In an attempt to understand the impact that Winter Storm Uri had on Texas, the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs conducted a survey of adults living in the 213 counties served by the Texas Electrical Grid. The survey gathered information on Texans’ experiences during the storm, as...
In WHO-convened Global Study of Origins of SARS-CoV-2: China Part released by the World Health Organization (WHO), SARS-CoV-2 surveillance data and virus cases reported in China are analyzed as far back as late 2019. Specifically, surveillance of morbidity due to pneumonia in and around Wuhan. Molecular sequence data suggests the...
The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security has released National Priorities to Combat Misinformation and Disinformation for COVID-19 and Future Public Health Threats: A Call for a National Strategy. The COVID-19 pandemic has created a dangerous influence of health-related misinformation and disinformation. The abundance of access-enabling technology such as social...
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Solutions Network has released the World Happiness Report 2021. While it is their ninth World Happiness Report, this piece is unlike any other due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic across the world. Using the Gallup World Poll as the foundation, this report examines...
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2020 included the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF), which gave immediate financial assistance to state and other local governments. The National Association of Counties (NACo) petitioned the National Academy of Public Administrators (NAPA) to conduct an independent review of...
In their report, A Contagion of Institutional Distrust: Viral Disinformation of the COVID Vaccine and the Road to Reconciliation, the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), along with Rutgers University, delves into mapping out where disinformation originates and why there is distrust about the COVID-19 Vaccine and coinciding health policy mandates...
Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) has released its yearly report on the U.S.’ preparedness for public health threats, Ready or Not 2021: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism. The report uses our current global health crisis as an example to prove what TFAH has been reiterating for...
New In Focus now available on the Disaster Fatigue. A collection of resources focused on disaster fatigue of first responders. Described by Fresno County Director of Behavioral Health Dawan Utecht, “Disaster fatigue is a term used to really describe a collision of many disasters.” Back-to-back crises can lead to the decomposition...
As of February 2021, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has claimed over 500,000 American lives. While mitigation efforts such as social distancing and masks are effective preventative tools, the widespread administration of COVID-19 vaccines remains critical in the battle against this pandemic. FEMA recently released their updated Vaccination Centers Playbook with...
In a recently released report from the DFRLab of the Atlantic Council of the United States, researchers analyzed the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic and the disinformation being spread about the disease. Titled Weaponized: How Rumors About COVID-19’s Origins Led to a Narrative Arms Race, the study “focuses...
