US buys up world stock of key Covid-19 drug remdesivir

‘The US has bought up virtually all the stocks for the next three months of one of the two drugs proven to work against Covid-19, leaving none for the UK, Europe or most of the rest of the world. Experts and campaigners are alarmed both by the US unilateral action on remdesivir and the wider implications, for instance in the event of a vaccine becoming available. The Trump administration has already shown that it is prepared to outbid and outmanoeuvre all other countries to secure the medical supplies it needs for the US.’

Read here (The Guardian, June 30, 2020)

Stealth infections

‘From the Black Death to polio, the most dangerous pathogens have moved silently, transmitted by apparently healthy people...

‘It isn’t ‘pandemics’ per se that we need to fear. The concept of being ‘overdue for a pandemic’ actually makes little sense. Pandemics aren’t cyclical, nor are they necessary products of global warming. We are vulnerable to pandemic outbreaks because of our interconnected world, not because there is some mysterious mechanism in the world that’s going to produce them. It takes precise conditions, what we can call ‘disease factories’, to produce pandemics, and these conditions don’t exist until we create them. The 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic was the product of a disease factory: it most likely sprang out of a giant pig farm in the Mexican state of Veracruz, owned in part by Smithfield Foods, a giant US pig-raising and meat-packing conglomerate.’

Read here (Aeon, June 30, 2020)

The vaccine race

’Rarely has the fate of the world depended on an international competition like the one for a Covid-19 vaccine. It's a race against time, it's a race to save lives, it's a race for glory. Trials are underway. Who develops a vaccine first? Who gets to take it first? How much will vaccines cost? And will they be effective enough, or safe enough?’

Read here (Politico, June 30, 2020)

‘You have to take action’: One hospital cleaner’s journey through the pandemic

‘Two years ago, Ernesta decided she wanted to improve things for the cleaners at Lewisham hospital. She believed they deserved better pay and better treatment. She joined the union, persuaded her colleagues to join, too, and they began to organise themselves. In a long campaign to improve their working lives – a campaign that has persevered through a pandemic – the cleaners have won various battles, but they still have more to fight. In the past three months, their vulnerability has also been made distressingly clear. Cleaners from all over the country have died from Covid-19 – two of those who died worked down the road from Lewisham at St George’s hospital in Tooting. The pandemic has revealed what was always obvious to Ernesta: a hospital can’t function without its cleaners. They are as vital to its purpose as any of the other frontline staff, and equally at risk.’

Read here (The Guardian, June 30, 2020)

Remdesivir, the first coronavirus drug, gets a price tag

‘Remdesivir will be sold for US$520 (S$724) per vial, or US$3,120 per treatment course, to hospitals for treatment of patients with private insurance, according to the Department of Health and Human Services and Gilead Sciences, the drug's manufacturer.’

Read here (Straits Times, June 30, 2020)

New rules: Malaysians to pay RM30-RM150 for Covid-19 test upon return abroad; foreigners pay RM60-RM250

‘Malaysians returning from overseas will have to pay a range of RM30 to RM150 to be tested for Covid-19 upon entering the country from today onwards, while non-citizens will pay higher fees depending on the type of tests conducted, new rules issued by the government said.

‘In the regulations made on June 26 by Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba, any Malaysian or foreigner entering Malaysia will be required to pay the specified fee depending on the type of Covid-19 detection tests taken "before proceeding for immigration clearance at any point of entry", with the type of tests used to be decided by the health director-general.’

Read here (The Malay Mail, June 29, 2020)

Coronavirus traces found in March 2019 sewage sample, Spanish study shows

‘Spanish virologists have found traces of the novel coronavirus in a sample of Barcelona waste water collected in March 2019, nine months before the Covid-19 disease was identified in China, the University of Barcelona said on Friday (June 26). The discovery of virus genome presence so early in Spain, if confirmed, would imply the disease may have appeared much earlier than the scientific community thought.’

Read here (Straits Times, June 27, 2020)

India's female Corona-warriors: Underpaid and unappreciated

‘Asha workers connect their communities with the public health system. While technically volunteers, they perform crucial tasks, including recording data about births, deaths, marriages and child immunisations; providing information about nutrition, sanitation, maternal and child health; accompanying pregnant women and sick children to health care centres; and helping treat diarrhoea, fevers and tuberculosis.

‘The Covid-19 outbreak added to their duties. Ashas are now expected to educate people about precautions against infection, monitor quarantined households, trace contacts of infected people and help with testing. They have no holidays.’

Read here (Straits Times, June 27, 2020)

Covid-19 vaccines: EU prioritises preferential access, paying lip-service to global solidarity

‘The European Commission has released an “EU Strategy for COVID-19 vaccines” that is premised on sealing advance purchase agreements with vaccine producers to secure production of vaccines in the European Union and sufficient supplies for its Member States. Launched on 17th June 2020, the EU Strategy marks a major shift from earlier calls for global collaboration and solidarity in ensuring affordable equitable access to vaccines globally.’

Read here (Third World Network, June 26, 2020)

Persuasive words are not enough

‘The scientific community is losing the battle against this digital leviathan of misinformation. A well-reasoned and highly placed op-ed on this topic is not going to move the needle, no matter how well it is crafted to adhere to the best practices in science communication. Neither is a perfect trade book, television appearance, or speaking tour by a scientific leader. The only way to win this fight is to harness the same sophisticated tools in the name of science that are being used to tear science down.’

Read here (Science Magazine, June 26, 2020)

Care homes and Covid-19 deaths: An opportunity to cut down mortality rates

‘The impact of COVID-19 on care home residents has been very different internationally, with some countries reporting no deaths (or infections) in care homes, such as Hong Kong, Jordan and Malta, and two countries reporting that over 80% of COVID-19 deaths were of care home residents. Without including the three countries with zero deaths, and with the caveat that the definitions used vary, on average the share of all COVID-19 deaths that were care home residents is 47% (based on 26 countries).’

Read here (International Long-term Care Policy Network, June 26, 2020)

Seamen struck by cruel waves of Covid-19

‘During this Covid-19 pandemic, the performance of healthcare workers, the police, soldiers and e-hailing drivers has been really outstanding. The people appreciate their sacrifices and would always remember their courage for standing at the front lines in the fight against the pandemic. But there is another group of people who have also been working tirelessly, moving cargo safely from one country to another while people stayed at home to stay safe. Sadly, not many people are aware of their plight. That’s because we are at sea. That’s right, there are thousands of sailors stranded onboard vessels now.’

Read here (The Star, June 25, 2020)

How the coronavirus may deliver a shock to the US dollar: Stephen Roach

‘America is leading the charge into protectionism, deglobalisation and decoupling. Its share of world foreign-exchange reserves has fallen from a little over 70 per cent in 2000 to a little less than 60 per cent today. Its Covid-19 containment has been an abysmal failure. And its history of systemic racism and police violence has sparked a transformative wave of civil unrest.

‘Against this background, especially when compared with other major economies, it seems reasonable to conclude that hyperextended saving and current-account imbalances will finally have actionable consequences for the dollar and/or US interest rates.

‘To the extent that the inflation response lags, and the Federal Reserve maintains its extraordinarily accommodative monetary-policy stance, the bulk of the concession should occur through the currency rather than interest rates. Hence, I foresee a 35 per cent drop in the broad dollar index over the next two to three years.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, June 25, 2020)

Vaccine alliance finds manufacturing capacity for 4 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines

‘An influential foundation focused on preparation and response to epidemics that is backing nine potential coronavirus vaccines has identified manufacturers with capacity to produce four billion doses a year, the group's top manufacturing expert told Reuters. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI) plans to have two or three manufacturing plants for each vaccine, James Robinson, a long-time biopharma executive leading CEPI'S vast manufacturing push, said in an interview. "Right now, we know we can do the two billion doses that we have as kind of our minimum target" by the end of 2021, he said.’

Read here (Straits Times, June 25, 2020)

CDC head estimates US coronavirus cases might be 10 times higher than data show

‘In a press briefing on June 25, Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said that the current official count of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. may actually be a drastic underestimate.

‘Redfield said the new, much-higher estimate, is based on growing data from antibody testing, which picks up the presence of immune cells that react to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. People will test positive for antibodies to the virus if they have been infected—whether or not they ever got sick or even developed symptoms.’

Read here (Time Magazine, June 25, 2020)

Australia calls military in after virus surge

‘Australia's military was called in Wednesday to help tackle a coronavirus outbreak in Melbourne -- a surge in infections that has rattled the country's second-most populous city. Victoria has recorded double-digit increases in new daily cases for more than a week -- mostly in the state capital Melbourne -- representing a sizeable spike in cases in a country that has otherwise successfully curbed Covid-19.’

Read here (Today Online, June 24, 2020)

What’s at risk: An 18-month view of a post-Covid world

 ‘As the world continues to grapple with the effects of COVID-19, no part of society seems to be left unscathed. Fears are surmounting around the economy’s health, and dramatic changes in life as we know it are also underway.

‘In today’s graphic, we use data from a World Economic Forum survey of 347 risk analysts on how they rank the likelihood of major risks we face in the aftermath of the pandemic. What are the most likely risks for the world over the next year and a half?’

Read here (Visual Capitalist, June 24, 2020)

Human challenge trials with live coronavirus aren’t the answer to a Covid-19 vaccine

‘With vaccines already a target of widespread misinformation campaigns, the death of a single volunteer would likely cause even greater damage. From a public health perspective, it would be especially disastrous if it both slowed the race to develop a coronavirus vaccine and fueled the anti-vaccination movement. There are other ethical considerations. An important principle in human challenge studies is that subjects must give their informed consent in order to take part. That means they should be provided with all the relevant information about the risk they are considering. But that is impossible for such a new disease.’

Read here (STAT News, June 23, 2020)

To date (July 19, 2020), the 1DaySooner campaign has attracted nearly 33,000 volunteers from 140 countries. Read here

The long-term effects of Covid-19 infection

‘Some scientists suspect that Covid-19 causes respiratory failure and death not through damage to the lungs, but the brain – and other symptoms include headaches, strokes and seizures... For Julie Helms, it started with a handful of patients admitted to her intensive care unit at Strasbourg University Hospital in northeast France in early March 2020. Within days, every single patient in the ICU had Covid-19 – and it was not just their breathing difficulties that alarmed her. “They were extremely agitated, and many had neurological problems – mainly confusion and delirium,” she says. “We are used to having some patients in the ICU who are agitated and require sedation, but this was completely abnormal. It has been very scary, especially because many of the people we treated were very young – many in their 30s and 40s, even an 18-year-old.”

‘Helms and her colleagues published a small study in the New England Journal of Medicine documenting the neurological symptoms in their Covid-19 patients, ranging from cognitive difficulties to confusion. All are signs of “encephalopathy” (the general term for damage to the brain) – a trend that researchers in Wuhan had noticed in coronavirus patients there in February.’

Read here (BBC, June 23, 2020)

Fauci: Coronavirus vaccine could be available by end of 2020

‘Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, told Congress Tuesday that he’s “cautiously optimistic” about the development of a coronavirus vaccine, saying that he believes one could be available as soon as the end of this year, or the beginning of 2021.’

Read here (Vox, June 23, 2020)

People have stopped going to the doctor. Most seem just fine

‘As stay-at-home orders ease and cities reopen for business, many doctors and hospital administrators are calling for a quick return of health care to pre-pandemic levels. For months now, routine care has been postponed. Elective procedures — big moneymakers — were halted so that hospitals could divert resources to treating Covid-19 patients. Routine clinic visits were canceled or replaced by online sessions. This has resulted in grievous financial losses for hospitals and clinics. Medical practices have closed. Hospitals have been forced to furlough employees or cut pay.

‘Most patients, on the other hand, at least those with stable chronic conditions, seem to have done OK. In a recent survey, only one in 10 respondents said their health or a family member’s health had worsened as a result of delayed care. Eighty-six percent said their health had stayed about the same.’

Read here (New York Times, June 22, 2020)

The politics of the mask

‘The years since Donald Trump’s election have been marked by a resurgence of violent street-level political confrontations. Fascists and their opponents have squared off in numerous cities, while recent protests against racist police violence have grown into a powerful movement. Cities across the country are now in open rebellion.

‘This new political instability coincides with the tenth anniversary of the publication of critical theorist AK Thompson’s Black Bloc, White Riot: Anti-Globalization and the Genealogy of Dissent (2010), which advanced a provocative thesis regarding the intimate bond between political violence and the white middle class. In Thompson’s account, the black bloc – a demonstration tactic in which masks and sartorial uniformity are used to facilitate participation in confrontational skirmishes – was both seductive and disquieting to white middle-class audiences because it forced them to confront the limits of their own political efficacy. Today, as activists confront the question of violence once again – and COVID-19 universally necessitates the wearing of masks in public – the polarizing debates that inspired the book have reignited, and Thompson’s analysis has implications that reach far beyond the case study that prompted it.

‘In this interview, the writer pushes Thompson to clarify his positions and extend his analysis to consider the forms of street-level political violence we confront today.’

https://socialistproject.ca/2020/06/the-politics-of-the-mask/

Read here (The Bullet, June 22, 2020)

Gilead to start testing an inhaled version of remdesivir, making it available to vastly more patients

‘The biotech giant that developed the first effective coronavirus treatment is now looking to expand its impact. Gilead Sciences CEO Daniel O'Day said Monday that the company would start testing an inhaled version of the antiviral drug remdesivir in August. Currently, the drug is given as an intravenous infusion. If remdesivir is effective when given through a nebulizer, that "could have significant implications in helping to stem the tide of the pandemic," O'Day wrote in an open letter.’

Read here (Business Insider, June 22, 2020)

Antibody levels in recovered COVID-19 patients decline quickly, Chinese study finds

‘Levels of an antibody found in recovered COVID-19 patients fell sharply in two to three months after infection for both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients, according to a Chinese study, raising questions about the length of any immunity against the novel coronavirus. The research, published in Nature Medicine on Jun 18, highlights the risks of using COVID-19 "immunity passports" and supports the prolonged use of public health interventions such as social distancing and isolating high-risk groups, researchers said.’

Read here (Channel News Asia, June 22, 2020)

Asymptomatic patients may shed virus for longer than others, study says

‘Asymptomatic coronavirus patients could shed the virus for longer than those with symptoms, according to a new study in southwest China. “The emergence of these silent spreaders … has caused difficulties in the control of the epidemic,” the researchers led by Huang Ailong, from Chongqing Medical University, wrote in a peer-reviewed paper in Nature Medicine on Thursday. Huang’s team found that the median duration of viral shedding among the 37 asymptomatic patients in the Chongqing study was 19 days – a third longer than the patients with mild symptoms.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, June 22, 2020)

Fearing second Covid-19 wave, Europe aims to train ‘army’ of medics

‘Europeans are enjoying the gradual easing of coronavirus lockdown measures, but in hospitals, they are already preparing for the next wave of infections. Some intensive care specialists are trying to hire more permanent staff. Others want to create a reservist "army" of medical professionals ready to be deployed wherever needed to work in wards with seriously ill patients. European countries have been giving medics crash courses in how to deal with Covid-19 patients, and are now looking at ways to retrain staff to avoid shortages of key workers if there is a second wave of the novel coronavirus.’

Read here (Straits Times, June 22, 2020)

Trust in governments surges during pandemic, survey shows

‘Trust in governments surges during pandemic, survey shows Times of uncertainty often drive people to governments. And during the Covid-19 pandemic, many governments seem to be delivering. Trust in governments surged to an all-time high around the world, according to the 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer Spring Update report released last week.’

Read here (Straits Tines, June 22, 2020)

Thailand had the world's first coronavirus case outside China. Here's how it avoided disaster

‘James Wise, a former Australian ambassador to the country and author of Thailand: History, Politics and the Rule of Law, said the Village Health volunteers were "enormously important". "The key factor is they were well prepared for it," Mr Wise said... "[The volunteers] work closely with the local communities and then once coronavirus comes along you've got an army of foot soldiers who can be quickly briefed on the coronavirus and then can go out into the communities, spread information, dispel misinformation and check people's symptoms. And that's what they did".’

Read here (ABC News, June 22, 2020)

Covid-19 has led to a pandemic of plastic pollution

‘Whether on the foreshore of the Thames or the deserted beaches of Soko, the planet is awash with pandemic plastic. Data are hard to come by but, for example, consumption of single-use plastic may have grown by 250-300% in America since the coronavirus took hold, says Antonis Mavropoulos of the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), which represents recycling bodies in 102 countries. Much of that increase is down to demand for products designed to keep covid-19 at bay, including masks, visors and gloves. According to a forecast from Grand View Research, the global disposable-mask market will grow from an estimated $800m in 2019 to $166bn in 2020.’

Read here (The Economist, June 22, 2020)

A plague of willful ignorance

‘We aren’t a nation of know-nothings; many, probably most Americans are willing to listen to experts and act responsibly. But there’s a belligerent faction within our society that refuses to acknowledge inconvenient or uncomfortable facts, preferring to believe that experts are somehow conspiring against them... Trump hasn’t just failed to rise to the policy challenge posed by Covid-19. He has, with his words and actions — notably his refusal to wear a mask — encouraged and empowered America’s anti-rational streak.’

Read here (New York Times, June 22, 2020)

The essential but invisible trade: TRAFFIC sounds alarm over sustainability of wild plants used to treat Covid-19

‘Wild plant species used in herbal treatments of Covid-19 are set to come under heightened harvesting pressure, both as a result of increased demand and because of more people turning to wild harvesting as an alternative source of income during times of high unemployment and economic crisis. The future availability of plant ingredients to support human health—through medicines, food and well-being products—is dependent on prioritising the conservation and sustainable use of their source species in the long-term.’

Read here (Traffic, June 18, 2020)

New Covid-19 tracing tool appears on smartphones

‘A Covid-19 tracing software tool has appeared in the settings of both Android phones and iPhones as part of an update of their operating systems. The "exposure notification" tool is switched off by default, and is not a tracing app itself. It enables an app to run in the background while still using Bluetooth. This lets the app measure the distance between two handsets - and then alert the phone owner if someone near them later tests positive for Covid-19.’

Read here (BBC, June 20, 2020)

How Uruguay has coped with Covid-19

‘By June 18th Uruguay had reported 849 confirmed cases and 24 deaths from covid-19, the lowest number as a share of population of any country in South America. Uruguay has administered 55,215 tests, a regional record... Luis Lacalle Pou, the centre-right president, was swift but not strict. On March 13th he declared an emergency and shut the borders. Like the populist leaders of Brazil and Mexico, he is at pains to shield the economy. Unlike them, he does not make light of the disease...

‘The government calls its policy libertad responsable (responsible liberty). It shut down schools, cinemas and shopping malls. It urged people to work from home, wear face masks and keep their distance from each other, but did not confine them to their houses. Mr Lacalle Pou “was not going to imprison people”, says an adviser.’

Read here (The Economist, June 20, 2020)

Coronavirus: China’s belt and road partners call for more cooperation on public health

‘Senior officials from 25 nations involved with China’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative have issued a joint statement calling for great cooperation on public health as the world continues to battle the Covid-19 pandemic. Ensuring fair access to health products and services should be the world’s top priority, the minister-level officials said in a communique released by China’s foreign ministry on Friday following an international videoconference. They also called for greater investment in “sound and resilient” health infrastructure – including the construction of regional storage centres for medical supplies – and committed to improving the availability and affordability of “products of reliable quality”, especially vaccines, drugs and other essential items.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, June 20, 2020)

Coronavirus antibody tests have a mathematical pitfall

‘...such [antibody] tests have been proposed as a way for individuals to find out if they have already been infected with the novel coronavirus. But a mathematical wrinkle makes these tests—and in fact, all screening tests—hard to interpret: even with a very accurate test, the fewer people in a population who have a condition, the more likely it is that an individual's positive result is wrong. If it is, people might think they have the antibodies (and thus may have immunity), when in fact they do not.

‘A positive screening test result for other diseases usually prompts follow-up testing to confirm a diagnosis. But for COVID-19 screening, such follow-up has been rare because testing resources are scarce or because other testing methods are prioritized for the sickest patients. Here's a look at the massive impact infection rates can have on the predictive value of these tests for individuals.’

Read here (Scientific American, July 2020, pre-published in June 19, 2020)

World in ‘new and dangerous phase’ of Covid-19 pandemic: WHO

‘The coronavirus pandemic is now in a “new and dangerous phase”, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday (June 19), with the disease accelerating at the same time as people tire of lockdowns. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged nations and citizens to remain extremely vigilant, as the number of cases reported to the UN health agency hit a new peak. “The pandemic is accelerating. More than 150,000 new cases of Covid-19 were reported to WHO yesterday – the most in a single day so far,” Tedros told a virtual press conference.’

Read here (Straits Times, June 19, 2020)

In this coronavirus wave, China tries something new: Restraint

‘The city of Beijing has tested 1.1 million people in less than a week and has halted many flights, but has not imposed the citywide lockdowns used in provincial outbreaks...

‘The brunt of the government’s measures has been borne by food traders at markets that were sealed off after cases were found, and by the residents of more than four dozen apartment complexes placed under lockdown. But in many other Beijing neighborhoods, the shops, restaurants and even hair salons are still operating. Traffic is a little lighter than usual, but plenty of cars are still on the road. City sidewalks remain busy.’

Read here (New York Times, June 19, 2020)

US Department of Homeland Security develops DIY method to decontaminate masks with a multicooker

‘A household appliance, which may be sitting inside your kitchen cabinet, can now be used as a powerful tool in the fight to control COVID-19. Researchers with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) developed a do-it-yourself solution to decontaminate personal protective equipment (PPE) using a programmable multicooker...

‘Moist heat decontamination is achieved by treating masks with 149°F steam for 30 minutes. Key steps include placing the mask(s) in a paper bag, filling the multicooker with a half inch of water and setting the bag on a rack inside of it. S&T verified these conditions inactivate the virus below detectable limits in culture media and simulated saliva, while the masks still meet performance specifications after five treatments...

Read here (US DHS, June 19, 2020)

Full instructions, a video, fact sheet and FAQ about the process are available on the HHS S&T website. View video and download PDFs here

What is the true death toll of the pandemic?

‘At least another 130,000 people worldwide have died during the coronavirus pandemic on top of 440,000 officially recorded deaths from the virus, according to BBC research. A review of preliminary mortality data from 27 countries shows that in many places the number of overall deaths during the pandemic has been higher than normal, even when accounting for the virus.’

Read here (BBC, June 19, 2020)

Race for virus vaccine could leave poor countries behind

‘As the race for a vaccine against the new coronavirus intensifies, rich countries are rushing to place advance orders for the inevitably limited supply to guarantee their citizens get immunised first, leaving significant questions about whether developing countries will get any vaccine before the pandemic ends.

‘Earlier this month, the United Nations, International Red Cross and Red Crescent, and others said it was a "moral imperative" that everyone have access to a "people's vaccine". But such grand declarations are unenforceable and without a detailed strategy, the allocation of vaccines could be messy.’

Read here (Aljazeera, June 18, 2020)

Beijing's partial coronavirus lockdown a sign of the world's new normal

‘Party officials in charge of Beijing, including the city's party secretary, Mr Cai Qi, have sounded chagrined about the flare-up. "The lessons run very deep, the situation for epidemic control is very grim, and this has sounded a warning to us," said an official summary of a city leaders' meeting carried by The Beijing Daily on Wednesday.

‘Most Beijing streets flowed with traffic on Wednesday, though less than usual, and the public mood appeared resigned rather than panicked. Restaurants still opened, though the government has ordered them to disinfect and check employees.’

Read here (Straits Times, June 18, 2020)

The end of tourism?

‘Coronavirus has also revealed the danger of overreliance on tourism, demonstrating in brutal fashion what happens when the industry supporting an entire community, at the expense of any other more sustainable activity, collapses. On 7 May, the UN World Tourism Organisation estimated that earnings from international tourism might be down 80% this year against last year’s figure of $1.7tn, and that 120m jobs could be lost. Since tourism relies on the same human mobility that spreads disease, and will be subject to the most stringent and lasting restrictions, it is likely to suffer more than almost any other economic activity.’

Read here (Guardian, June 18, 2020)

An analysis of three Covid-19 outbreaks: How they happened and how they can be avoided

‘A crowded restaurant to celebrate the Chinese New Year; 100 workers infected inside a 19-story building; a group of devout Buddhists travelling by bus for a religious ceremony. These were the scenarios for three outbreaks of Covid-19 that have been carefully documented by the authorities. What happened in each one? What were the risk factors? What lessons can be learned, now that we are trying to get back to normal and return to restaurants, offices and other shared spaces?’

Read here (El Pais, June 18, 2020)

Scathing Covid-19 book from Lancet editor — rushed but useful

‘Since the coronavirus crisis began, Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of leading medical journal The Lancet, has been tearing across the British public sphere. Here he is on the BBC, the national broadcaster, there in the pages of The Guardian newspaper — taking the government to task for failures that have left the United Kingdom with the world’s second-highest per capita COVID-19 death toll so far (Belgium is top). Horton has never shied away from controversy (his journal published the retracted, fraudulent paper by Andrew Wakefield that alleged a non-existent link between vaccines with autism) or crusades (against the Iraq war and for political action on climate change). In coronavirus, he has found a cause that matches his energy: the Lancet journals are pumping out both the latest research and his pointed critiques of government policy; and last month, he reviewed a new book by the Slovenian Marxist philosopher Slavoj Žižek that imagines economic and social worlds after COVID-19.

‘Now Horton has a book of his own. The COVID-19 Catastrophe is a sort of history, diagnosis and prescription, in real time. It is wide ranging, querying the changing role of international cooperation and the fallout of austerity economics, and taking a deeper dive into China’s scientific and political response to the crisis than most Western media have offered. But the book returns again and again to the catastrophe in both the United Kingdom and the United States. It is haunted by the question: how did two of the richest, most powerful and most scientifically advanced countries in the world get it so wrong, and cause such ongoing pain for their citizens?’

Read here (Nature, June 18, 2020)

What to expect when flying now (and in the future)

Air travel is full of opportunities for coronavirus transmission. Touchless check-in, plexiglass shields, temperature checks, back-to-front boarding and planes with empty middle seats are all now part of the flying experience, and the future may bring even more changes. Illustration: Alex Kuzoian

Watch here (Wall Street Journal, June 17, 2020)

Antibody tests don't mean a ton right now. But that could change soon

‘In the study published in medRxiv, a preprint server for posting studies before they are peer-reviewed, a team at the Lindsley F. Kimball Research Institute of the New York Blood Center and Rockefeller University analyzed 370 plasma samples donated from people who recovered from COVID-19 and found some surprising results...

‘Overall, around 88% of the people generated varying levels of antibodies to the virus. But only about 10% of them had high levels that were able to neutralize the lab-based version of the COVID-19 virus—and, on the other side of the spectrum, 17% had almost no antibody response to their infection.’

Read here (Time Magazine, June 16, 2020)

The pandemic broke end-of-life care

‘The first day the palliative-care doctors walked into the ICUs, Thomas [Jane deLima Thomas, the director of palliative care at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute] says, “we felt like tourists.” They were dressed in business casual, while their ICU colleagues raced around in scrubs and masks. But the palliative-care team—which includes physicians, nurses, chaplains, and social workers—found ways to integrate themselves. In the early days of the pandemic, when protective gear was scarce, no visitors were allowed. Palliative caregivers, along with ICU nurses, held iPads cocooned in plastic bags so families could say goodbye on Zoom. They were sometimes the only one in the room when a patient died, otherwise alone. I interviewed several members of the Boston-based palliative-care team, and their stories, which have been condensed and edited for clarity, are below...’

Read here (The Atlantic, June 16, 2020)

Hadassah doctors crack the cause of fatal corona blood clots

‘A research team at Hadassah-University Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem discovered that patients who form fatal blood clots have an increased level of alpha defensin protein in their blood... They also say they have a way to treat the cause before it’s too late... At least 30% of patients with coronavirus develop blood clots that block the flow of blood to their kidneys, heart and brain, as well as the lungs, according to international research...

‘Dr. Abd Alrauf Higavi said his team are en route to a solution: administering the drug colchicine to coronavirus patients. Colchicine is an approved drug used in the prevention and treatment of gout attacks, caused by too much uric acid in the blood. Higavi said they have completed testing colchicine on mice and found that it successfully inhibited the release of alpha defensin. Now, they are waiting for the necessary approvals to test it on human coronavirus patients.’

Read here (Jerusalem Post, June 16, 2020)

Dexamethasone proves to be life-saving drug

‘A cheap and widely available drug can help save the lives of patients seriously ill with coronavirus. The low-dose steroid treatment dexamethasone is a major breakthrough in the fight against the deadly virus, UK experts say...

‘It cut the risk of death by a third for patients on ventilators. For those on oxygen, it cut deaths by a fifth. Had the drug had been used to treat patients in the UK from the start of the pandemic, up to 5,000 lives could have been saved, researchers say. And it could be of huge benefit in poorer countries with high numbers of Covid-19 patients.’

Read here (BBC, June 16, 2020)

US in the spring of the pandemic

‘The gnawing anger beneath the pandemic is that democracy itself is being rewired in our absence. The system has failed us, the system is guaranteed to go on failing us, but while we the people are out of the picture, others are making grand, world-altering decisions. The powerful are rewriting the social contract while we watch TV and console ourselves with booze and simple chores.’

Read here (Le Monde Diplomatique, June 2020)

Volunteers sign up to put their lives on the line for a coronavirus vaccine

‘Lehua Gray, a 32-year-old product manager in Austin, wants to risk her life for a coronavirus vaccine. A cloud of potentially deadly microbes would be spritzed up her nose — if she’s allowed to a participate in what’s called a human challenge trial.

‘It’s built on a deceptively simple premise: Researchers inject healthy volunteers with an experimental vaccine and then expose them to a pathogen. If the vaccine prevents volunteers from getting sick, the study can accelerate development of a promising formula.’

Read here (Washington Post, June 15, 2020)

Fact-checking claims coronavirus might have started in August 2019

‘There's been criticism of a study from the US suggesting that the coronavirus could have been present in the Chinese city of Wuhan as early as August last year. The study by Harvard University, which gained significant publicity when it was released earlier this month, has been dismissed by China and had its methodology challenged by independent scientists...

‘The Harvard study has gained a lot of traction in the media, with President Trump, who has been highly critical of China's pandemic response, tweeting a Fox News item highlighting the researchers' findings. The tweet has been viewed more than three million times.’

Read here (BBC, June 15, 2020)

UK readers find the government’s COVID-19 messages more misleading than actual fake news

‘Our research suggests broadcasters may have helped people become fairly confident in spotting egregious examples of fake news. But many participants were confused by more routine political decisions, most strikingly the lockdown measures that can affect people in England differently to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

‘For broadcasters to more effectively counter misinformation, our research tells us it is not only about boldly questioning what politicians say and holding the government to account. It is about identifying what people are most confused about and finding ways to raise their level of understanding about complex and contentious issues.’

Read here (Nieman Lab, June 15, 2020)

To understand who’s dying of Covid-19, look to social factors like race more than preexisting diseases

‘The Sutter and MIT studies cast doubt on whether individual risk factors are as important as social determinants of health in affecting someone’s chances of contracting severe and even fatal Covid-19. “It should cause us to ask a different set of questions about what puts you at risk of hospitalization or death,” Schwalbe said.

‘More and more evidence is pointing to social determinants of risk, which puts the role of underlying health conditions in a new light. “Comorbidities are still used to blame people for how hard they are hit by Covid-19,” said Philip Alberti, senior director for health equity research at the AAMC. To reduce the U.S. death toll now that many states are seeing a new surge in cases, he said, “our response to this disease” must look beyond the strictly medical.’

Read here (STAT News, June 15, 2020)

A visual guide to the SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus

‘In the graphics that follow, Scientific American presents detailed explanations, current as of mid-May, into how SARS-CoV-2 sneaks inside human cells, makes copies of itself and bursts out to infiltrate many more cells, widening infection. We show how the immune system would normally attempt to neutralize virus particles and how CoV-2 can block that effort. We explain some of the virus's surprising abilities, such as its capacity to proofread new virus copies as they are being made to prevent mutations that could destroy them. And we show how drugs and vaccines might still be able to overcome the intruders.’

Read here (Scientific American, June 15 web story for July 2020)

Tale of Covid-19 in two Indian cities: Dharavi, Mumbai, a rare success, and Delhi which was “messed up”

‘Asia's largest slum Dharavi was being seen as a 'Covid-engine' that will drive Mumbai in the wrong direction. But with conscious efforts, the slum's Covid doubling rate has come down to 44 days, twice as good as Mumbai’s 22. Delhi sadly is a study in contrast with India’s highest test positivity rates. In episode 496 of ThePrint's #CutTheClutter, Shekhar Gupta talks about the lessons from Dharavi & new plan for Delhi.’

Watch here (Youtube, June 14, 2020)

Sinovac says early data show its Covid-19 vaccine generated immune responses

‘Sinovac Biotech announced preliminary study results on Saturday showing its experimental Covid-19 vaccine generated immune responses in patients and was safe — early data that suggest it might protect people against infections with the novel coronavirus. The Beijing-based drug maker’s vaccine, called CoronaVac, induced neutralizing antibodies in “above 90%” of people who were tested 14 days after receiving two injections, two weeks apart. There were no severe side effects reported, the company said in a statement. The preliminary results were from a 600-patient, placebo-controlled Phase 2 study. Sinovac is also conducting a 143-patient, placebo-controlled Phase 1 study.’

Read here (STAT News, June 14, 2020)

Fears of second wave as new cases emerge at Beijing market

‘A wholesale food market in south-west Beijing is in the spotlight after being linked to a spate of new Covid-19 cases, sparking fears of a second wave of infections... Officials said at a news briefing yesterday that six cases were reported on Friday, all related to the market, which sells meat, seafood, fruit and vegetables. Another man who had shopped there was also reported as a confirmed case on Thursday. In addition, 45 people tested positive from among 517 samples collected at the market, although none showed symptoms of the coronavirus infection.

‘Chinese news outlet Beijing News reported that the virus was detected at Xinfadi market on a chopping board for imported salmon, which had come from Jingshen seafood market, one of the markets ordered shut on Friday. Large supermarket chains such as Carrefour and Japanese restaurants have pulled salmon off the shelves and menus after news that supplies could be contaminated sparked worries across the city.’

Read here (Straits Times, June 14, 2020)

Why is it hard to do what is right?

‘In the fight to contain the spread of coronavirus, Malaysians have split into two camps: the risk-takers and the rule-followers. On one side are carefree people who ignore public health measures; on the other are the anxious ones coming to grips with the reality of life with Covid-19. What a depressing spectacle has been the effect of the recovery movement control order involving public transport and eating out.’

Read here (Free Malaysia Today, June 14, 2020)

Lancet editor spills the beans and the unfolding of a pharmaceutical scandal

‘In a videotaped interview on May 24, 2020, Dr [Philippe] Douste-Blazy provided insight into how a series of negative hydroxychloroquine studies got published in prestigious medical journals. He revealed that at a recent Chatham House top secret, closed door meeting attended by experts only, the editors of both, The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine expressed their exasperation citing the pressures put on them by pharmaceutical companies... [Douste-Blazy is a cardiologist and former French Health Minister who served as Under-Secretary General of the United Nations. He was a candidate in 2017 for Director of the World Health Organization]

‘The alarming findings and serious negative impact of the Lancet report led numerous scientists around the globe to scrutinise the report in detail. That scrutiny by legitimate, independent scientists has led to many serious questions about the integrity of the study, the authenticity of the data, and the validity of the methods the authors used... [many details are provided in this story]

Demonisation of favourable HCQ-AZ treatment studies: ‘Since publishing favourable reports about a treatment combination of two cheap, widely prescribed medicines: hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin, as a treatment of choice against Covid-19, Dr [Didier] Raoult has become the subject of intense demonisation by the corporate-influenced medical establishment, the media, and the [sic] who resort to this tactic whenever they lack evidence or legitimate grounds to support public health policies that cause people harm.’

Read here (Health Impact News, received on June 13, 2020)

Understanding Covid-19 risks and vulnerabilities among black communities in America: The lethal force of syndemics

‘Black communities in the United States are bearing the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic and the underlying conditions that exacerbate its negative consequences. Syndemic theory provides a useful framework for understanding how such interacting epidemics develop under conditions of health and social disparity. Multiple historical and present-day factors have created the syndemic conditions within which black Americans experience the lethal force of Covid-19. These factors include racism and its manifestations (e.g., chattel slavery, mortgage redlining, political gerrymandering, lack of Medicaid expansion, employment discrimination, and health care provider bias). Improving racial disparities in Covid-19 will require that we implement policies that address structural racism at the root of these disparities.’

Read here (Annals of Epidemiology, Volume 47, July 2020, Pages 1-3, via Science Direct)

Treasury Secretary Mnuchin says ‘we can’t shut down the economy again’

Treasury Secretary Mnuchin says ‘we can’t shut down the economy again’

‘[US] Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC that shutting down the economy for a second time to slow Covid-19 isn’t a viable option. The Treasury secretary’s comments came as Wall Street grew more concerned about a second wave of coronavirus cases in the US. Mnuchin also said he’s prepared to return to Congress to request additional fiscal spending to help juice the economy if needed.’

Read here (CNBC, June 11, 2020)

Religion and science in a time of Covid-19: Allies or adversaries?

‘The current zeitgeist tells us that we must pick a side, as we do in sports or politics; one cannot be an adherent of both. Either choose secular science, which is rational and rigorous; or religion, a matter of personal belief.

‘But perhaps this narrative represents a false dichotomy. Does the tension between science and religion really exist? And in the context of COVID-19, is it inconceivable that a scientist can wholeheartedly pray for a cure for a loved one whilst also working to develop a vaccine?’

Read here (Scientific American, June 11, 2020)

Immunity to the coronavirus remains a mystery. Scientists are trying to crack the case

‘With Covid-19, immunity — whether from an infection or a vaccine — is expected to wane over perhaps a few years; that is what happens with the four human coronaviruses that cause colds. If that pattern extends to this virus, people will gradually become more susceptible to the virus after some amount of time (though they may be less likely to get a severe case). Tracking the levels of the different correlates could provide clues to how long immunity lasts, and when a person becomes vulnerable again. It could also indicate when people might need another dose of the vaccine.’

Read here (STAT News, June 11, 2020)

I'm an ICU doctor treating coronavirus patients. But somehow I'm not angry

‘Sometimes I wonder if my lack of anger means I don’t care enough; if I’ve been worn down by ventilators being turned off, patients dying, families asking for a final call. Perhaps emotions overwhelm and suffocate each other in such a situation, leaving no air for something as indulgent as anger. Perhaps my anger couldn’t compete with the humility of knowing that until early March, I and every doctor I knew had predicted that this virus posed little threat beyond a bad seasonal flu. Like my better judgment, perhaps my anger had lost.’

Read here (The Guardian, June 11, 2020)

Unsung heroines: Who cares for the carers?

Even before Covid-19, the world was facing a care crisis. The plight of often neglected, under-appreciated, under-protected and poorly equipped ‘frontline’ health personnel working to contain the pandemic has drawn attention to the tip of the care crisis iceberg. Oxfam’s annual early 2020 Davos report, Time to Care, estimates that 2.3 billion people will need care by 2030, 200 million more than in 2015, including 100 million more older people and an additional 100 million children aged 6 to 14 years.

Read here (IPS News, June 11, 2020)

How to avoid the virus as the world reopens

‘Three key factors determine risk of exposure: proximity to people; duration of exposure; and how confined the environment is. The greatest peril lies where the three overlap. “The biggest risk is being in close proximity to someone in an indoor space for any extended period of time,” said Jeremy Rossman, honorary senior lecturer in virology at the University of Kent. The perception of risk and the actual scientific risk have sometimes diverged, he noted. “I don’t think that’s been very clearly communicated”.’

Read here (Financial Times, June 10, 2020)

Pandemic exposes systemic staffing problems at US nursing homes - Special report by Reuters

‘In the United States, longstanding problems with staffing shortages and chronic turnover have left nursing homes especially exposed. An estimated 40% of the country’s more than 100,000 COVID-19 deaths are connected to long-term care facilities such as nursing homes or assisted-living centers, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation tally.

‘About a quarter of nursing homes responding to a recent federal survey reported shortages of direct-care staff during at least one of the last two weeks in May, according to a Reuters analysis of survey data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.’

Read here (Reuters, June 10, 2020)

Widespread mask-wearing could prevent COVID-19 second waves: Study

‘Population-wide face mask use could push COVID-19 transmission down to controllable levels for national epidemics, and could prevent further waves of the pandemic disease when combined with lockdowns, according to a British study on Wednesday. The research, led by scientists at the Britain’s Cambridge and Greenwich Universities, suggests lockdowns alone will not stop the resurgence of the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, but that even homemade masks can dramatically reduce transmission rates if enough people wear them in public.’

Read here (Reuters, June 10, 2020)

Should we aim for herd immunity like Sweden?

‘One thing is to decide against a Hammer. That’s fine. It happened. We can’t change the past. A very different thing is to know you can Dance to reduce your epidemic dramatically and for quite cheap, but actively decide not to do it. The UK’s government has acknowledged its mistakes and changed course. Pressure is mounting for Sweden to do the same. Tens of thousands of lives are at stake. If the government doesn’t decide to acknowledge its mistakes and correct its course, bodies will keep piling up for nothing.

Summary of the article: ‘Sweden is suffering tremendously in cases and deaths. Yet few people have been infected yet. They are a long way from Herd Immunity. Between 0.5% to 1.5% of infected die from the coronavirus. Left uncontrolled, it can kill between 0.4% and 1% of the entire population. Many more suffer conditions we don’t yet understand. Unfortunately, that death and sickness toll is far from having bought us Herd Immunity anywhere in the world. Only protecting those most at risk sounds great. It’s a fantasy today. Even if Sweden’s economy has remained mostly open, it has still suffered as much as others. From now on, it might start doing worse. Sweden now has regrets. But not enough. It can control the virus without a lockdown if it acknowledges its mistakes and takes the right measures. Other countries, like the US or the Netherlands, are toying with a Herd Immunity strategy. It will only cause more economic loss and death.’

Read here (Medium, June 10, 2020)

‘Epidemic stopped’: Results in from second Chinese city to do mass coronavirus tests

‘In all, 19 asymptomatic cases found among the 650,000 people tested in Mudanjiang, authorities say. Viral cultures reveal low level of infectiousness among those carriers.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, June 10, 2020)

How Singapore’s Covid-19 contact tracing app drew inspiration from a US high school project

‘Two US students developed a prototype app called kTrace in 2014, at the height of the Ebola epidemic. They won a prize but found no backers. But Singapore’s GovTech agency found it and the students shared code and advice to speed up the development of the city state’s TraceTogether app.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, June 10, 2020)

The WHO stumbles, and some scientists see a pattern

‘Even as the World Health Organisation leads the worldwide response to the coronavirus pandemic, the agency is failing to take stock of rapidly evolving research findings and to communicate clearly about them, several scientists warned on Tuesday (June 9). In a news briefing on Monday, a WHO official asserted that transmission of the coronavirus by people without symptoms is "very rare". Following concerted pushback from researchers, officials on Tuesday walked back the claim, saying it was a "misunderstanding".’

Read here (Straits Times, June 10, 2020)

‘Are you immune?’ The new class system that could shape the Covid-19 world

‘...experts predict that if survivors are found to be immune, they could perform a range of jobs and services – such as volunteering in hospitals and nursing homes, caring for coronavirus patients and working in shops and food processing plants – risk-free. And, depending on how authorities, business and society at large respond, they could also be entitled to greater freedoms.’

Read here (The Guardian, June 10, 2020)

How the coronavirus compares with 100 years of deadly events (United States)

‘Only the worst disasters completely upend normal patterns of death, overshadowing, if only briefly, everyday causes like cancer, heart disease and car accidents. Here’s how the devastation brought by the pandemic in 25 cities and regions compares with historical events.’

Read here (New York Times, June 10, 2020)

Economic ghosts block post-lockdown recovery

‘As governments the world over struggle to revive their economies after the debilitating lockdowns they imposed following their failure to undertake adequate precautionary containment measures to curb Covid-19 contagion, neoliberal naysayers are already warning against needed deficit financing for relief and recovery.’

Read here (IPS News, June 9, 2020)

America fails the marshmallow test

Paul Krugman: ‘Why are we failing the test? It’s easy to blame Donald Trump, a man-child who would surely gobble down that first marshmallow, then try to steal marshmallows from other kids. But America’s impatience, its unwillingness to do what it takes to deal with a threat that can’t be beaten with threats of violence, runs much deeper than one man.’

Read here (New York Times, June 9, 2020)

The role of vitamin D in reducing risk of COVID-19: A brief survey of the literature

‘The evidence that higher vitamin D status is causally linked to lower risk of COVID-19 incidence, severity, and death continues to increase. This brief report outlines what has been learned through early June 2020 and provides links to some of the key references.

‘It should be noted that acceptance of the role of vitamin D supplementation will probably not be achieved before reports are published that demonstrate randomized controlled trials of vitamin D supplementation significantly reduced COVID-19 incidence or death. Several RCTs and observational studies regarding vitamin D supplementation and COVID-19 incidence and outcomes are either in the planning stage or in progress. The obvious groups to study are those at highest risk: dark-skinned people living at high latitudes, people in nursing homes or health care facilities; prisoners; factory workers such as in meat-packing facilities in the U.S.; health care workers. A major problem is that the powers that be see vitamin D as a threat to income and profit, so use the Disinformation Playbook to suppress positive information on vitamin D...

‘In a review published in early April, it was proposed that vitamin D supplementation could reduce the risk of COVID-19. Two mechanisms were identified: 1, reduced survival and replication of viruses through vitamin D-stimulated release of cathelicidin and defensins, and 2, reduced risk of the cytokine storm by reducing production of pro-inflammatory cytokines...’

Read here (Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, June 9, 2020)

The effect of large-scale anti-contagion policies on the Covid-19 pandemic

‘...we compile new data on 1,717 local, regional, and national non-pharmaceutical interventions deployed in the ongoing pandemic across localities in China, South Korea, Italy, Iran, France, and the United States (US)... We estimate that across these six countries, interventions prevented or delayed on the order of 62 million confirmed cases, corresponding to averting roughly 530 million total infections. These findings may help inform whether or when these policies should be deployed, intensified, or lifted, and they can support decision-making in the other 180+ countries where COVID-19 has been reported.

Read here (Nature, June 8, 2020)

Asymptomatic spread of coronavirus is ‘very rare,’ WHO says

‘Government responses should focus on detecting and isolating infected people with symptoms, the World Health Organization said. Preliminary evidence from the earliest outbreaks indicated the virus could spread even if people didn’t have symptoms. But the WHO says that while asymptomatic spread can occur, it is “very rare.”

Read here (CNBC, June 8, 2020)

China plans to overhaul health system, but better communication with public is off the radar

Ma Xiaowei, director of the National Health Commission, ‘identified five areas for improvement, including more investment in the public health system, giving the Centres for Disease Control more powers, a public health network to link hospitals to the CDC, a better epidemic monitoring and warning system and fostering medical talent...But Li Dun, a professor and the head of the experts network at Tsinghua University’s Centre for the Study of Contemporary China, said better communication should also be included in the proposed reforms. “Without information disclosure and public participation, the warning system won’t work effectively,” he said.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, June 8, 2020)

Half of Singapore’s coronavirus cases show no symptoms, joint head of task force says

‘Based on our experience, for every symptomatic case you would have at least one asymptomatic case,’ Lawrence Wong said. Wong was explaining the city state’s cautious approach to reopening following a two-month lockdown to curb infections.

Read here (South China Morning Post, June 8, 2020)

From drug dealers to loan sharks: how coronavirus empowers organised crime

‘At the outset, Covid-19 and the lockdown disoriented organised crime and its activities as much as the rest of us. But organised crime is not only adapting to the present, it is preparing to carve a lucrative future out of the crisis... Disruption to supplies, diversion of police resources and collapsing businesses all create opportunities.’

Read here (The Guardian, June 7, 2020)

The coronavirus' next victim? Capitalism

‘The pandemic has deftly illustrated two lessons that we, as a civilization, must learn in order to survive: (1) Science does not care about your political ideology. (2) The economic status quo — namely, free market capitalism — is fatally flawed, in ways that the coronavirus pandemic has brought to light.’

Read here (Salon, June 7, 2020)

‘Fighting Covid-19: China in action’

China's State Council Information Office published on June 7, 2020, a 65-page white paper to ‘keep a record of China’s efforts in its own fight against the virus, to share its experience with the rest of the world, and to clarify its ideas on the global battle.’

Read here (XinHua, June 7, 2020)

Are we underestimating how many people are resistant to Covid-19?

‘One thing seems clear: there are many reasons why one population is more protected than another. Theoretical epidemiologist Sunetra Gupta of the University of Oxford thinks that a key one is immunity that was built up prior to this pandemic. “It’s been my hunch for a very long time that there is a lot of cross-protection from severe disease and death conferred by other circulating, related bugs,” she says...

‘Socioeconomic status, climate, culture and genetic makeup could also shape vulnerability, as could certain childhood vaccines and vitamin D levels. And all of these factors can vary between countries.’

Read here (The Guardian, June 7, 2020)

Wear masks in public says WHO, in update of COVID-19 advice

The WHO's technical lead expert on Covid-19, Maria Van Kerkhove, said in a Reuters interview: "We are advising governments to encourage that the general public wear a mask [in public areas where there is a risk of transmission of COVID-19]. And we specify a fabric mask - that is, a non-medical mask... We have new research findings... We have evidence now that if this is done properly it can provide a barrier ... for potentially infectious droplets."

Read here (Straits Times, June 6, 2020)

What social distancing reveals about East-West differences

‘In short, while the Chinese may not experience social-distancing anxiety as we Americans do, the pandemic seems to have brought out individualistic ways of thinking in some. Of course, divorce rates and rationales can only tell a small part of the sprawling story that is China. Still, might the globalization that has drawn East and West so much closer together physically also, via the pandemic, draw us ever so slightly closer together psychologically as well? It’s possible.’

Read here (Scientific American, June 6, 2020)

Dutch mink cull starts as coronavirus spreads to 10th farm

‘Dutch mink farms have begun a government-ordered cull amid concern that animals infected with coronavirus could transmit the illness to humans. Infected mink have been found on 10 Dutch farms where the ferret-like animals are bred for their fur, according to the country’s Food & Wares Authority. “All mink breeding farms where there is an infection will be cleared, and farms where there are no infections won’t be,” said spokeswoman Frederique Hermie.’

Read here (Reuters, June 6, 2020)

50% asymptomatic carriers. They have lung tissue damage typical of Covid-19 too

‘Another concern, says Topol, is that the virus may be damaging the bodies of asymptomatic in other, silent ways. Among the 331 passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship who tested positive but did not have symptoms, 76 people had CT scans of their lungs and nearly half showed signs of lung tissue damage typical of coronavirus infection. “People who are getting infection without symptoms are actually doing a lot of damage to their bodies and they don’t know it,” says Topol. Another small study in South Korea that studied 10 asymptomatic people from a group of 139 COVID-19 patients supports these findings.’

Read here (Time Magazine, June 5, 2020)

Race, ethnicity data to be required with coronavirus tests starting August 1

‘Data on who is being tested “are rarely being reported to CDC in usable format,” Giroir said during a conference call with journalists. “It is critical for us to ensure that there is equitable access to testing, especially for underserved minorities. And without the data we are now requiring, there is simply no way to determine that.”

Read here (Washington Post, June 5, 2020)

The pandemic's first major research scandal erupts

‘The controversy is an unfortunate distraction, says Miguel Hernán, a Harvard epidemiologist and co-investigator on an ongoing trial of hydroxychloroquine in Spain and Latin America. “If you do something as inflammatory as this without a solid foundation, you are going to make a lot of people waste time trying to understand what is going on.” Chaccour says both NEJM and The Lancet should have scrutinized the provenance of Surgisphere's data more closely before publishing the studies. “Here we are in the middle of a pandemic with hundreds of thousands of deaths, and the two most prestigious medical journals have failed us,” he says.’

Read here (Science Magazine, June 5, 2020)

Chinese tech firms pledge more help for street stalls, small vendors after Premier’s comments

Key points: Premier Li Keqiang says the Chinese government will provide more support for street stalls and small businesses as they are the “fire” of China’s economy. Tech platforms like WeChat and JD.com responded to Li’s comments by announcing new initiatives to help smaller retailers.

Read here (South China Morning Post, June 4, 2020)

Trump said he would terminate the US relationship with the WHO. Here's what that means

‘The impacts wouldn’t be felt just abroad. Were the U.S. to leave the WHO, scientists and public health officials in the states would suddenly find themselves cut off from some of the most important global health communication channels. You don’t need to look too far into the past to see how this might play out: In the early days of COVID-19, “not all of the data from China was public. It was shared among the WHO member states initially before it was put out in public bulletins,” says Amanda Glassman, executive vice president of the Center for Global Development, a nonprofit think tank, That information, in theory, should have enabled U.S. health infrastructure to rapidly spring into action, and take steps to mitigate the worst viral outcomes. It didn’t of course, but that failure can hardly be pinned on the WHO.’

Read here (Time Magazine, June 4, 2020)

Death from Covid-19 of 23 health care workers in China

‘As of March 31, none of the 42,600 health care workers who went to Hubei Province to care for patients with Covid-19 were known to have been infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).5 The 42,600 workers included one of us, an intensive care physician from Fujian Province who cared for patients with Covid-19 from January 29 to March 23, first in Wuhan Central Hospital, and then in Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital. These data suggest that sufficient precautions with rigorous enforcement can prevent health care workers from becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2 and the subsequent risk of death.’

Read here (New England Journal of Medicine, June 4, 2020)

Alibaba's AI helps detect coronavirus pneumonia within a minute

‘Medical information provider M3 has tapped Alibaba Group Holding's artificial intelligence technology to develop a diagnostic system that can quickly identify COVID-19 pneumonia in CT scan images. The system, which is awaiting approval from the health ministry, holds promise as a supplementary testing tool as Japan struggles to expand capacity for PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests for the coronavirus.’

Read here (Nikkei, June 4, 2020)

World leaders make historic commitments to provide equal access to vaccines for all

‘The Global Vaccine Summit, hosted by the UK, raises US$ 8.8 billion from 32 donor governments and 12 foundations, corporations and organisations to immunise 300 million children and support the global fight against COVID-19. US$ 567 million also raised for new innovative financing instrument to provide access to COVID-19 vaccines for low- and middle-income countries. Boris Johnson: “Together we rise to fulfil the greatest shared endeavour of our lifetime – the triumph of humanity over disease, now and for the generations that follow.”

Read here (Gavi, June 4, 2020)

What are the long-term health implications of Covid-19?

‘Six months into the Covid-19 pandemic, and with more than 380,000 people dead, the picture we have of Sars-CoV-2 remains opaque and unclear. Thousands of papers and reports have flooded the academic sphere during this period, as scientists have rushed to understand the virus, which, according to the journal Science, “acts like no pathogen humanity has ever seen”...

‘What initially appeared to be a predictable respiratory infection, similar to Sars or Avian flu, Sars-CoV-2 is now known to affect the lungs, brain, eyes, nose, heart, blood vessels, livers, kidneys and intestines — virtually every organ in the human body.’

Read here (The Independent, June 4, 2020)

Social media firms fail to act on Covid-19 fake news

‘Hundreds of posts spreading misinformation about Covid-19 are being left online, according to a report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate. Some 649 posts were reported to Facebook and Twitter, including false cures, anti-vaccination propaganda and conspiracy theories around 5G. 90% remained visible online afterwards without any warnings attached, the report suggests.’

Read here (BBC, June 4, 2020)

Why stock markets are so calm amid global economic turmoil

‘Those numerous analysts who warned of a dead-cat bounce have so far been proved wrong. A survey by CNBC found that a fifth of global Chief Financial Officers think the Dow Jones will continue to rally, without major declines along the way. However, more than half now believe the index will soon crash below its March low of 18.591.

"There's going to be a meaningful correction once people realize this is going to be a U-shaped recovery," Nouriel Roubini, professor of economics at New York University's Stern School of Business, told New Yorker magazine last month. "If you listen carefully to what Fed officials are saying — or even what JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs are saying — initially they were all in the V camp [V-shaped recovery], but now they're all saying, 'well, maybe it's going to be more of a U'."

Read here (DW, June 4, 2020)

Covid-19 can last for several months

I interviewed nine of them [“long-termers” or “long-haulers” who have suffered symptoms for months] for this story, all of whom share commonalities. Most have never been admitted to an ICU or gone on a ventilator, so their cases technically count as “mild.” But their lives have nonetheless been flattened by relentless and rolling waves of symptoms that make it hard to concentrate, exercise, or perform simple physical tasks. Most are young. Most were previously fit and healthy. “It is mild relative to dying in a hospital, but this virus has ruined my life,” LeClerc said. “Even reading a book is challenging and exhausting. What small joys other people are experiencing in lockdown—yoga, bread baking—are beyond the realms of possibility for me.”

Read here (The Atlantic, June 4, 2020)

Regime change didn't disrupt Covid-19 response: Health DG

‘The country’s Covid-19 response was not adversely affected by the change in government, says Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah. “No. Even though there was a change of government, we were still able to carry out our duties, which were to monitor data, look at our strategic planning and do what we needed to do to control and stop the spread of Covid-19.”

Read here (Malaysiakini, June 3, 2020)

Covid-19 could foster boom in aid-dependency: Red Cross

Economic hardships brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic could cause a boom in aid-dependency in countries at conflict, a new survey by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) showed – prompting the international body to call for social protection programmes to be maintained or extended and to include the most vulnerable.

In a statement issued from Geneva on Wednesday, ICRC said without concerted action from the global community, it expects humanitarian needs to deepen and worsen in the wake of Covid-19.

Read here (Malaysiakini, June 3, 2020)

Scientist defends Sweden’s hotly debated virus strategy

‘Sweden’s chief epidemiologist on Wednesday defended his country’s controversial coronavirus strategy, which avoided a lockdown but resulted in one of the highest per capita COVID-19 death rates in the world... “We still believe that our strategy is good, but there is always room for improvement. ... You can always get better at this job,” [Anders] Tegnell told a news conference in Stockholm.

‘According to the national health agency, Sweden, a nation of 10.2 million people, has seen 4,542 deaths linked to COVID-19, which is far more than its Nordic neighbors and one of the highest per capita death rates in the world. Denmark has had 580 coronavirus deaths, Finland has seen 320 and Norway has had 237, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.’

Read here (Associated Press, June 3, 2020)

A pulmonary physician on what it's like to treat Covid-19 patients

‘I did not think much about my risk. Doctors are always at some risk of contracting a disease. However, that changed when I was exposed to a COVID-19-positive patient without my personal protective equipment for a considerable period of time and in close proximity. I questioned my "recklessness" in examining the patient (who did not exhibit any COVID-19 symptoms) and my ability to infect my family and other patients. I felt guilty and foolish for putting myself and my family in such a position. It was not a good day. One of my colleagues had even written a living will, just in case.’ 

Read here (Asia Society, June 3, 2020)

Nearly 26,000 COVID deaths in nursing homes spur inspections

‘Nearly 26,000 nursing home residents have died from COVID-19, the government reported Monday, as federal officials demanded states carry out more inspections and vowed higher fines for facilities with poor infection control.

“This is not a nursing home problem; this is a health system problem,” said Terry Fulmer, president of the John A. Hartford Foundation, which works to improve care for older adults. “Every system produces the outcome it is set up for. If you set up a system where the sickest and frailest people are in locations that are forgotten about and ignored, where the staff is paid less, why should that surprise anyone?”

Read here (Associated Press, June 3, 2020)

China delayed releasing coronavirus info, frustrating WHO

‘Throughout January, the World Health Organization publicly praised China for what it called a speedy response to the new coronavirus. It repeatedly thanked the Chinese government for sharing the genetic map of the virus “immediately,” and said its work and commitment to transparency were “very impressive, and beyond words.”

‘But behind the scenes, it was a much different story, one of significant delays by China and considerable frustration among WHO officials over not getting the information they needed to fight the spread of the deadly virus, The Associated Press has found.’

Read here (Associated Press, June 3, 2020)

Governments and WHO changed Covid-19 policy based on suspect data from tiny US company

‘The World Health Organization and a number of national governments have changed their Covid-19 policies and treatments on the basis of flawed data from a little-known US healthcare analytics company [Surgisphere], also calling into question the integrity of key studies published in some of the world’s most prestigious medical journals [The Lancet and New England Journal of Medicine].

‘Data it claims to have legitimately obtained from more than a thousand hospitals worldwide formed the basis of scientific articles that have led to changes in Covid-19 treatment policies in Latin American countries. It was also behind a decision by the WHO and research institutes around the world to halt trials of the controversial drug hydroxychloroquine. On Wednesday, the WHO announced those trials would now resume.’

Read here (The Guardian, June 3, 2020)

How coronavirus tore through Britain's ethnic minorities

‘In a report released on Tuesday, Public Health England (PHE) acknowledged the disproportionate effect the pandemic has had on Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (Bame) people, including making us more likely to become critically ill, and to die. Black people are almost four times more likely to die of Covid-19, according to the Office of National Statistics, while Asians are up to twice as likely to die.’

Read here (BBC, June 3, 2020)

Genes may leave some people more vulnerable to severe Covid-19

‘Variations at two spots in the human genome are associated with an increased risk of respiratory failure in patients with Covid-19, the researchers found. One of these spots includes the gene that determines blood types. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study...

‘The coronavirus triggers an overreaction of the immune system in some people, leading to massive inflammation and lung damage — the so-called cytokine storm. It is theoretically possible that genetic variations influence that response.’

Read here (New York Times, June 3, 2020)

‘They let us down’: 5 takeaways on the CDC’s coronavirus response

• Aging data systems left the agency with blind spots
• The CDC clashed with White House aides who viewed them as the ‘deep state’
• The CDC’s culture slowed its response
• Redfield felt he was ‘on an island’ between his agency and the White House
• Confusing guidance left doctors, public officials and others to look elsewhere

Read here (New York Times, June 3, 2020)

The CDC waited ‘its entire existence for this moment’. What went wrong?

‘The technology was old, the data poor, the bureaucracy slow, the guidance confusing, the administration not in agreement... The coronavirus shook the world‘s premier health agency, creating a loss of confidence and hampering the US response to the crisis...

‘The CDC.’s most fabled experts are the disease detectives of its Epidemic Intelligence Service, rapid responders who investigate outbreaks. But more broadly, according to current and former employees and others who worked closely with the agency, the CDC is risk-averse, perfectionist and ill suited to improvising in a quickly evolving crisis — particularly one that shuts down the country and paralyzes the economy.

“It’s not our culture to intervene,” said Dr George Schmid, who worked at the agency off and on for nearly four decades. He described it as increasingly bureaucratic, weighed down by “indescribable, burdensome hierarchy.”

Read here (New York Times, June 3, 2020)

No new virus sufferers, 300 asymptomatic, after Wuhan-wide tests

‘The Chinese city of Wuhan, where the Covid-19 (coronavirus) outbreak began, has found no new cases of people suffering from Covid-19 (coronavirus) after testing almost its entire population, and 300 asymptomatic carriers of the virus, officials said on Tuesday (June 2). Authorities launched the vast testing campaign on May 14, and reached 9.9 million out of 11 million people, after a cluster of new cases raised fears of a second wave of infections.’

Read here (The Star, June 2, 2020)

Distancing and masks cut Covid-19 risk, says largest review of evidence

‘Keeping at least one metre apart and wearing face masks and eye protection are the best ways to cut the risk of Covid-19 infection, according to the largest review to date of studies on coronavirus disease transmission. In a review that pooled evidence from 172 studies in 16 countries, researchers found frequent handwashing and good hygiene are also critical - though even all those measures combined can not give full protection.’ The findings were published in The Lancet journal on Monday.

Read here (Malaysiakini, June 2, 2020)

Experts dispute reports that coronavirus is becoming less lethal

‘Has the novel coronavirus in Italy changed in some significant way? That was the suggestion of a top doctor in northern Italy who reports that patients to his hospital have been showing up with lower levels of the virus in their upper respiratory tracts compared with those two months ago.

‘The comments, which received widespread attention following a Reuters report, prompted vigorous pushback from Michael Ryan, a top official with the World Health Organization, who said Monday during an online news conference that “we need to be exceptionally careful not to create a sense that all of a sudden the virus by its own volition has now decided to be less pathogenic. That is not the case at all.”

Read here (Washington Post, June 2, 2020)

Protesting racism versus risking Covid-19: ‘I wouldn't weigh these crises separately’

‘...But the risks of congregating during a global pandemic shouldn't keep people from protesting racism, according to dozens of public health and disease experts who signed an open letter in support of the protests. "White supremacy is a lethal public health issue that predates and contributes to COVID-19," the letter said...

Dr Elaine Nsoesie, an assistant professor of global health at Boston University: "Data is showing that blacks and Latinos have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 in many states," said Nsoesie, who was not among the letter's signatories when NPR contacted her. "Racism is one of the reasons this disparity exists." She continued, "Racism is a social determinant of health. It affects the physical and mental health of blacks in the U.S. So I wouldn't weigh these crises separately."

Read here (NPS, June 1, 2020)

Covid-19 significantly impacts health services for noncommunicable diseases

“The results of this survey confirm what we have been hearing from countries for a number of weeks now,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization. “Many people who need treatment for diseases like cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes have not been receiving the health services and medicines they need since the COVID-19 pandemic began. It’s vital that countries find innovative ways to ensure that essential services for NCDs continue, even as they fight COVID-19.”

Read here (WHO, June 1, 2020)

Rapid assessment of service delivery for NCDs during the Covid-19 pandemic (PDF). Download here

New coronavirus losing potency, top Italian doctor says

‘The new coronavirus is losing its potency and has become much less lethal, a senior Italian doctor said on Sunday. “In reality, the virus clinically no longer exists in Italy,” said Alberto Zangrillo, the head of the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan in the northern region of Lombardy, which has borne the brunt of Italy’s coronavirus contagion. “The swabs that were performed over the last 10 days showed a viral load in quantitative terms that was absolutely infinitesimal compared to the ones carried out a month or two months ago,” he told RAI television.’

Read here (Reuters, June 1, 2020)

K number: What is the coronavirus metric that could be crucial as lockdown eases?

‘K sheds light on the variation behind R. “Some [infectious] people might generate a lot of secondary cases because of the event they attend, for example, and other people may not generate many secondary cases at all,” said Dr Adam Kucharski, an expert in the dynamics of infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. “K is the statistical value that tells us how much variation there is in that distribution.” But unlike R, K numbers are not intuitive. “The general rule is that the smaller the K value is, the more transmission comes from a smaller number of infectious people,” said Kucharski.’

Read here (The Guardian, June 1, 2020)

India's richest city Mumbai is rapidly turning into the world's next coronavirus catastrophe

‘With more than 37,000 infections and 1,200 deaths, Mumbai accounts for more than a fifth of India's total coronavirus tally and almost a quarter of all deaths. There are no clear signs the situation is improving, with hundreds — if not thousands — testing positive each day. Last week videos were uploaded to social media showing bodies lying on hospital beds next to living COVID-19 patients.’

Read here (ABC News, June 1, 2020)