Featured Headlines
Covid infections in England fall by 30% over lockdown – BBC
Some of the worst-hit areas saw the biggest improvements – but, despite this progress, cases remained relatively high across England.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the data showed the country could not “take our foot off the pedal just yet”.
Thanksgiving Travel Data Point to Surge in Covid Infections and Deaths – Bloomberg
For anyone on the road or in the air last week, ‘assume that you were exposed and you became infected.’
Pence Says Covid Vaccine Distribution Could Begin Mid-December – Bloomberg
Vice President Mike Pence told governors on Monday that distribution of a coronavirus vaccine could begin by the third week of December, signaling that U.S. regulators will swiftly approve an emergency authorization for the first shots.
U.S. COVID-19 statistics are about to look better—even though the reality is almost certainly getting worse. It’s time to hibernate.
CDC panel: COVID vaccines should go to health workers, long-term care residents first – Axios
Health-care workers and nursing home residents should be at the front of the line to get coronavirus vaccines in the United States once they’re cleared and available for public use, an independent CDC panel recommended in a 13-1 emergency vote on Tuesday, per CNBC.
Who Will Get the Coronavirus Vaccine First? – New York Times
After months of deliberation and debate, a panel of independent experts advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted Tuesday to recommend that health care workers who are most at risk of contracting Covid-19, along with residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, be the first Americans to receive coronavirus vaccinations.
Bloomberg Prognosis Podcast: A Bubble Made Up of Millions
In Canada, the Covid-19 outbreak has affected much of the country. In Quebec, where three in five of Canada’s virus deaths have hit, rage over new lockdowns is palpable. In Ontario, ICUs are filling up. Out west, caseloads are hitting records. But four eastern Canadian provinces, comprising 2.4 million people, have banded together, barred outsiders, and hewed tightly to health guidelines. As a result, the region has a Covid-19 death rate that’s one tenth the rest of the country’s. With almost no one noticing, Atlantic Canada has become a pandemic Shangri-La. Montreal Bureau Chief Sandrine Rastello reports on the outpost of quiet obedience that calls itself the Atlantic Bubble.
Pandemic Data Are About to Go Sideways – The Atlantic
States are likely to report fewer coronavirus cases, but not because things are getting better.
Coronavirus Was In U.S. Weeks Earlier Than Previously Known, Study Says – NPR
The coronavirus was present in the U.S. weeks earlier than scientists and public health officials previously thought, and before cases in China were publicly identified, according to a new government study published Monday. [Related study]
Clinical Considerations
How important are sex steroids in COVID-19 protection? – Medical News Today
New research suggests that sex steroids may play a role in keeping people from developing severe COVID-19 symptoms
Official Reporting for November 30, 2020
World Health Organization
Weekly Epi Update November 24, 2020
Confirmed Cases: 62 844 837
Deaths: 1 465 144
ECDC
Confirmed Cases: 63 245 164
Deaths: 1 469 469
Johns Hopkins
Confirmed Cases: 63,758,885
Deaths: 1,478,045
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Total cases: 13,447,627 (+152,022 New Cases)
Total deaths: 267,302 (+1,251 New Deaths)
Surveillance Headlines
UNITED STATES
Maryland: A slow takeoff’: 1st batch of coronavirus vaccines for Maryland only enough for half of front-line health care workers – Baltimore Sun
California: California shuts down to curb coronavirus surge. Will it work? – SF Chronicle
EUROPE
Lithuania: Lithuania: The latest country to report SARS-CoV-2 in mink – Outbreak News Today
ASIA
Myanmar: Myanmar’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic – Brookings.edu
Science and Tech
Meet the scientists investigating the origins of the COVID pandemic – Nature
Ten researchers with expertise in virology, public health and animals will seek to answer this key question.
Vaccine
With two players in the race for a COVID-19 vaccine nearing the finish line on world-first regulatory approvals, Maryland biotech Novavax continues to lag behind in getting its candidate into a late-stage trial in the U.S. Now, that trial has been pushed back further as the FDA targets its manufacturing plans.
Psychological and Sociological Impact
Your Individually Rational Choice Is Collectively Disastrous – The Atlantic
Stopping the virus from spreading requires us to override our basic intuitions.
Published Research
Serologic testing of U.S. blood donations to identify SARS-CoV-2-reactive antibodies: December 2019-January 2020 – Clinical Infectious Diseases
A single-dose live-attenuated YF17D-vectored SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate – Nature
How SARS-CoV-2 reaches the brain – Charite University, Berlin
Misinformation, Disinformation, and Conspiracy Theories
Covid-19 vaccines face a varied misinformation movement online – Pew Research Center
This story, plus Facebook News to launch in the U.K., a look at what is both gained and lost when newsrooms close their offices for good, and more, all in today’s media headlines.
Vaccine Hesitancy
Coping in 2020
Boston Medical Center Emergency Department