. Cho’s arrest the previous week resulted in 18 additional arrests.

Cho volunteered at the local orphanage for more than two years and was even featured on an online media outfit, where he was quoted as saying, “I started volunteer work after completing my compulsory military service. I wanted to help others because I received help from many people.” A petition has circulated with the hope of releasing the identities of all 260,000 users of the chatroom, and police are on the lookout for the alleged creator of “nth chatroom,” known as “gat gat” on Telegram.^[1]

9 Egypt & Ethiopia Close To War Over An Ethiopian Dam Being Built On The Nile

Tensions in Northern Africa are on the rise over the construction of a dam across the Nile River, and it may push Ethiopia and Egypt to war. The Grand Renaissance Dam is a point of pride for Ethiopia, but for Egypt, the dam represents a potential loss of control over one of the most significant rivers in the world. The major point of contention is the filling of the dam’s reservoir, which is expected to disrupt the river’s flow downstream.

Egypt has been tied to the river for millennia, and a disruption to the river’s flow could drastically hurt the country’s economy and reduce its primary water source, from which the nation consumes 90% of its potable water. The reservoir’s capacity is 74 billion cubic meters, and filling it in six years, as Ethiopia plans, would disrupt Egypt’s use of the Nile, making the dam a contentious issue. Egypt has proposed a plan to fill the reservoir over a period of between 12 and 21 years, but Ethiopia’s Water Minister Seleshi Bekele said, “That is not acceptable on any measurement.”^[2]

8 Missing Kentucky Teen’s Remains Found After A Decade

Paige Johnson was just 17-years-old when she went missing after party in September 2010. The Kentucky teen was missing for a decade, leaving her family with no idea as to her whereabouts of the young woman. At the time of her disappearance, Paige had a daughter who has grown up without knowing her mother. On Sunday, Clermont County, Ohio Sherrif’s Office was contacted by someone who believed they had found human remains in the woods outside of Williamsburg Township. Sadly, the remains have since been confirmed as belonging to Paige.

Donna Johnson, Paige’s mother, was heartbroken and happy at hearing the news. “I’ve been wanting to bring my baby home for so long. This is a day I was worried I would go to my grave without ever getting this day.” Paige’s remains were identified through her dental records, though the coroner’s office was not able to determine a cause of death. Paige’s remains were located about 1.5 miles from the last place she was seen, and investigators continue to work to determine what happened to the young woman.^[3]

7 Missing Former FBI Agent May Have Died In Iran

Back in 2007, a former FBI agent named Robert Levinson went missing in Iran. While Iran has never confirmed that the country was involved in Levinson’s disappearance, there has been a great deal of evidence released over the years that suggest the government in Tehran knows far more than it has let on. Six years after Levinson went missing, his family released photographs of him with a long beard, orange jumpsuit, and chains. In the pictures, he is holding a sign, one of which read, “This is the result of 30 years serving for USA.”

While his family has been fighting for his return for the past 13 years, news of Levinson has been sparse as the years ticked on. On March 25th, the news changed, and it appears that Levinson “may have passed away some time ago,” as U.S. intelligence officials reported. Hearing the news, the Levinson family released a statement, where they wrote that “We recently received information from U.S. officials that has led both them and us to conclude that our wonderful husband and father died while in Iranian custody.”^[4]

6 Christchurch Mosque Shooter Unexpectedly Pleaded Guilty

During Friday Prayer on March 15th, 2019, Australian Brenton Tarrant stormed into the Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand, where he killed 51 people and injured 49 more. A year later, Tarrant was set to stand trial, but on March 26th, he shocked the world by changing his “not guilty” plea to “guilty.” By changing his plea, he saved his victims and their families from a long, drawn-out trial. Tarrant was scheduled to stand trial in June after denying the charges, and his change in plea shocked New Zealand and the rest of the world.

Tarrant pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder, and one count of committing a terrorist act. The court has set a date in May for establishing a sentencing date. Unfortunately, the current lockdown due to COVID-19 prohibits the court from acting sooner. Judge Justice Cameron Mander said, “There is no intention to sentence the defendant before the court returns to its normal operations and at a time when the victims and their families can attend court in person.” New Zealand has no death penalty and has concurrent prison sentences. Tarrant will be required under law to receive a minimum of 10 years in Jail for his actions.^[5]

10 Mind-Blowing Things That Happened This Week, And A Good Bye to The News . . . For Now

5 Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Turned White

The U.S. Government believed that the largest and most widespread bleaching event ever recorded has hit Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The Reef has suffered two previous mass bleaching events in the last five years. Coral bleaching is a phenomenon that occurs when corals are stressed by rapid changes in temperature, nutrition, or light. Most often, they are the result of temperature fluctuations, and that appears to be the culprit in this case. When they are stressed, corals expel symbiotic algae from within their tissues, and this causes them to turn white.

Coral bleaching doesn’t mean the coral itself is dead, as they can survive a bleaching event. They are stressed far more than they are under ideal conditions, and this makes them more susceptible to dying when other factors are present. Essentially, coral bleaching makes coral reefs incredibly vulnerable, and often result in large die-offs when they occur. The bleaching was observed by Coral Reef Watch, which noted that the event was not as damaging as previous bleachings, but covered a far larger area than ever recorded.^[6]

4 A Lost Continent Was Found Beneath Canada

We’re all taught in school that there are seven continents on the planet, and while that’s true today, it wasn’t always like that. Over billions of years, the surface of the Earth has shifted and changed as the tectonic plates moved. This has resulted in the creation and destruction of continents, but it’s not every day scientists find evidence of a new continent sitting right below an existing one. A “lost continent” was discovered lurking beneath Canada, and the way researchers were able to confirm this was through an interesting source: diamonds.

Diamonds form deep in the Earth’s mantle and are found in a type of volcanic rock called kimberlite. As the magma rushes to the Earth’s surface, it catches diamonds and brings them close to the surface. A diamond mine in Canada collected samples of diamonds and kimberlite that showed a chemical match to an ancient continent formed nearly three billion years ago. That continent broke up around 150 million years ago, but a portion of it remains under the North American continent. The discovery also determined that the continent was 10% larger than previously believed.^[7]

3 U.S. Stock Market Has Biggest Gain Since 1933

The stock market has taken a significant plunge with the spread of COVID-19, and all the gains made since President Trump took office, also known as the “Trump Bump,” have been lost. The market may be fickle, but fortunately, it never stays down forever. Stocks rise and fall all the time, and a significant drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average will eventually return to positive stock territory. Amidst the crisis, it appears that is happening, as the DJIA had the largest single-day gain in its history on March 24th.

After plummeting for days, a stimulus bill being drafted in the U.S. Senate pushed investors to stop selling and buy. When the market closed the previous day, the DJIA was at 18,308.42. When it closed on the 24th, it had surged to 20,704.91, which is a positive change of +2,112.98, or 11.37%. The DJIA hasn’t seen a gain like that since March 15th, 1933, and that was due to the passing of the Emergency Banking Act on March 9th of that year (part of Roosevelt’s New Deal). It’s likely the Trump Bump will rebuild itself as the crisis winds down, and this single-day gain may represent a change in favor of that hopeful inevitability.^[8]

2 Netanyahu’s Government Is In Turmoil After Ally Resigns

Benjamin Netanyahu has had a tough time forming a government, which has stymied his ability to govern Israel, and the news of an ally’s resignation is going to make that even harder for the embattled Prime Minister. The PM is already under fire for corruption and a trial over charges he accepted expensive gifts from wealthy friends, committed fraud, and breach of trust looms. Despite these troubles, Netanyahu has held onto power, but the likelihood of that continuing has taken a hit following the announcement that Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein is resigning his position.

The resignation of a powerful member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party, who held the role of Speaker of the Parliament, will open the door for Netanyahu’s opposition to push for his downfall in the Israeli Parliament. The resignation may not be the final nail in the Prime Minister’s political coffin, as Edelstein defied a Supreme Court order requiring a vote for his successor. The lack of a vote provides a new obstacle for the opposition to overcome in its bid to topple Netanyahu from power. Eliad Shraga, chairman of the non-profit Movement for Quality Government in Israel, commented on the resignation and lack of a vote, saying, “This is a black day for democracy.”^[9]

1 Comet 2/2019 Atlas Y4 Is Approaching

It may not have a catchy or easily recalled name like the Hale-Bopp comet that appeared brightly to the naked eye back in 1997, but that’s not stopping Comet 2/2019 Atlas Y4 from making a similar pass of the Earth in May. Fortunately, the stellar snowball has been given the simpler name of “Atlas,” so you won’t have to run out into the night, point up to the sky and say, “Look at Comet 2/2019 Atlas Y4!” The comet was first discovered on December 28th, 2019, in Hawaii, and is the second-brightest comet visible to the naked eye in the night sky.

The last time a similarly bright comet made a close pass to the Earth, many saw it as a sign that the end of times was coming. The infamous Heavens Gate cult saw the coming of the Hale-Bopp comet as a spacecraft they could only hitch a ride on after committing mass suicide. In total, 39 members killed themselves in a San Diego, California suburb, wearing Nikes. Hopefully, a similar fate won’t befall any curious onlookers who should take comfort in knowing that the last time Atlas came close enough to Earth for it to be visible to the naked eye was 6,000 years ago, and the world clearly didn’t end when that happened.

But, it doesn’t go without noticing that we are currently experiencing storms, pestilence, fires, plagues of locusts, and now heavenly signs. Perhaps the end is nigh after all!^[10]

10 Ways The World Could End Today

It is no news that most governments are struggling to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Things are no different with terrorists, who are often the de facto government in areas under their control.

Top 10 Ways The US Accidentally Helped Terrorism

Most terror groups are already feeling the heat of the first wave of the pandemic, and we expect things to get worse in the coming weeks. Affected terror groups are working hard to keep the virus under control, while those yet to suffer its deadly consequences are taking precautions.

Judging by current trends, it is already clear that the pandemic will disrupt the activities of most terror groups. Most have even been quiet of late. If you are following the news, you should have noticed the sudden reduction in terror activities across the world, particularly in regions grappling with the pandemic.

10 Taliban lifts ban on health workers and agrees to cooperate with WHO

The Taliban is infamous for killing health workers. In 2019, it killed 51 health workers and injured another 142, causing the recently disgraced World Health Organization (WHO) to shut down 192 health facilities across the country.

However, with the ongoing pandemic knocking on the doors of Afghanistan, the Taliban has realized it needs those health workers on its side. Twenty-two Afghans have tested positive for COVID-19 and the Taliban fears the figures could rise in the coming weeks.

A Taliban spokesperson said the group was ready to work with the now-disgraced WHO and other international health organizations to cleanse Afghanistan of the virus.

A second spokesperson said the group was already advising Afghans to listen to health workers and will force those who were not taking precautions to comply. He added that the group was considering suspending congregational prayers to slow the spread of the virus.^[1]

9 The Islamic State issues travel advisory to terrorists traveling to Europe

Until a few months ago, the Islamic State was calling on its members to travel to Europe for terrorism. With the COVID-19 pandemic already wrecking parts of Europe, the group has backtracked and warned fighters against traveling to Europe.

The Islamic State also discouraged members who heeded its earlier calls to travel to Europe from returning. The group was not holding them back so they can perform terror acts when conditions improve. It is just scared that they might bring the virus back home.^[2]

8 Hezbollah quarantines its leaders after they contracted the virus

Most of Hezbollah’s topmost commanders are already down with the COVID-19 virus. The infected commanders were exposed to the virus during a meeting with an Iranian government official. (Iran finances the group and its officials hold regular meetings with Hezbollah commanders.)

A few others including the group’s overall leader, Hassan Nasrallah, are in quarantine over concerns that they might have contracted the virus. Hassan also attended the meeting with the Iranian official. He has not been diagnosed with the virus, but the group isn’t taking chances.^[3]

7 Mahan Air continued flying to China

Mahan Air is a passenger airline. However, several countries consider it a terror group because of its close ties to the Iranian government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The airline transports men and equipment of the IRGC. There are also indications that it is financing the group.

Mahan Air acted irresponsibly at the beginning of the pandemic. It ignored a government ban on airlines servicing the Iran-China route and continued flying into China. The airline only suspended flights into China in March, two months after the ban came into force.

That decision took its toll on the airline (and nation). Iran has one of the highest infection and death tolls in the region. Most of the infected people flew into the country on Mahan Air during the ban. Mahan Air even lost a pilot to the virus. There is no word whether other crew members were infected.^[4]

6 Hamas banned all gatherings and suspended congregational prayers

Hamas is the de facto government of the Gaza strip, a heavily populated region surrounded by Israel and Egypt. The region reported its first COVID-19 infections in March, when two men tested positive after returning from a trip to Pakistan.

The men traveled to Pakistan to attend a four-day Islamic program. Thousands of other people also attended the event, despite a Pakistani government ban on large gatherings.

In response, Hamas banned all gatherings and closed wedding halls, shops and restaurants within its territory. It also suspended funerals and congregational prayers. Hamas has also been quarantining thousands of people entering Gaza from neighboring territories.^[5]

Top 10 Left-Wing Terrorist Organizations From Around The World

5 Neo-Nazis plan to use it as a bioweapon

While most terrorist groups are taking preventive measures against contracting the COVID-19 virus, “White Racially Motivated Violent Extremists” (a government euphemism for the followers of Neo-Nazi James Mason) in the United States are planning to use it as a bioweapon. There is a catch to all this though. The WRMVEs will only go on with their plans if they contract the virus.

The Department of Homeland Security discovered their plans after intercepting their messages on messaging app Telegram. Members suggested filling their contaminated saliva in spray bottles and spraying it in non-white areas. They also considered spending time in public areas frequented non-whites.

WRMVEs also discussed plans to infect government workers with the virus by rubbing their saliva on door handles and elevator buttons in government buildings.^[6]

4 The Turkistan Islamic Party said it is God’s punishment to China

The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) is a terror group based in Syria and Afghanistan. It has close ties to Al Qaeda and hopes to create an Islamic state in mainland China. Most of its members are tribesmen of the Chinese Muslim Uighur ethnic group.

The group released a video at the time the pandemic was ravaging China. The anchor said the virus was God’s punishment to China for oppressing Muslims, destroying mosques, burning Qurans and raping Muslim women. The anchor also chided Chinese citizens for eating wild animals. He added that he hoped the virus destroyed China.^[7]

3 Al-Shabab commanders held a meeting to discuss how to prevent COVID-19

Somalia is one of the poorest countries in the world. It also has one of the worst healthcare systems. The John Hopkins Global Health Security Index ranks the country’s healthcare system as 194 out of the 195 countries it reviews.

The situation has not improved even with the ongoing pandemic. The government lacks the capacity to test for the virus, and hospitals are turning sick people away because their facilities are inadequate to treat even the most basic health conditions.

People are not taking precautions either. Millions of Somalis still live in slums where sanitation is poor and there is no water. Conditions are no better in the cities, where people still shake hands and mingle freely.

In essence, the pandemic will be deadly in that region.

Al-Shabab is the dominant terror group in Somalia. The group has made no public statement regarding the virus, but its leaders have held meetings on how to prevent the virus from reaching their territory.

Like the Taliban, Al-Shabab is hostile to health workers and the situation is unlikely to change even if the pandemic reaches Somalia. However, analysts believe the group will allow people leave its territory to seek treatment in government-controlled areas if the situation gets out of hand.^[8]

2 The Palestinian Islamic Jihad cancels protests over COVID-19

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is another terror group active in Palestine. The group organizes weekly protests to show its displeasure at Israel’s control of Palestinian lands. Once a year (on March 30), it holds a larger protest it calls the “Great march of return”.

However, the group canceled this year’s protest because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It advised residents to stay in their homes and observe the protest by flying Palestinian flags and burning Israel’s flags. The group added that it would stop traffic for an hour and fill its territory with the sounds of sirens. It also planned to hold a news conference for few attendees.^[9]

1 Islamic State tells members to pray

It is weird to imagine that the Islamic State will ever tell anyone to pray against anything. However, it told its members to pray against contracting COVID-19 when the virus first made news in January. The group later issued the travel ban when the pandemic spread to other parts of the world.

The Islamic State faulted the Chinese government for hiding details about the virus. It added that the death toll and infection rates were way above the 1,000 and 40,000 claimed by the Chinese government. It also accused China of lying about discharging people “cured” of the virus.

The Islamic State added that the virus was God’s punishment to China for its inhumane treatment of Chinese Muslims. However, it warned that the virus would spread out of China and infect innocent people in other countries. It was at this point that it advised its members to pray that the virus never reached their country.^[10]

Top 10 Reasons The Terrorists Hate Us

There is a lot of fear and confusion surrounding the coronavirus called COVID-19, and it doesn’t help that some elements of the media have been firing off information many consider fear mongering. Even a recent  article could be considered as such, but fear is the last thing anyone wants to spread since even a global pandemic doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world as we know it.

Top 10 Failed Apocalyptic Predictions

The information on the virus is limited at the moment, as there will need to be a great deal of study before it is fully understood. In the meantime, information is power, so this list contains ten things you should know about COVID-19 and how best to protect yourself from misconceptions, misunderstandings, and outright media lies about it. This information is just the tip of the iceberg, so keep up to date on outbreaks in your area from official sources, and everything should be fine.

10What Is A Coronavirus

COVID-19 is a coronavirus, which means very little to most people who don’t work in virology or immunology. A coronavirus is a group of viruses that can infect mammals and birds.^[1] In humans, they can cause respiratory tract infections, many of which can be treated with over-the-counter medication. The so-called “common cold” is the result of a coronavirus, and while most are well-understood and rarely more than an inconvenience, some can be lethal. COVID-19 refers to the outbreak of the disease, which is broken down as Coronavirus Disease 2019.

The virus itself also has a name, but it’s a bit of a mouthful: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus 2, or SARS-CoV-2. Part of that acronym may be familiar, seeing as the world already went through a similar outbreak of SARS in 2003.^[2] The viruses are related, and it wouldn’t be out of the question to call this new outbreak “SARS 2.0,”^[3] though you likely won’t hear any professional virologists say that in the media. Regardless, COVID-19 is a coronavirus, and it is spreading, but that’s not a cause for alarm; rather, it’s a cause to prepare and protect ourselves in much the same way we do when it’s cold & flu season.

9Where COVID-19 Originated

It’s well known that the virus was first seen in Wuhan, China, but it’s not fully understood exactly where it originated. COVID-19 is likely a zoonotic virus, which means it can be transmitted between animals and people. This has led researchers to look for animals that might have originally carried the disease. There are a lot of similarities between COVID-19 and two bat-derived strains of Betacoronavirus, which means they are likely related. Because the viruses share about 96% of the same genes, it was initially believed that bats were the source of the outbreak, which was pinpointed to the Huanan Seafood Market, where exotic animals are sold.

As time went on, and more research was conducted, Chinese researchers were able to determine that COVID-19 shared 99% of the same genetic information as a similar virus that infects pangolins. This suggested that pangolins may have been an intermediary host for the virus, but the research wasn’t officially published, and much of the analysis remains unconfirmed.^[4] While determining the precise origin might help virologists better understand COVID-19, doing so isn’t entirely necessary in combatting the spread of the disease, now that it’s been released into the human population.^[5]

8How COVID-19 Is Transmitted

Since the first day the world learned about the Wuhan Coronavirus, the fear of it spreading began to rise. How was it transmitted, and what could be done to limit its transmission? People have always feared Ebola, but that’s far harder to catch than something like a coronavirus, and it’s all about what it infects and how it is transmitted. COVID-19 causes a respiratory infection, and it’s through a person’s respiration that it spreads the easiest. There are two known means by which the virus spreads: person-to-person and through contact with infected surfaces.

In a person-to-person situation, the virus can be spread through close contact, which is generally considered to be a distance of six feet. The way a person can pass it on is through respiratory droplets, which are produced when a person coughs or sneezes. Covering one’s mouth when this happens helps alleviate the spread of the disease, and infected people should wear a facemask to reduce the risk of transmitting it to someone else. But please heed the Surgeon General’s warning^[6] and don’t buy a mask unless you need one:

The other way it is spread is through a surface contaminated with the virus. A countertop could have been in the pathway of a sneeze, which carried COVID-19 to its surface. Touching that, and then touching your mouth, nose, and possibly the eyes can result in infection.^[7]

7How COVID-19 Is Detected Or Confirmed

One of the biggest issues with detecting COVID-19 in a patient is that it presents much like the common cold. To combat this, researchers across the globe have been scrambling to come up with a way to test for the presence of the virus, and this has resulted in several different testing methods. One of the best ways to check for the virus isn’t to see if you can find the virus in a person’s body—it’s to find the antibodies the body produces to fight the infection. The tests that look for antibodies are called serological tests,^[8] and a firm in Singapore may have perfected a means of conducting this type of test to find COVID-19.

Antibody tests are probably the fastest and easiest way of detecting the presence of COVID-19, but it isn’t the only way. There are tests currently being used around the world, which look for the virus’ genetic information in a person’s saliva, mouth, nose, and anus. These tests use the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method, which is a process in molecular biology that rapidly produces billions of copies of DNA for study. While these tests can detect the presence of COVID-19, they cannot identify people who were infected and ultimately cleared of it.^[9]

6Who Is At Risk

There is no known immunity to COVID-19, which means that everyone is at risk of catching and spreading the infection. That doesn’t mean this is a perfect time to panic; just because you might become infected, doesn’t mean you’re going to fall over dead in a few hours. COVID-19 can be dangerous, but like most infections, certain portions of the population are more at risk than others. Young children, healthcare professionals, the elderly, and people with a compromised immune system are the ones who are most at risk of becoming seriously ill from COVID-19.^[10]

When a healthy adult contracts the virus, there’s a possibility that they will not show any symptoms at all, and won’t get sick. This is one of the reasons the virus has managed to escape the confines of Wuhan, China, to infect the world. Infected people who are asymptomatic^[11] become unknown carriers, and even when an otherwise healthy adult does show symptoms, they are often mild and comparative to the common cold.

10 Dreadful Symptoms Of Deadly Diseases

5What Are The Symptoms Of COVID-19

The first part of this block is going to list the symptoms associated with COVID-19 that shouldn’t scare anyone, but the last bit will be all about the more dangerous aspects of the disease. Don’t be alarmed, as these are the worst-case symptoms that won’t affect most people who are infected. The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, coughing, and shortness of breath.^[12] These are the same symptoms most people get from the common cold, but they are the mildest possible symptoms a person can experience.

For those who are under a greater deal of risk due to a compromised immune system, or meet the criteria previously mentioned, symptoms can become far more severe. COVID-19 can increase the chances of contracting pneumonia, it can cause multiple organ failure, and in some cases, it can result in death.^[13] These are the most severe cases, though all are of concern due to the ease by which it can be transmitted from person to person.

4COVID-19 Mortality Concerns

Yes, COVID-19 can end a person’s life, but that doesn’t mean the world will end up like it did in Stephen King’s The Stand. The mortality rate for COVID-19 is estimated to be 2.3%, and while that number may seem low, it’s not. If you compare the mortality rate of COVID-19 to something more common like the flu, it’s considerably higher. The flu has a mortality rate of 0.1%, which sees an average of one death per 1,000 people.^[14] These numbers are determined via the case-fatality rate (CFR), which compares the total number of infected patients with those who succumbed from the disease.

While COVID-19 is much higher than the Flu, it presents as a mild infection in the vast majority of people who have had it. The majority of people who have died in China have been elderly, and studies of deaths from the virus show that the CFR jumps to 14.8% for people who are 80 and older while those between the ages of 70 and 79 have a CFR of 8%. For people who were already critically ill when they came in contact with the virus, that number jumps to 49%, suggesting they are the most vulnerable members of the population.^[15][16]

3Avoid Becoming Infected

published an article on Top 10 Things You Need To Do To Prepare For The Coronavirus, but this was intended to be more of an “end of the world” type scenario, so take it with a grain of salt (of which there is much to be found in the comments on that list!) In reality, there are steps you can take to avoid becoming infected, and chances are, you’ve been doing them all along. Because COVID-19 is a coronavirus, which is passed in much the same way as a common cold, the best way to keep from getting it is to wash your hands with soap and warm water, avoid touching your face after coming into contact with anything commonly used like doorknobs, and if you have to go outside, try to avoid sick people.^[17]

Odds are, you do all of that already, so you don’t have to let COVID-19 upend your life or your routine. If you have concerns about winding up in a place with a lot of potentially infected people, you can avoid traveling and going to events with crowds, but that may not be necessary. If it makes you feel better to wear a face mask, you can do so, but make sure you get the right kind. The US Food and Drug Administration recognizes four off-the-shelf N95 respirators, which may be effective in stopping the spread of COVID-19: 3M Particulate Respirator 8670F, 3M Particulate Respirator 8612F, Pasture F550G Respirator, and the Pasture A520G Respirator. These respirators are not suitable for children or men with facial hair, so it’s time so say goodbye to that ironic hipster beard!^[18]

2COVID-19, HIV, & Other Conspiracy Theories

One of the reasons there are so many conspiracy theories about viruses like COVID-19 is that few people truly understand it. Hopefully, this list will help with that, but there are people who hear a comment like, “This virus may use the packing mechanisms of other viruses such as HIV,” and their imaginations tend to run wild.^[19] That finding was published by scientists at Nankai University, and it’s true. The virus does have an HIV-like mutation, but that doesn’t mean someone weaponized a form of HIV in a lab somewhere and released it upon the world, as some conspiracy theories have stated. These same mechanisms appear in many diseases as the result of natural mutations.^[20]

That remark has everything to do with the means of fighting the spread of infection, and research like this helps push further research, which could hopefully lead to a cure or vaccine. You may have seen other conspiracy theories, including one about a new 5G wireless infrastructure being the cause of the disease, but this is so ridiculously false, it barely deserves mention.^[21] The most important thing to do when it comes to hearing these stories is, ask yourself if they make sense, see if they are published by reputable sources, and take a common-sense approach to anything you hear.

1What To Do If You Think You’re Infected With COVID-19

The very first thing you need to do is remember the words printed on the cover of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which are “Don’t Panic.” Panicking doesn’t help you or your loved ones, so you need to take care of yourself to ensure you don’t spread the infection and make sure you get the proper care. If you develop a fever along with symptoms of respiratory illness, you should call your healthcare provider and ask for their advice. They will know the right questions to ask to help determine if you’ve got the common cold, or if you have something more serious.

If you fear you truly did come in contact with someone infected with COVID-19 and are concerned you may have it as well; you need to get tested. Because you are leaving the house to get checked, be responsible, and keep your mouth and nose covered. This will keep you from passing the virus to other people, so if you have a respirator or surgical mask you can use, do so. If not, you can use a scarf or similar article of clothing. Your local hospital may not yet be equipped with testing kits for COVID-19, so call your local public health department for information on the best place to go.^[22]

Top 10 Mysterious Viruses Far Scarier Than COVID-19

We are all aware of the toilet paper shortage, loss of smell symptoms, mask requirements, and social distancing rules that came with COVID-19. These are some common side effects of the pandemic. However, did you know the virus brought additional unexpected consequences beyond its deadly symptoms? We’ve put together ten issues that our society didn’t see coming.

10 Excess Suicidal Thoughts and Deaths

The transition from life as we knew it to quarantine in the first half of 2020 led to serious mental health issues. While studies report no overall increase in suicide rates, this is not true for specific countries or demographics. People have also claimed increased thoughts of suicide. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report surveying 5,412 American adults from June 24 to 30th in 2020. The results? Participants reported elevated suicidal ideations. Researchers found males were more suicidal than females, employed more suicidal than unemployed, and essential workers with higher suicidal ideations than nonessential workers.

Actual suicide deaths have increased in non-white Americans compared to whites. A study released in January 2021 found that while mortality rates in Connecticut decreased overall, the percentage of deaths from racial minority groups had increased. A different study analyzing data from 21 countries found that Vienna, Japan, and Puerto Rico showed statistical evidence of increased suicides in 2020. A February 2021 study of suicide rates in Japan between October 2009 to November 2020 found increased suicide during the pandemic. There were significant excess deaths from suicide between Japanese females and males between July and November 2020. So, despite certain sources, COVID-19 has caused suicidal consequences in society.

9 Abundance of Porch Pirates

The panic purchase from COVID-19 and increased consumers shopping online has unexpectedly led to increased porch pirates. The term porch pirate has been used since the early 2010s and refers to thieves stealing packages from people’s porches. At the end of 2020, Amazon announced a 72 percent more cash flow than in 2019. That is a lot of packages people ordered during the pandemic.

In America, a research study comparing package thefts in 2019 and 2020 reported a 7 percent increase from 36 percent to 43 percent of packages stolen. For more detailed porch pirate statistics, 35.5 million Americans reported they had a package stolen in 2020, resulting in a value of approximately 5.4 billion dollars. Of these people, 36 percent said they had packages stolen more than once.

8 Over-Drinking Into Alcoholism

Stuck at home, isolated, and worried about the pandemic effects can easily lead to picking up the bottle and drinking your worries away. Some people also believed that alcohol prevents COVID-19. This assumption is not true. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAA) had to release an announcement on May 12, 2020, to remind people, “Drinking alcohol does not prevent or treat coronavirus infection.” Although a hand-sanitizer contains alcohol and a glass of wine can ease some stress, drinking too much alcohol can make your immune system weaker against COVID-19.

Research on 1,540 adults ages 30 to 59 years studied the change in alcohol consumption in 2019 and 2020. The data from 2019 was from April 29 to June 9, and the 2020 data from May 28 to June 16. The results found that overall alcohol consumption increased during COVID-19 by 10 percent. However, women consumed more alcohol by 41 percent more. Women also experienced a 39 percent increase in adverse consequences associated with alcohol. These rising drinking patterns can be a potential sign of alcohol abuse and addiction.

7 Managers With Trust Issues

Since 1999 when the internet allowed companies to contract remote workers, managers have reported they had difficulty trusting remote employees. Questions like, are they working the hours they record were common. So with COVID-19 forcing a majority of workers globally to work-from-home, managers are suddenly finding themselves untrained to manage remotely as well.

The Harvard Business Review (HBR) surveyed 215 supervisors and managers in 2020 to see how they handled remote employees. The results indicated most were struggling and disliked the experience. For example:
* 40 percent expressed low self-confidence in their ability to manage workers remotely
* 38 percent said remote workers usually perform worse than those who work in an office
* 41 percent were skeptical whether remote workers can stay motivated in the long term

6 Spread of Touch Deprivation

Yes, touch deprivation, also known as touch starvation, is an actual health condition. Physical contact is important for humans in multiple ways, and isolation combined with social distancing has prevented people from receiving the touch they need. Human touch can decrease anxiety, expand trust, and improve your health by improving your immunity. A study on premenopausal women found that hugs from their partners lowered their blood pressure.

The director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami, Tiffany Field, has linked the absence of touch to anxiety, depression, and lowered immunity. In a different study, she found that 68 percent of participants .felt like they were touch-deprived during the first COVID-19 shutdowns. This number increased by 50 percent within a month.

5 Higher Domestic Violence Rates

We would assume more time at home with your family is an exciting opportunity for quality time. Unfortunately, domestic violence has been coined a pandemic within the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the rise of cases, another issue to consider is the inability to seek help during quarantine. People experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) could not safely call hotlines or visit support centers for services.

An April 2020 report released in The American Journal of Emergency Medicine (AJEM) details some alarming domestic violence trends globally. In the United States, police department statistics provided insight into how COVID-19 contributed to increased DV. For example, police recorded the following data after March 2020, stay-at-home orders:
Portland Police Bureau: 22 percent increase in arrests related to DV
San Antonio Police Department: 18 percent increase in calls regarding family violence
Jefferson County Alabama Sheriff’s Office: 27 percent increase in DV calls
New York City Police Department: 10 percent increase in DV reports

The AJEM report also details that the United Nations (UN) entity UN Women has global statistics of increased DV cases. Examples include the following increasing since the country’s lockdowns in March:
* Argentina: 25 percent of cases
* France: 30 percent of cases
* Singapore: 33 percent of helpline calls

4 More Substance Use and Overdoses

Substance use is up, and so are overdose deaths. In December 2020, a CDC press release explains there were over 81,000 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. from May 2019 to May 2020. The highest recorded overdose deaths over 12 months ever. These reported deaths include:
* 98 percent increase of synthetic opioid-involved deaths in western states
* 26.5 percent increase in deaths involving cocaine
* 34.8 percent increase in deaths involving psychostimulants, such as methamphetamine

A February 2021, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) reported increased substance use in April and May 2020. There were 1,004 adult participants and resulted in estimates of 18.2 percent of increased substance use. Additionally, 36.9 percent of Hispanics described increased or newly initiated substance use during the pandemic.

3 Increase In Physician Burnout

With increased patients with severe COVID-19 symptoms in hospitals, we may have expected the limited beds and reliance on healthcare workers. But, how are the physicians treating all these patients doing themselves? Statistics say not so well. COVID-19 increased the workload on physicians and directly led to increased burnout. A Medscape survey released in September 2020 of 7,500 doctors globally highlights just how bad physician burnout has become during the pandemic. Of the total doctors, 5,000 practiced in the United States, and 64 percent of these physicians said the pandemic intensified their sense of burnout. The main reasons for the stress were treating patients likely to die and being exposed to the virus without proper personal protective equipment (PPE). A fifth of physicians in Spain and the U.S. said they ended up catching COVID-19.

Unhappy and over-worked physicians are dangerous society issues. Not only do we rely on physicians to be alert to do their jobs, but if they decide to quit, a lack of healthcare workers can prove fatal for those needing their care. They cannot all take a vacation at the same time, but our physicians need a break.

2 Over-Eating Into Obesity

Not only does severe obesity qualify you as at-risk for COVID-19, but the pandemic is causing people to over-eat as well. Stress or emotional eating is a common phenomenon. Consumption of food can numb out unpleasant feelings. Many people found themselves gaining up to 15 pounds during self-isolation that the term “Quarantine 15” started circulating on social media. Stocking up on food in case of limited supplies and being close to the kitchen pantry at home all day possibly contributed to this.

Did you know that over-eating is also one of the uncommon side effects some people experienced after recovering from the virus? Indian News sources quoted a physician from the Apollo Hospitals in Seshadripuram saying people who lost taste or smell during their COVID-19 illness started binge-eating after recovery. During their 14-day isolation after the illness, people are gaining weight. Dr. Dinesh V Kamath said, “We are seeing many recovered patients in the age group 40-60 years putting on weight. They say they have been overeating.”

1 Kids Can’t Improve Their Immunity

Staying at home and not being exposed to the dirt and pollution outside should make your kids healthier right? Not necessarily. For young kids where their immune system is still developing, over-clean environments can negatively influence them. When kids play outside, and you expose them to allergens, they will be less likely to develop asthma or allergies when they grow up. Quarantine is denying small children this immune-boosting opportunity. However, your older kids’ immunity will not get worse by staying indoors.

About The Author: Sara enjoys research, art, and seeking a sustainably fun life, balancing physical and mental health. Read more on how she explores, learns, and balances all her interests at www.saramenges.com.