Featured Headlines
India sets a global record for daily infections – NYT
India’s rapidly worsening coronavirus outbreak is now expanding on a scale beyond any previously measured in more than a year of the pandemic: The health ministry reported more than 310,000 new infections on Thursday, the most recorded in any country on a single day.
In Michigan, a record-breaking number of children have been hospitalized with Covid – NBC News
Experts blame a more transmissible variant, which appears to be spreading faster among children and adults.
The study, published in Nature, looked at over 70,000 Department of Veterans Affairs patients who caught the coronavirus but weren’t hospitalized and — unlike most people who die from Covid-19 — survived the first 30 days after getting diagnosed.
How India Went From A Ray Of Hope To A World Record For Most COVID Cases In A Day – NPR
Sagar Kishore Naharshetivar has been driving a van around southern India with his father lying in the back, hooked up to an oxygen tank. His father has COVID-19 and needs treatment. This past week, they’ve tried hospitals in three different towns, even crossing state lines from Maharashtra to Telangana.
Vaccine Headlines
With Few New Clotting Cases, Johnson & Johnson Pause Could Be Lifted Soon – NYT
Top federal health officials said in interviews this week that the number of rare blood clotting disorders in recipients of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has remained small.
WHO urges African nations to keep expired vaccines – BBC
Countries have been told to keep hold of them and wait for further guidance. The appeal comes after Malawi and South Sudan said they would destroy more than 70,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab because they expired in mid-April.
UK vaccination studies find significant drop in COVID-19 infections – BBC
COVID-19 infections in adults of all ages fell by 65% after a first dose of AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccine in UK research, which scientists said showed the real-world impact of the nation’s immunisation campaign against the pandemic.
In an early analysis of coronavirus vaccine safety data, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have found no evidence that the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines pose serious risks during pregnancy.
How Israel Persuaded Reluctant Ultra-Orthodox Jews To Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19 – NPR
The battle of attrition was fought with big black Hebrew letters on large white posters in Israel’s most devout Jewish neighborhoods.= Nearly every day this winter, a new pashkevil — Yiddish for street poster — would appear with a dire warning against the COVID-19 vaccine.
Clinical Considerations
People With Severe COVID-19 Have Higher Risk Of Long-Term Effects, Study Finds – NPR
The potential lasting effects of COVID-19 infection are many — and people with more severe initial infections are at greater risk for long-term complications, according to a study published Thursday in Nature.
Official Reporting for April 23, 2021
World Health Organization
Weekly Epi Update April 20, 2021
Confirmed Cases: 143 445 675
Deaths: 3 051 736
Johns Hopkins
Confirmed Cases: 144,385,217
Deaths: 3,069,293
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Total cases: 31,666,546 (+62,827 New Cases)
Total deaths: 566,494 (+875 New Deaths)
Science and Tech
Oxford researchers plan a COVID-19 reinfection human challenge trial – Medical News Today
Experts still have a lot to learn about the likelihood that people who have had COVID-19 can contract SARS-CoV-2 again.
Scientists at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom have announced a human challenge trial to gather hard, precise data that will provide a better understanding of how reinfection works.
Psychological and Sociological Impact
Welcome to the YOLO Economy – NYT
Burned out and flush with savings, some workers are quitting stable jobs in search of postpandemic adventure.
Published Research
High-dimensional characterization of post-acute sequalae of COVID-19 – Nature
The acute clinical manifestations of COVID-19 are well characterized1,2; however, its post-acute sequalae have not been comprehensively described. Here, we use the national healthcare databases of the US Department of Veterans Affairs to systematically and comprehensively identify 6-month incident sequalae including diagnoses, medication use, and laboratory abnormalities in 30-day survivors of COVID-19
Misinformation, Disinformation, and Conspiracy Theories
The race to curb the spread of COVID vaccine disinformation – Nature
Researchers are applying strategies honed during the 2020 US presidential election to track anti-vax propaganda.
Coping in 2020 (and probably most of 2021)
