DIY Antibody Testing, Plastic Waste, and 8 Very Good Boys
A roundup of stories we’re reading about Covid-19 today
Published in
1 min readMay 4, 2020
- A former lab technician in Portland, Oregon set up his own community antibody testing center in early spring, beating big medical centers to it by weeks, reports Antonio Regalado in MIT Technology Review. In Oregon, “drawing someone else’s blood is legal for anyone who knows how,” he writes.
- In the New York Times, a team of reporters attempts to characterize the great “riddle” of Covid-19: Why some countries get completely overwhelmed with cases, but others do not. Investigating four major factors — demographics, culture, environment, and the speed of government responses — with the help of experts only raised more questions than answers.
- Gloves, masks, and hospital gowns have two things in common: They’re all important in protecting us from Covid-19, and they’re all also made of plastic. As CNN reports, our sudden reliance on these items has created a surge in plastic waste pollution, which could have ripple effects on our oceans for years after the pandemic ends.
- Eight Labrador retrievers at the University of Pennsylvania could become the next Covid-19 detection force. As the Washington Post reports, scientists are testing whether these very good boys can sniff out an odor associated with Covid-19 in the same way they can detect cancer and malaria.
