Featured Headlines
WHO reports largest single-day increase in coronavirus cases – AP
The virus has infected over 8.8 million people worldwide and killed more than 464,000, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University, though the true numbers are thought to be much higher because many cases go unreported or undetected.
In the nation’s biggest states, a spike in coronavirus comes with the economic reopening – Washington Post
Why It Would Be Hard to Link a Coronavirus Spike to Recent Protests – Scientific American
Large crowds, tear gas and jail cells could contribute to transmission of the virus. But it would not be easy to separate that danger from the risks of states reopening businesses and workplaces
‘Mini Organs’ Reveal How the Coronavirus Ravages the Body – Scientific American
The virus can damage lung, liver and kidney tissue grown in the lab, which might explain severe COVID-19 complications. As workers are expected to return to office buildings in coming weeks, the whoosh of opening elevators may herald an uncomfortable reunion: Welcome back to sharing very tight spaces with strangers.
There’s No Going Back to ‘Normal’ – The Atlantic
Clinical Considerations
Younger Adults Are Increasingly Testing Positive For The Coronavirus – NPR
As much of the country presses forward with reopening, a growing number of cities and states are finding that the coronavirus outbreak now has a foothold in a younger slice of the population, with people in their 20s and 30s accounting for a larger share of new coronavirus infections.
Babies with covid-19 tend to have mild illness, mostly with fever – Global Health Newswire
While there is limited data on infants with COVID-19 from the United States, our findings suggest that these babies mostly have mild illness and may not be at higher risk of severe disease as initially reported from China.” says lead author Leena B. Mithal, MD, MSCI, pediatric infectious diseases expert from Lurie Children’s and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Most of the infants in our study had fever, which suggests that for young infants being evaluated because of fever, COVID-19 may be an important cause, particularly in a region with widespread community activity. However, evaluation for bacterial infection in young infants with fever remains important.”
COVID-19 Can Cause Loss of Smell, And Scientists Finally Discovered Why – Science Alert
From the first reports coming out of Wuhan, Iran and later Italy, we knew that losing your sense of smell (anosmia) was a significant symptom of the disease. Now, after months of reports, both anecdotal and more rigorous clinical findings, we think we have a model for how this virus may cause smell loss.
Gut reaction: How the gut microbiome may influence the severity of COVID-19 – Medical Express
The risk of severe COVID-19 infection is more common in those with high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity, conditions that are all associated with changes to the composition of the gut microbiome—the community of bacteria, viruses and fungi that live in the intestines. This raises the question of whether the gut microbiome has a role in dictating COVID-19 severity.
This case series of 58 children provides information on the characteristics of pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome temporarily associated with SARS-CoV-2 (PIMS-TS), including features that may aid in distinguishing it from Kawasaki disease and Kawasaki disease shock syndrome.
Androgenetic Alopecia Present in the Majority of Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients – Practice Update
Of 175 patients (122 men and 53 women) hospitalized for confirmed COVID-19 in Spain, 67% had clinically relevant androgenetic alopecia (AGA). The prevalence of AGA was 79% in man (compared with 31%–53% in age-matched Caucasian men) and 42% in females (compared with the highest prevalence reported in literature of 38% in patients older than 70 years of age).
Bleeding and Thrombotic Manifestations of SARS-CoV2 Infection – Practice Update
This is a multicenter retrospective study of 400 COVID-19 patients who were admitted to a hospital, receiving standard-dose prophylactic anticoagulation. Confirmed venous thromboembolism occurred in 4.8%; overall and major bleeding rates were 4.8% and 2.3%, respectively.
Official Reporting for June 22, 2020
| WHO SITREP #154 | ECDC | Johns Hopkins | |
| Confirmed Cases | 8,860,331 | 8,926,399 | 9,008,850 |
| Deaths | 465,740 | 468,257 | 469,239 |
Total deaths: 119,923
Surveillance Headlines
UNITED STATES
12 states have set record highs in new COVID-19 cases since Friday – ABC News
Houston, Texas: Cases surge over the weekend – Houston Chronicle
Missouri: Missouri reports its highest single-day increase of COVID-19 cases for 2nd consecutive day – KMOV
California: Record number of Californians hospitalized with COVID-19 – SF Chronicle
Miami, Florida: Miami mayor sounds alarm about rising COVID-19 cases – Miami News
Colorado: Colorado’s confirmed COVID-19 cases top 30,000 – Denver Post
Iowa’s Burmese Community Devastated By COVID-19 – NPR
Georgia: Georgia sees largest single-day COVID-19 increase on record with 1,800 cases – 11Alive
Tennessee: worst week for new COVID-19 cases since pandemic began – News Channel 5
Louisiana: Can Louisiana continue phased coronavirus reopening? Rising cases and data glitches muddy the outlook – Nola.com
EUROPE
Germany: Massive outbreak at meat processing plant – DW Video
Germany: How Germany Staffed Up Contact Tracing Teams To Contain Its Coronavirus Outbreak – NPR
Germany: coronavirus reproduction rate jumps above key containment level – NBC
Spain: Spain welcomes tourists back as emergency ends – BBC
ASIA
India: New Virus Hotspots Are Emerging in Rural Villages Across India – Bloomberg
MIDDLE EAST
Iraq: new COVID-19 cases soar – Orlando News
AFRICA
LATIN AMERICA
Brazil: Brazil becomes second country to pass 50,000 deaths – BBC
Mexico’s Central de Abasto: How coronavirus tore through Latin America’s largest market – Washington Post
Science and Tech
Indian scientists find COVID-19 gene in wastewater, hailed by global community – Business Insider
Scientists in India have for the first time detected genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in wastewater, a breakthrough that paves the way for using wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) for real-time surveillance of COVID-19 in the country.
Tulane University researchers develop synthetic antibody against COVID-19 – Tulane News
Scientists working to develop drugs against COVID-19 are focused on interrupting its interaction with ACE2, an enzyme the spike protein on the surface of the coronavirus latches onto, like a key, to enter and infect healthy cells.
The New Weapon in the Covid-19 War -Bloomberg
No one who passed the young woman on the street that night gave her so much as a second glance. It was a Saturday evening in the South Beach neighborhood of San Francisco and she was heading away from the stadium where the San Francisco Giants were meant to be opening their season and toward the arena where the Golden State Warriors were meant to be ending theirs.
Experimental peptide targets Covid-19 – MIT News
Computational modeling yields a protein fragment that could bind to coronavirus spike proteins and destroy them.
Vaccine
GSK and Clover’s COVID-19 vaccine starts clinical trials – PM LIve
The COVID-19 vaccine – which is the fourteenth to start clinical trials, according to World Health Organization (WHO) data – is a trimeric sub-unit spike protein developed by China-based Clover that will be delivered alongside GSK’s pandemic adjuvant system.
Therapeutics
Infection Prevention
This free webinar being held Monday, June 29th 2-3 pm ET, will help provide verbal guidance to the written materials posted on the ASHRAE COVID-19 website for re-opening buildings and the Building Readiness Plan for your HVAC systems. The webinar discusses how your HVAC system might be designed to respond to an infectious virus, like SARS-CoV-2 that creates the COVID-19 disease, in addition to alterations to incorporate mitigation strategies.
Is Eating Meat From Meatpacking Plants With Covid-19 Coronavirus Outbreaks Safe? – Forbes
Meatpacking plants have been frequent outbreak hot spots of the Covid-19 pandemic in the U.S. As of June 16th, over 25,000 processing plant employees from 238 plants in 33 states had been infected with at least 91 deaths according to tracking data from the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting.
Going back to the office? What public health experts say about using the elevator. – Washington Post
As workers are expected to return to office buildings in coming weeks, the whoosh of opening elevators may herald an uncomfortable reunion: Welcome back to sharing very tight spaces with strangers.
Economic Impact
Covid Victims Can Take Retirement Distributions with No Tax Penalty – CPA Practice Advisor
Published Research
Low-cost dexamethasone reduces death by up to one third in hospitalised patients with severe respiratory complications of COVID-19 – Oxford University
Differences of SARS-CoV-2 Shedding Duration in Sputum and Nasopharyngeal Swab Specimens among Adult Inpatients with COVID-19 – Chest
Universal laboratory testing for SARS-CoV-2 in hyperacute stroke during the COVID-19 pandemic – Journal of Stroke
Multiple organ dysfunction in SARS-CoV-2: MODS-CoV-2 – Respiratory Medicine
SARS-CoV-2 and viral sepsis: observations and hypotheses – The Lancet
Pre-Pub (not yet peer reviewed, should not be regarded as conclusive)
Coping in Quarantine
Can’t Get Anything Done? Why ADHD Brains Become Paralyzed in Quarantine – ADDitude
At first, stay-at-home orders felt like an opportunity to tackle those back-burner projects and lingering to-do items. But as the global pandemic has worn on, we feel drained. We can’t seem to get anything done and yet we’re tired all the time. Concepts in neuroscience and psychology, however, can decode our behaviors and point the way back to productivity.
There’s No Going Back to ‘Normal’ – The Atlantic
More than three months have passed since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic. Initially, shock and denial gave way to coping with humor: There were a plethora of jokes on social media about introverts thriving and extroverts languishing under these dystopian conditions. There was wistful reminiscence of “the last time” we hugged a friend or sat down to eat at a restaurant, and planning for what we’d do when things went back to normal. I, like many Americans, thought that the coronavirus would quickly run its course, that after a month or so things would return to normal. Of course, that assumes that there is a “normal” that awaits us someday.