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Almost a year ago, COVID brought Spring sports seasons to a grinding halt. Before play was gradually allowed again, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) classified every sport into categories based on how likely the sport was to facilitate the transmission of COVID-19: “high risk”, “moderate risk”, and “low risk”. Last week on the blog we looked into what makes hockey such a “high risk” sport. But with Spring sports just around the corner again, many are asking NFHS to reconsider last year’s classification of boy’s lacrosse as “high risk”. One of the main arguments behind the...

COVID-19 has devastated high school sports seasons since it struck last March, but perhaps none worse than the winter sports season. Due to the virus’ primarily airborne nature, basketball, swimming, and so many other indoor sports have found it difficult to safely play. But if one sport has caught a tougher break than the rest, it’s hockey. Hockey teams have had to deal with cancelled games, suspended or delayed seasons, quarantines, and disproportionately high hurdles this year. Why? Mostly because coronavirus experts, including the CDC, warn that hockey is a “medium-to-high risk” sport, and some agree that it may even...

Every year, “Flu Season” coming around is as expected as flowers blooming in the Spring, or leaves falling in Autumn. We think of it as a guaranteed, natural, phenomenon. But this year’s reported number of flu cases has experts thinking: What if it doesn’t have to be that way? In 2019, the CDC reported more than 65,000 cases of influenza in the US from September 29th to December 28th (the first half of flu season). During the same period in 2020, the agency reported just 1,016 cases. This drop occurred even despite a sixfold increase in testing this year (since...

We all know that smell. “The funk”, some call it. The odor of unwashed athletic gear is truly unforgettable. It lingers in helmets, and the foam of helmets and goggles holds it deep in their pores. Those of you pulling your ski or snowboard gear out of the basement for your winter ski trip may know it well. The “funk” doesn’t just consist of the odor it emits. Bacteria lingers on helmet surfaces, a disconcerting thought for people who rent their gear, especially in the times of COVID. These bacteria can also carry unwanted skin diseases or cause “helmet acne”....

Offices are always changing styles. Remember cubicles? Or who’s had an “open concept” office? What’s hot and what’s not in the office is constantly changing, and in 2020, the concept of going to the office entirely quickly went into the “not” category. But 2021 has allowed us to see a distant light at the end of the tunnel, and experts are imagining what a return to the office might look like. Their first prediction: many people will go back, at least to some extent. So if and when you do, what type of workplace will you step into? What can...