Saarland, first German state to end virus shutdown from April 6

The southwestern state of Saarland will become the first in Germany to lift its coronavirus shutdown from April 6, with leisure, sports and entertainment facilities to reopen, state premier Tobias Hans said Thursday. Cinemas, theatres, concert halls, outdoor dining and gyms will be reopened and gatherings of up to 10 people will be allowed in […]

Plastic 'nanoparticles' can pass from pregnant mother rats to fetuses

Plastic ‘nanoparticles’ found in drinking bottles and every corner of the Earth can pass from pregnant mothers to the hearts, brains and lungs of their fetuses, rat study finds Rutgers University researchers found that tiny bits of ‘microplastic’ cross rats’ placentas within 90 minutes  Microscope images show them present in the rat fetuses hearts, lungs, […]

How to deal with a year of accumulated burnout from working at home

How to get through How to get your Metro newspaper fix Metro newspaper is still available for you to pick up every weekday morning or you can download our app for all your favourite news, features, puzzles… and the exclusive evening edition! Download the Metro newspaper app for free on App Store and Google Play […]

Transmission risk of COVID-19 from sewage spills into rivers can now be quickly quantified

Scientists have identified that the COVID-19 virus could be transmitted through fecal-contaminated river water. A team of researchers, including water quality, epidemiology, remote sensing and modeling experts, led by Dr. Jamie Shutler at the University of Exeter, have developed a fast and simple way to assess the potential risk of water-borne transmission of the COVID-19 […]

Why Nigeria must include parents in plans to protect girls from cervical cancer

Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women in Nigeria. There were 31,955 new cervical cancer cases in West Africa in 2018, and Nigeria accounted for almost half (14,943). There were also 10,403 deaths (28 deaths every day) from cervical cancer in the country in the same year. About 70% of all cervical […]

Woman contracts COVID-19 from lung transplant in a first

A lifesaving operation turned tragic when a Michigan woman contracted COVID-19 from her double lung transplant last year and died soon after. The case marks the first time that doctors have confirmed COVID-19 transmission through an organ transplant, according to a report of the case, published Feb. 10 in the American Journal of Transplantation. A […]

Suffering from lockdown loneliness? Here are five ways to combat it

Whether it’s missing Friday night down the pub or going to baby classes, many of our social relationships are now a distant memory. In our efforts to stay safe and save lives we have sacrificed most of our contact with the outside world. And feelings of loneliness have become more common – according to a […]

Pandemic unemployment benefits helped keep millions of Americans from going hungry

Expanded unemployment benefits, passed by Congress last spring to ease the economic pain of the pandemic, appear to have held hunger at bay for millions of Americans, new research shows. Called “The CARES Act” when it was put into effect nearly a year ago, the law expanded who is eligible for unemployment benefits and how […]

WHO says Africa to see 1st vaccine doses from COVAX in March

Africa should see the first COVID-19 vaccine doses in March from the global COVAX effort aimed at helping lower-income countries obtain the shots, the World Health Organization’s Africa chief said Thursday, as deaths on the continent are rapidly rising. Matshidiso Moeti told reporters that a larger rollout of the millions of doses from COVAX is […]

High coronavirus loads found in air samples from hospitals

HALF of air samples taken from hospital hallways and a fifth from bathrooms have high levels of coronavirus, study finds Researchers looked at 24 studies from eight countries between January 1 and October 27 that examined COVID-19 and air contamination  Air samples from ICU rooms were more than twice as likely to be positive for […]