Pandemic Report: School tech during COVID | Predicting the need for a ventilator

Genetics and COVID

CAMBRIDGE, OH—COVID-19 forced many schools to take a closer look at the technology they had in place to educate students and find new ways to use it. Ohio school districts such as East Guernsey and Cambridge City Schools are preparing for a potential return to remote learning.

AI tool may predict who will need a ventilator

CLEVELAND, OH—Case Western Reserve University researchers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that can predict if a COVID-19 patient will need help breathing with a ventilator. The tool was created by analyzing CT scans from almost 900 COVID-19 patients diagnosed in 2020. For those cases, it was able to predict a patient’s need for a ventilator with 84% accuracy.

Air quality and health

LEWISBURG, PA—The best way to keep air quality healthy indoors is to eliminate or reduce the sources of pollutants that get into the building in the first place. In a new paper, Bucknell University Professor Douglas Collins, chemistry, uses existing indoor air quality management research to make the case for masks, high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters and ventilation as the most effective ways to mitigate the indoor spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Reassuring data on COVID vaccines and pregnancy

MINNEAPOLIS, MN—Research from HealthPartners Institute offers more data on whether receiving a COVID-19 vaccine early in pregnancy is not associated with an increased risk for spontaneous abortion. The researchers analyzed data from 105,446 unique pregnancies over seven 4-week surveillance periods between December 2020 and June 2021.

Commercializing tech that can detect SARS-CoV-2

ST. LOUIS, MO—Y2X Life Sciences, a New York firm that designs products to disrupt the transmission of infectious disease, has entered into an option agreement for an exclusive license with Washington University in St. Louis for the rights to develop and commercialize technology that can detect aerosolized SARS-CoV-2.