lockdown

When COVID-19 lockdowns emptied city streets, urban environments changed almost overnight. New research suggests that Los Angeles city birds responded just as quickly, with measurable shifts in beak shape in offspring born during the lockdown period.

The first study of its kind has looked at every UK resident – more than 67 million people – across four months, and found that, as vaccine uptake tapered off in 2022, 7,180 hospitalizations and deaths could have been avoided had jabs been up to date.

Examination of noise pollution data before and then during the stay-at-home and social distancing orders implemented in response to the coronavirus pandemic has shown that people’s average exposure to environmental noise dropped by nearly half.