About Pia Christensen

Pia Christensen (@AHCJ_Pia) is the managing editor/online services for AHCJ. She manages the content and development of healthjournalism.org, coordinates AHCJ's social media efforts and edits and manages production of association guides, programs and newsletters.

View all posts by Pia Christensen →

It is perhaps little surprise that the most-read blog posts on Covering Health this year were almost exclusively about the coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic.

Since we first reported about the “mysterious pneumonia outbreak in China” on Jan. 10 and followed up with a post urging “Use caution when reporting on pandemic potential of Wuhan coronavirus” on Jan. 23, the topic has been top-of-mind for health journalists.

Here is a list of the top-10 blog posts, plus a bonus:

1. Looking at the evidence on homemade face masks to prevent coronavirus transmission
2. Keep an eye out for lead-time bias with COVID-19 deaths
3. How reporting on people’s intent to get a COVID-19 vaccine can harm public health
4. Use these COVID-19 clinical trial trackers to keep up with research
5. COVID-19 is hitting older LGBTQ adults especially hard
6. During COVID-19 pandemonium, be sure to vet your sources for the right expertise
7. Should freelancers pitch right now? Yes, and here’s what to do
8. Are older lives less worthy in a pandemic?
9. Learning the lessons of past pandemics
10. Where to get more answers about COVID-19

The only non-COVID post to make the top 10 was published on Jan. 3 and likely will still prove useful to those reporting on COVID in nursing homes: “How are nursing homes doing when it comes to staffing? This tool helps you find out.”