Page 18 - AHATA Oct 24 2020

A12 SCIENCE
Saturday 24 OctOber 2020
U.S. suicide rate fell last year after decade of steady rise

By MIKE STOBBE The pandemic sparked a
AP Medical Writer wave of business closures,
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. some temporary and some
suicide rate fell slightly last permanent. Millions of peo-
year, the first annual de- ple were forced to stay
cline in more than a de- at home, many of them
cade, according to new alone. Surveys suggest
government data. more Americans are re-
It's a small decrease and porting depression, anxiety
the data is preliminary, and drug and alcohol use.
but the decline is "really Adding to that dangerous
exciting," said Dr. Christine mix, firearm purchases rose
Moutier, chief medical of- 85% in March, when the vi-
ficer of the American Foun- rus was first surging.
dation for Suicide Preven- "There are clear forces
tion. pressing suicide risk factors
The fall may be partly due in a negative direction,"
to years of suicide preven- Moutier said, but that's
tion efforts, like increasing doesn't mean suicide rates
mental health screenings, will automatically rise.
she said. Other factors, like There are some "silver lin-
the pre-pandemic econo- ings" to the pandemic, she
my, might also have played added. One is increasing
a role, she added. This Dec. 11, 2019 file photo shows gravestones at a cemetery in New Jersey. acceptance that mental
Experts aren't sure how the Associated Press health distress is normal,
coronavirus will influence 13.9. in gun homicides. ing," Anderson said. "2020 and that it's OK to seek
this year's suicide numbers, Drug overdoses rose in When all that is factored to- will not." There have been counseling. Another is in-
though American mortality 2019, and deaths from falls gether, the U.S. life expec- at least 300,000 more creasing availability of tele-
overall is looking far bleak- were up, too. But death tancy calculation for 2019 deaths this year than ex- medicine.
er. Suicides had been on rates for the nation's two should stay the same as it pected, the CDC said this Anderson noted many CO-
the rise since 2005. In 2018, biggest killers — heart dis- was in 2018 or maybe even week in a separate report. VID-19 deaths have been
the national suicide rate ease and cancer — were increase slightly, said Rob- About two-thirds of those in the same set of late-
hit its highest level since down, as were death rates ert Anderson, who oversees are being attributed direct- middle-aged white people
1941 — 14.2 per 100,000 for flu, chronic lung disease death data for the CDC's ly to COVID-19, but many who are considered at high
people. The Centers for Dis- and Alzheimer's disease. National Center for Health of the others are believed risk for suicide.
ease Control and Preven- The firearm death rate was Statistics. to be related to the pan- "It's possible that the rise in
tion posted new death rate flat, probably because the "I think 2019 will turn out to demic. COVID-19 is sort pushing
data this week showing small decline in suicides be a pretty good year for It's not yet clear whether down the suicide rate," he
that for 2019, it dropped to was offset by a slight uptick mortality, relatively speak- suicides are up this year. suggested.q

Nonprofit app aims to help unblock global air travel

15 from London’s Heathrow go... This is a way to get concerns about the accu-
to Newark Liberty Interna- things moving again.” The racy of some rapid tests.
tional Airport, using volun- problem: the pandemic People can be infectious
teers carrying the app on has led to a patchwork of for several days before
their smartphones. Officials travel bans, quarantines they show symptoms, and
from the U.S. Centers for and testing requirements, these people may also
Disease Control and Pre- with each country imposing test negative. The project’s
vention and Customs and its own rules. Testing is seen chief medical officer, Dr.
Border Protection were ob- by airlines as a way to reas- Brad Perkins, said that two
serving the test. sure passengers and allow tests during long-distance
The system looks forward to people to skip quarantines, travel — one 72 hours be-
the day when travel may but there’s no common fore departure and one on
be determined not only by approach. When it comes arrival — would cover the
testing but by the need to to testing, passengers may incubation period. Testing
show vaccination records. present paper documents technology may continue
In this Wednesday, July 1, 2020 file photo, United Airlines planes The World Health Organi- in different languages and to evolve during the pan-
are parked at gates at Newark Liberty International Airport in zation says vaccines may from labs unknown to au- demic. Passengers can use
Newark, N.J. start becoming available thorities in a given country. the app to find participat-
Associated Press by mid-2021, though effica- The CommonPass project, ing labs and testing sites,
By DAVID McHUGH ments. It’s an attempt to cy and availability to broad carried out in cooperation retrieve lab results and
AP Business Writer help get people back to parts of the global popula- with the Switzerland-based complete health attesta-
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) flying after the pandemic tion remain large question World Economic Forum, tions. The app and its asso-
— A nonprofit foundation is sent global air travel down marks. Foundation CEO aims to establish standard ciated data platform can
testing a smartphone app by 92%. The Switzerland- Paul Meyer said the pass is ways to verify lab results confirm their results are in
that could make it easier based Commons Project “intended to give people and, later, vaccination re- line with the destination’s
for international airline pas- Foundation was conduct- the ability to travel again cords, even if governments requirements and gener-
sengers to securely show ing a test Wednesday of its by documenting that they continue to set different ates a QR code that au-
they’ve complied with CommonPass digital health meet the requirements of health criteria. thorities can use to confirm
COVID-19 testing require- pass on United Airlines Flight the places they want to Scientists warn there are compliance.q