Coronavirus Variant Is More Transmissible Researchers warn that the British variant is so contagious that new control measures, including closing down schools and universities, may be necessary. A team of British scientists released a worrying study on Wednesday of the new coronavirus variant sweeping the United Kingdom. They warned that the variant is so contagious…

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How Much Herd Immunity Is Enough? Scientists initially estimated that 60 to 70 percent of the population needed to acquire resistance to the coronavirus to banish it. Now Dr. Anthony Fauci and others are quietly shifting that number upward. At what point does a country achieve herd immunity? What portion of the population must acquire…

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What You’re Looking Forward to Welcome. Friday again, weekday drifting into weekend, the final thread of the year unspooling. The Styles desk took a look at the things that came out on top in 2020 — like rescue animals, adopted in massive numbers by affection-starved Americans newly stuck at home, and rotten bananas, once compost-bound…

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Employers Can Require Workers to Get Vaccine The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said employees could be barred from the workplace if they refused the vaccine. The administration of a Covid-19 vaccine by an employer doesn’t run afoul of the Americans With Disabilities Act, a federal agency said. Employers can require workers to get a…

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Celebrate the New Year Safely A highlight reel of what to watch and do (virtually, of course) to ring in the new year. Times Square won’t be crowded with people this year, but the tradition will still be live streamed on most networks. Along with so many things, the pandemic has dashed many of go-to…

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Your New Year’s Spread Melissa Clark has a lament in The Times this week. It’s about missing the holiday parties we can’t have this year on account of the pandemic. “There’ll be no sipping eggnog in red lipstick and spangles,” she wrote, “no parking myself in front of platters of Camembert and Stilton, not even…

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Ending 2020 With a Sweet Bit of Release The hot chocolate bomb is a tasty metaphor for a pent-up year. After months upon months of palliative food trends — baking sourdough bread, swirling up cups of Dalgona coffee, cutting into deceptive cakes — 2020 is ending not with a whimper but a bang, in the…

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Cook Yourself a Merry Christmas Good morning. Merry Christmas, if you’re celebrating. Hope you’re getting dim sum if you’re not, a nice spread of Peking duck, some version of spicy big tray chicken. It’s a marvelous day for takeout and relaxation. And even if you can’t get to the movies this year, you can always…

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Sugary Drinks May Be Bad for Aging Consumption of both sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened drinks was tied to an increased risk for frailty in men over 60. Sweetened drinks are not generally considered healthy for anyone, but they may be particularly harmful for the elderly. Researchers report that consumption of both sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened…

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How Confident Can You Be in a Coronavirus Test? Things like which kind of test it was, and the reason for taking it, should factor into how much credence to give a positive or negative result. Swabbing for a coronavirus test in San Diego this week.Credit…Ariana Drehsler for The New York Times In mid-November, David…

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