Archives of “Coronaviridae” tag

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Wuhan study says there may be no herd immunity against the coronavirus

  
  Analysis
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Scary stuff

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

  
  Analysis
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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
South China Morning Post  with the sobering news from a study at the epicentre of China's coronavirus outbreak earlier this year.

WHO chief scientist: No evidence that any drug reducing mortality of patients

  
  Analysis
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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

  
  Analysis
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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?

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Novavax is a US vaccine development company.

Novavax says it has begun enrolling participants in first human study of itscoronavirus vaccine

How hesitant would you be to take a coronavirus vaccine?

  
  Analysis
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According to a poll by Reuters/Ipsos, a quarter of Americans have little or no interest in taking a coronavirus vaccine

Virus
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.

(more…)

China’s Wuhan has officially banned the eating of wild animals

  
  Analysis
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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.
Wuhan was the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic in China. Its a big city, with a population of around 11m people. 

Links……..For U

  
Analysis, LINKS
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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)

The number of potential coronavirus vaccines in development is now above 70

  
Analysis, Life
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But, these are just two of many. The World Health Organization (WHO) says there are 70 coronavirus vaccines in development globally:
  • three are already already being tested in human trials
There are manufacturing contenders in the race:
  • Hong Kong-listed CanSino Biologics
  • Beijing Institute of Biotechnology
  • US’ Moderna and Inovio Pharmaceuticals
  • Pfizer and Sanofi also

Japan offers Avigan for free to countries fighting coronavirus

  
  Analysis
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The flu drug Avigan will be made available at no cost to countries that ask for it to treat the novel coronavirus, the Japanese government announced Friday.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference that about 30 countries have sought Avigan through diplomatic channels. “We are making arrangements to provide it for free,” he said.

Doing so will help expand clinical research into the drug, Suga said. At 2,617 cases as of Friday, Japan has relatively few of the more than 1 million infections worldwide, making broad clinical trials difficult.

Indonesia ordered 2 million doses of Avigan on March 20, and the country plans to begin clinical testing once the shipment arrives. The country has seen coronavirus cases there surge to 1,986, after going weeks without confirming infections in the early stages of the epidemic. Indonesia now has 181 deaths, placing it higher than South Korea, and second only to China in Asia.

Japan has also received a request from Turkey. Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca met with Akio Miyajima, the Japanese ambassador to Ankara, last month and inquired about acquiring Avigan, diplomatic sources told the Nikkei Asian Review. (more…)

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