CNN World | The most transmissible variant yet has arrived

(CNN) – Nearly two-and-a-half years since the coronavirus pandemic began, the most infectious and transmissible variant yet has arrived.

Repeated Covid-19 waves have left millions of people dead, with only vaccines helping to blunt the toll. Now the virus is spreading again — evolving, escaping immunity and driving an uptick in cases and hospitalizations. The latest version of its shape-shifting, BA.5, is a clear sign that the pandemic is far from over.

The newest offshoot of Omicron, along with a closely related variant, BA.4, are fueling a global surge in cases — 30% over the past fortnight, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).  –read more–

CNN health | It’s not just you — we are all more forgetful during the pandemic, experts say. Here’s how to fix it

(CNN) – Are dates, details and daily tasks feeling a bit fuzzy these past couple of years? It’s not just you, experts say.

It’s not laziness or losing your sharpness — being in a global pandemic for the last two years is actually making it harder for our brains to make and recall memories, said Amir-Homayoun Javadi, a senior lecturer in cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience at the University of Kent in the United Kingdom.  –read more– 

CNN health Fitness | Why exercise is also good for your sexual health

(CNN) – Many people know exercise is important for good physical health, even if they personally don’t work out on a regular basis. But you may not realize being fit is also crucial for your sexual health.

Forty-three percent of women and 31% of men have some form of sexual dysfunction, with obesity and a lack of exercise often being factors, according to the National Institutes of Health. A study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine found men with either a high waist circumference or elevated BMI were 50% more likely to have erectile dysfunction, while approximately half of obese women reported problems with sexual activity, desire and performance, at least some of the time, in a study published in Obesity.  –read more–  

CNN | How to get free face masks, and answers to other Covid questions

Q) How can I get free face masks? 
A) The Biden administration will soon be distributing 400 million N95 masks from the Strategic National Stockpile.

Americans will be able to pick up free N95 masks from various pharmacies and community health centers. The program will be “fully up and running by early February,” a White House official said, and each person will be limited to 3.

Well-fitting N95 masks give the best protection against the spread of Covid-19 compared to other masks, such as KN95 masks, disposable surgical masks and cloth masks, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.  –read more–

CNN BUSINESS | Demand for homes is pushing prices higher

(CNN BUSINESS) – The median home price is up 16% from a year ago and rose in nearly all of the 183 markets tracked by the National Association of Realtors. CNN’s Matt Egan reports on the hot housing market.  –watch– 

CNN BUSINESS | The housing market was on a wild ride this year. Here’s what to expect in 2022

(CNN) – The US housing market has had a white hot year. Home sales are on track to reach the highest level in 15 years, with an estimated 6 million homes sold in 2021.

But whether you benefited from this surge depended a lot on if you were selling a home or buying one.

Homeowners saw average home prices skyrocket nearly 20% through the third quarter compared to a year ago, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. It was the largest annual home price increase in the history of the agency’s House Price Index. And, in some hot markets, the price increase was double that.  –read more–  

CNN health | Coffee may reduce risk of death from stroke and heart disease

(CNN) – Drinking up to three cups of coffee a day may protect your heart, a new study finds.

Among people with no diagnosis of heart disease, regular coffee consumption of 0.5 to 3 cups of coffee a day was associated with a decreased risk of death from heart disease, stroke and early death from any cause when compared to non-coffee drinkers.

The study, presented Friday at the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology, examined the coffee drinking behavior of over 468,000 people who participate in the UK Biobank Study, which houses in-depth genetic and health information on more than a half a million Brits.  —read more—

CNN Opinion | Public health saved your life today — you just don’t know it

(CNN) – Before she was old enough to understand the US public health system, Leana Wen witnessed it fail. Growing up in the ’90s in Los Angeles after her family immigrated from China, many members of her community didn’t have the money or insurance to access health resources, and they ultimately succumbed to preventable diseases.

Could their lives have been saved by a system that valued every life equally?

As Wen details in her new book “Lifelines: A Doctor’s Journey in the Fight for Public Health,” it was this lingering question that inspired her career as both an emergency room physician with the power to treat patients regardless of their identity or ability to pay, and as a public health official with the power to reform policies that she had seen fail so many people.  —read more— 

CNN BUSINESS | Housing demand is about to weaken. Here’s why

Who would have thought that when the pandemic struck last spring that single-family housing would go on such a stellar run? Not me. But housing has been on a tear. Home sales, homebuilding and especially house prices have surged.

Despite being overvalued, there is no sign the housing market is in a bubble. (A bubble develops when there is speculation, or when buyers purchase homes with the sole intent of selling quickly for a profit, which isn’t happening today.) But stress lines are beginning to appear, and the housing market is set to cool off.  —read more—