Featured Headlines
Israel, Spain and France all fought the novel coronavirus into abatement in the first months of the pandemic with tough measures that won international praise. But the three countries now share a painful distinction: Their infection rates have shot past the United States, even though Americans never got the virus under control.
‘You Need a Test’: CDC Reverses Guidance for Asymptomatic COVID Contacts – Med Page Today
Asymptomatic people who have been exposed to COVID-19 should be tested, the CDC said on Friday, in a reversal of controversial guidance the agency introduced in late August.
Who Will Get a COVID-19 Vaccine First? Access Plans Are Taking Shape – Scientific American
Advisory groups around the world have released guidance to prioritize healthcare workers and those in front-line jobs
A number of the leading Covid-19 vaccines under development will need to be kept at temperatures as low as minus 80 degrees Celsius (minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit) from the moment they are bottled to the time they are ready to be injected into patients’ arms.
While these face coverings may not completely prevent us from getting infected with COVID-19, they probably reduce the number of virus particles we inhale — the “viral dose”. Scientists think a lower viral dose can reduce the severity of the disease we get. Indeed, where universal face masking is implemented, a much higher proportion of new infections with COVID-19 are asymptomatic.
Clinical Considerations
Neurological manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 – a controversy “gone viral” – Oxford Brain Communications
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) first appeared in December 2019 in Wuhan, China and developed into a worldwide pandemic within the following three months causing severe bilateral pneumonia (Coronavirus disease 2019; COVID-19) with in part fatal outcomes. After first experiences and tentative strategies to face this new disease, several cases were published describing SARS-CoV-2 infection related to the onset of neurological complaints and diseases such as, for instance, anosmia, stroke or meningoencephalitis. Of note, there is still a controversy about whether or not there is a causative relation between SARS-CoV-2 and these neurological conditions. Other concerns, however, seem to be relevant as well. This includes not only the reluctance of patients with acute neurological complaints to report to the emergency department for fear of contracting SARS-CoV-2 but also the ethical and practical implications for neurology patients in everyday clinical routine. This paper aims to provide an overview of the currently available evidence for the occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 in the central and peripheral nervous system and the neurological diseases potentially involving this virus.
I See People Wearing Disposable Coveralls On Planes. Good Idea? – NPR
OK, so I’d planned a flight to visit my grandkids last week because with cold weather and the flu season looming in the U.S., it seemed like late summer/early fall might be a good window of opportunity to travel. I was nervous. Airports! Airplanes! Droplets! Aerosolized particles! Of course I wore a mask — that’s required. A friend told me she’d flown wearing a pair of disposable painters’ coveralls — an ankle-length jumpsuit with full sleeves — over her clothes, then took them off and threw them away upon arrival. I’ve also seen photos of air travelers around the world wearing what appear to be disposable space suits.
Official Reporting for September 18, 2020
World Health Organization
Weekly Epi Update SEP 14, 2020
Cumulative Cases: 30,055,710
Cumulative Deaths: 943,433
ECDC
Confirmed Cases: 30 214 496
Deaths: 946 665
Johns Hopkins
Confirmed Cases: 30,319,277
Deaths: 948,472
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Total deaths: 197,116
Surveillance Headlines
UNITED STATES
Las Vegas, Nevada: Nearly 1,000 casino employees have tested positive in Las Vegas, where bars will reopen Sunday night. – New York Times
EUROPE
UK: Johnson Warns of More Curbs as Britain’s Virus Cases Surge – Bloomberg
UK: U.K. Covid Test Demand Is ‘Significantly Outstripping’ Capacity – Bloomberg
Europe: Assessing the impact of coordinated COVID-19 exit strategies across Europe – Science
France: France Sets New Daily Coronavirus Record—13,000 Cases—As Other Countries Lock Down – Forbes
ASIA
Thailand: Thailand Reports First Coronavirus Death Since Early June – Bloomberg
AFRICA
Kenya Braced For The Worst. The Worst Didn’t Happen. Why? – NPR
AUSTRALIA
Has Australia really had 60,000 undiagnosed COVID-19 cases? – The Conversation
Science and Tech
When is the best time to get a flu shot? Experts weigh in – Fast Company
One of these flu seasons is not like the others. That’s this season. Why? Because unlike in the past, when we’ve rolled smoothly into autumn following a blissful summer of good health and good times, we’ve trudged into this September after six months spent fending off a deadly new pathogen that’s killed nearly a million people worldwide.
Experimental Medicines For COVID-19 Could Help Someday, But Home Runs Not Guaranteed – NPR
Many drugs are in the works, and those that succeed could play a role in reducing symptoms and sometimes saving lives. But, given the way drugs are developed, it’s unlikely that any single medicine will be anywhere as potent against the coronavirus as a successful vaccine.
COVID’s Surprising Toll On Careers Of Women Scientists – Forbes
If you are female, have young children, or work in a lab, you are more likely to feel the career-crunching effects dealt by the pandemic, according to a new study from Harvard Business School professors Kyle R. Myers, Karim R. Lakhani, and eight colleagues from institutions including Yale and Northwestern, published in the journal Nature Human Behavior in July.
Vaccine
5 things to know about Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine – CBS
The Boston-based Moderna Therapeutics released a blueprint Thursday morning outlining how it will determine if its coronavirus vaccine, which is currently under development, is effective and safe. CBS News spoke to Moderna’s president, Dr. Stephen Hoge, for the “CBS Evening News” series Racing to a Cure.
Published Research
Pulmonary embolism in patients with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia: a narrative review – Annals of Intensive Care
Clinical laboratory characteristics of severe patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): A systematic review and meta-analysis – Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health
Neutrophil extracellular traps infiltrate the lung airway, interstitial, and vascular compartments in severe COVID-19 – Journal of Experimental Medicine
Longitudinal immune profiling reveals key myeloid signatures associated with COVID-19 – Science Magazine
Coping in Quarantine
Remember these? More wisdom from the El Arroyo in Austin, Texas
