The use of at-home coronavirus tests jumped during the Omicron wave, but disparities remain, a survey suggests

The use of at-home coronavirus tests surged during the winter Omicron wave in the United States, with white, high-income and highly educated people most likely to report using the tests, an online survey of U.S. adults suggests.

Between Dec. 19 and March 12, 20.1 percent of survey respondents who said they had symptoms consistent with Covid-19 reported using an at-home test, up from 5.7 percent between late August and early December, when Delta was the predominant coronavirus variant in the United States....

Lessons from the COVID data wizards Nature - Data dashboards have been an important part of pandemic response and planning. What have their developers learnt about communicating science in a crisis? Peeples, Lynne nature

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Almost 2 in 5 Covid-19 researchers have faced harassment, survey finds Harassment of researchers and public health officials during the pandemic has become a growing concern and a focus for professional organizations. NBC News

Nearly 2 in 5 Covid-19 researchers reported they had been harassed since the pandemic began, according to a new survey published Thursday in Science.

America Is About to Test How Long ‘Normal’ Can Hold Whenever it arrives, the next surge could put the country’s tolerance for disease and death in full relief. Katherine J. Wu The Atlantic

At this very moment, the United States, as a whole, remains in its legit pandemic lull. Coronavirus case counts and hospitalizations are lower than they’ve been since last summer. There’s now a nice, chonky gap between us and January’s Omicron peak.

Vulnerable Americans are desperate to find this Covid-19 drug. Thousands of boxes are sitting around unused Soon after the US Food and Drug Administration gave the green light to Evusheld, a new drug to prevent Covid-19, pharmacist Tom Henry alerted his blog readers. He was thrilled because finally, there was a drug that could protect people like him who are immune-compromised and had a weak response, or no response at all, to their vaccinations. Elizabeth Cohen and Danielle Herman, CNN CNN

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NIH’s identity crisis: The pandemic and the search for a new leader leave the agency at a crossroads Francis Collins’ popularity masked a debate raging in university labs and biotech boardrooms over whether the NIH is living up to its mission — or what its mission should be. Lev Facher STAT

WASHINGTON — Under the reign of Francis Collins, the National Institutes of Health was untouchable.

From virtually the moment President Obama appointed him in 2009, prominent figures in government and science have been enchanted by Collins, the Harley-riding, guitar-playing geneticist who brought newfound attention to the nation’s medical research agency.