As the coronavirus races across the country, it has reached every corner of a nursing home in Kansas, infecting all 62 residents inside. There are so few hospital beds available in North Dakota that patients sick with the virus are being ferried by ambulance to facilities 100 miles away. And in Ohio, more people are hospitalized with the virus than at any other time during the pandemic.

Two new peer-reviewed studies are showing a sharp drop in mortality among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The drop is seen in all groups, including older patients and those with underlying conditions, suggesting that physicians are getting better at helping patients survive their illness.

"We find that the death rate has gone down substantially," says Leora Horwitz, a doctor who studies population health at New York University's Grossman School of Medicine and an author on one of the studies, which looked at thousands of patients from March to August.

The study, which was of a single health system, finds that mortality has dropped among hospitalized patients by 18 percentage points since the pandemic began. Patients in the study had a 25.6% chance of dying at the start of the pandemic; they now have a 7.6% chance.

How can you track community spread of COVID-19 in your area? Experts weighed in on how community spread can be measured and monitored, and what you should do if cases increase in your area. YahooNews

When it comes to measuring the prevalence of the coronavirus, one term frequently comes up: community spread.

UK to infect healthy volunteers in vaccine research trial LONDON (AP) — U.K. researchers are preparing to infect healthy young volunteers with the virus that causes COVID-19, becoming the first scientists to use the controversial technique to study the... AP NEWS

LONDON (AP) — U.K. researchers are preparing to infect healthy young volunteers with the virus that causes COVID-19, becoming the first scientists to use the controversial technique to study the disease and potentially speed up development of a vaccine that could help end the pandemic.

Latest on the worldwide spread of coronavirus France reported a massive jump in people hospitalized with COVID-19 and Ireland announced some of Europe's toughest restrictions, while India posted its lowest daily coronavirus caseload in nearly three months. Reuters Staff U.S.

(Reuters) - France reported a massive jump in people hospitalized with COVID-19 and Ireland announced some of Europe’s toughest restrictions, while India posted its lowest daily coronavirus caseload in nearly three months.

Doctors probe whether COVID-19 is causing diabetes Mario Buelna, a healthy 28-year-old father, caught a fever and started having trouble breathing in June. He soon tested positive for COVID-19. Chad Terhune U.S.

 ...   Many experts are convinced that COVID-19 can trigger the onset of diabetes - even in some adults and children who do not have the traditional risk factors.

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