Coronavirus: Dexamethasone proves first life-saving drug (BBC)
• Fauci will oppose any rush to announce COVID-19 vaccine before ‘scientifically sound’ (McClatchy DC)
• Life-saving coronavirus drug ‘major breakthrough’ (BBC)
• New COVID-19 Antibody Test Targets Unique Region of Spike Protein (Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News)
• FDA revokes emergency use ruling for hydroxychloroquine: On Monday, it withdrew emergency approval for use of the malaria drug as a Covid-19 treatment (Stat)
• CureVac Coronavirus Vaccine Cleared for Human Trials in Germany (Bloomberg)
• Genes May Leave Some People More Vulnerable to Severe Covid-19 (NYT)
• Healthy teenager who took precautions died suddenly of Covid-19 (CNN)
• Rare, super coronavirus antibodies likely to yield vaccine, say Stanford, UCSF experts (San Francisco Chronicle)
• How deadly is the coronavirus? Scientists are close to an answer (Nature)
• UK public health bodies reviewing vitamin D’s effects on coronavirus (The Guardian)
• Is the world making progress against the pandemic? We built the chart to answer this question (Our World In Data)
Archives of “Animal virology” tag
rssWuhan study says there may be no herd immunity against the coronavirus
Scary stuff
The nightmare scenario for coronavirus is that there is no vaccine and no natural immunity. We’re months away from finding out anything on a vaccine but a report today on immunity is worrisome.
Chinese and Texas researchers tested 23,000 Wuhan healthcare workers for antibodies of the disease that would help them fight off a new infection. Only 4% had them when they estimated that at least 25% could have contracted the disease.
“People are unlikely to produce long-lasting protective antibodies against this virus,” the researchers concluded in a non-peer-reviewed paper posted on preprint website medRxiv.org on Tuesday.
The study showed the people with more-obvious and stronger symptoms tended to have antibodies. That suggests people who fought it off with mild symptoms may not have developed antibodies.
HK media: There may be no immunity against Covid-19, new Wuhan study suggests
South China Morning Post with the sobering news from a study at the epicentre of China’s coronavirus outbreak earlier this year.
The newspaper cites new research on antibodies by Chinese and American scientists, which concludes that humans may never develop immunity against Covid-19
- study focuses on whether hospital workers in Wuhan who were directly exposed to infected patients at the early stage of the outbreak had developed antibodies
- “People are unlikely to produce long-lasting protective antibodies against this virus,” the researchers concluded in a non-peer-reviewed paper posted on preprint website medRxiv.org
Testing, Vaccine & Treatment Medical News:
Antibody Tests Point To Lower Death Rate For The Coronavirus Than First Thought (NPR)
• Coronavirus May Be a Blood Vessel Disease, Which Explains Everything (Medium)
• Wuhan’s Mass Testing May Have Eradicated the Coronavirus (Bloomberg)
• At-Home Covid-19 Testing Arrives, With Accuracy and Access Questions (Wall Street Journal)
• Surgisphere: governments and WHO changed Covid-19 policy based on suspect data from tiny US company (The Guardian)
• The Top Canadian Doctor Who Aced the Coronavirus Test (NYT)
• Georgia student, son of 2 first responders, creates lifesaving COVID-19 equipment (NBC News)
• A mysterious company’s coronavirus papers in top medical journals may be unraveling (Science mag)
• ‘Superspreaders’ Could Actually Make Covid-19 Easier to Control (Bloomberg)
• Biotech Startup Aims to Make Use of Humanity’s Genetic Outliers (Businessweek)
• Self Assured Destruction: Covid-19 is now endemic in the United States. (Epsilon Theory)
• The C.D.C. Waited ‘Its Entire Existence for This Moment.’ What Went Wrong? (New York Times)
WHO chief scientist: No evidence that any drug reducing mortality of patients
Runs counter to the implied talking points from Pres. Trump
The WHO chief scientists is on the wires saying that:
- No evidence that any drug reducing mortality of patients that have Covid 19.
He adds nevertheless that:
- experts advise the continuation of all forms of the solid parity trial including hydroxychloroquine srm
- No reason to modify clinical trial of hydroxychloroquine in Covid 19
There has been some leakage to the downside in the US stock indices of the last few minutes. The NASDAQ index is currently trading at 9649 after trading is highs 9678.77. The S&P index is trading at 3114.66 vs. a high of 3119.95.
Other Covid 19 news headlines.
UK’s Johnson says:
- the air quarters only to be considered when it is a safe
- no one is safe until we all are safe from the virus
- urges people to not move outdoor gatherings indoors if it rains
- there could be a 2nd wave of virus across the world
- the UK chief science advisor adds have to tread cautiously in lifting UK lockdown
in Italy, PM Conte is saying:
- facts show that virus has disappeared
- virus reconstruction is the time for long-delayed reforms
- government working to speed up 8 payments
Italy reports 321 new coronavirus cases vs. 318 on Tuesday. The death toll rose by 71 vs. 55 on Tuesday
New York said that the cases rose by 0.3% vs. the 7 day average of 0.4%.
Finally New Jersey’s governor Murphy is out saying:
- deaths reach 11,880 and cases reach 162,068
- he urges protesters to keep distance and wear masks during George Floyd demonstrations.
- At least 6 demonstrations today in New Jersey
Novavax will begin human testing of its coronavirus vaccine …in Australia
Novavax says it has begun enrolling participants in first human study of its coronavirus vaccine
- The company says it’ll test vaccine safety, immune responses in about 130 healthy adults in Australia
- expects initial results in July
- to expand study to US if promising
The big problem I see here is how to begin the pump and dump scheme if NASDAQ is closed for the holiday?
—
Novavax is a US vaccine development company.
How hesitant would you be to take a coronavirus vaccine?
According to a poll by Reuters/Ipsos, a quarter of Americans have little or no interest in taking a coronavirus vaccine
The survey was conducted on 13 May to 19 May, and gathered 4,428 respondents with 14% saying that they were ‘not at all interested’ in taking a vaccine and a further 10% saying that they were ‘not very interested’.
That said, an important thing to point out is that the hesitance can be tied back to the record-breaking pace that pharmaceutical companies are working at to churn out a vaccine.
Among those who expressed little or no interest in taking a vaccine, nearly half said that they were worried about the speed in which one is being developed – with more than 40% believing that the vaccine may be riskier than the disease itself.
China’s Wuhan has officially banned the eating of wild animals
Wuhan was the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic in China. Its a big city, with a population of around 11m people.
City authorities there have officially banned the eating of all wild animals,
- Wuhan will become a “wildlife sanctuary”
- virtually all hunting of wild animals to be banned (exception for “scientific research, population regulation, monitoring of epidemic diseases and other special circumstances”).
- also introduced controls on the breeding of all wild animals
- prohibiting any to be reared for food
The coronavirus spread from bats to people in wet markets in the city.
WHO: COVID-19 is a type of coronavirus that starts in bats
The WHO is giving a briefing on the animal origins of the virus
- The coronavirus origin is linked to food, that is not unique
- The Wuhan market played a role in spreading of the virus
The headline remark will surely infuriate US officials even more.
For what it’s worth, Der Spiegel is also reporting that Germany has doubts about the US’ claim that the virus came from a Chinese lab.
The report didn’t cite a source but says that the German Federal Intelligence Service was in touch with its partners from the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand and none of them were able to confirm the claims made by US secretary of state Pompeo.
Links……..For U
Staying Safe:
• 24 Hours at the Epicenter of the Coronavirus Pandemic: Doctors, nurses, a congressman, workers in deserted museums and theatres, men on early release from Rikers, and the newly unemployed strained to keep New York City, and themselves, going. (New Yorker)
• What if immunity to covid-19 doesn’t last? (MIT Technology Review)
• ‘Frostbite’ toes and other peculiar rashes may be signs of hidden coronavirus infection, especially in the young (Washington Post)
• We have to wake up: factory farms are breeding grounds for pandemics (The Guardian)
Aid and assistance:
• COVID Tests Are Free, Except When They’re Not (Kaiser Health News)
• Useful table of extended state tax filing deadlines (Tax Foundation)
• Figuring Out Your Personal Finances Together (Wall Street Journal)
Staying Sane WFH:
• Signs You May Be Burning Out—and What to Do About It (Businessweek)
• “It Is Harrowing. It Is Daunting. It Is Overwhelming”: The Mental Toll of Coronavirus Is Crushing Medical Workers (Vanity Fair)
• Which epidemiologist do you believe? (UnHerd)
• Yuval Noah Harari: ‘Will coronavirus change our attitudes to death? Quite the opposite’ (The Guardian)
Vaccine & Treatment Updates:
• In Race for a Coronavirus Vaccine, an Oxford Group Leaps Ahead (New York Times)
• Some Countries Are Squashing the Coronavirus Curve. Vietnam Is One. (Wall Street Journal)
• Three potential coronavirus vaccines moving ahead in tests (Los Angeles Times)
• When will we get the Covid-19 vaccine? (UnHerd) see also How Long Will a Vaccine Really Take? (New York Times)
• UCSF team has discovered drugs that block coronavirus, paving way for ‘a better drug sooner’ (San Francisco Chronicle)
• The Secret Group of Scientists and Billionaires Pushing a Manhattan Project for Covid-19 (Wall Street Journal)
Resolving the Crisis:
• Dogs are being trained to sniff out coronavirus cases (Washington Post)
• Could contact tracing bring the US out of lockdown? (Vox)
• LA Becomes The First Major City In The US To Offer Free Testing To Every Resident, Even Those With No Symptoms (LAist)
• Why America’s coronavirus testing problem is still so difficult to solve (Vox)
• No Testing, No Treatment, No Herd Immunity, No Easy Way Out (The Atlantic)
• Poop may tell us when the coronavirus lockdown will end (LA Times)
• We Cannot “Reopen” America: The source of the economic shock is not government orders. It’s the pandemic. (The Bulwark)
• Reopening Plans Across U.S. Are Creating Confusing Patchwork (New York Times)
Post-Crisis
• What will cities look like once the lockdown lifts? (King’s College London)
• Five Ways the U.S. Military Will Change After the Pandemic (War on the Rocks)
• Will Travel Change After Coronavirus? Here’s What Experts Have to Say (Travel & Leisure)
• The Office You Left Is Not Going to Be the Office You Return To (Bloomberg)
• One Rich N.Y. Hospital Got Warren Buffett’s Help. This One Got Duct Tape. (New York Times)
• Covid-19’s future: small outbreaks, monster wave, or ongoing crisis (Stat)
• What the Coronavirus Crisis Reveals About American Medicine (New Yorker)
• The Immunity of the Tech Giants: When the pandemic is over, we most certainly should fear the industry more than ever (New York Times)