Upcoming Virtual Events
COVID-19 Open Online Briefings with Dr David Nabarro
FRIDAY 13 November 2020
08:30 – 09:30 CET (Find your local time)
Zoom Meeting ID 829 9960 8512 / Passcode 674374
Featured Headlines
U.S. hospitalizations reach a record-high as medical facilities are under strain – New York Times
Covid-19 hospitalizations in the United States hit an all-time high of 61,964 on Tuesday, as the raging pandemic continued to shatter record after record and strain medical facilities.
COVID-19 Hospitalizations Are Surging. Where Are Hospitals Reaching Capacity? – NPR
Throughout the U.S., hospitals and health care workers are tracking the skyrocketing number of new coronavirus cases in their communities and bracing for a flood of patients to come in the wake of those infections. Already, seriously ill COVID-19 patients are starting to fill up hospital beds at unsustainable rates.
These venues are high-risk areas for spreading the coronavirus, model suggests – Washington Post
Restaurants, gyms and coffee shops rank high among locations where the coronavirus is most likely to spread outside the home. That’s according to a newly published report based on data from millions of Americans, tracked by their phones as they went about daily life during the pandemic’s first wave.
The C.D.C. updates its findings: Mask-wearing protects you, not just those around you – NYT
“Experimental and epidemiological data support community masking to reduce the spread” of the virus, the C.D.C. said in a document that details scientific evidence supporting mask use. “Individual benefit increases with increasing community mask use.”
Plasma treatments quickly kill coronavirus on surfaces – Science Daily
Plasma could yield a significant breakthrough in the fight against the spread of COVID-19. In a new study, modeling conducted showed strains of the coronavirus on surfaces like metal, leather, and plastic were killed in as little as 30 seconds of treatment with argon-fed, cold atmospheric plasma.
Peering Under The “Hood” Of SARS-CoV-2 – Science Magazine
Information from electron microscope images and protein databases has been used to develop a detailed 3D model of SARS-CoV-2, which can be readily updated as new data becomes available. The modeling tool has potential for visualizing components in other biological organisms, ranging from 10 to 100 nanometers in size.
Mink and the Coronavirus: What We Know – New York Times
Mink are the only animal known to both catch the virus from people and transmit it to them.
Can a nose-full of chicken antibodies ward off coronavirus infections? – Science Magazine
While the world waits for a widely available, safe, and effective COVID-19 vaccine, scientists are becoming ever more creative in their search for other ways to protect people from the disease. Now, a clinical trial has begun in Australia to find out whether nasal drops that contain chicken antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 can offer temporary protection.
Clinical Considerations
Gastrointestinal effects of COVID-19 highlighted in new study – Medical News Today
A new study has highlighted the prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms in people with COVID-19 and what signs abdominal radiologists should look out for. [Related Study in Abdominal Radiology]
A study finds that many children who have never had the virus carry an antibody to prevent it – NYT
In a study published Friday in Science reports that on average only 5 percent of adults had these antibodies, compared with 43 percent of children. [Related study in Nature]
Covid Long Haulers Describe the Devastating Aftereffects of the Disease – Bloomberg
The damage caused by the virus can be brutal. And the burden of care will weigh on countries for years to come.
Should ECMO Come Before Intubation for COVID-19? – Med Page Today
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is usually a last resort strategy for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), but for cases from COVID-19 should it come sooner?
Official Reporting for November 11, 2020
World Health Organization
Weekly Epi Update November 10, 2020 (Last Updated)
Confirmed Cases: 50,676,072 (+427,551 New Cases)
Deaths: 1,261,075
ECDC
Confirmed Cases: 50 994 215
Deaths: 1 264 077
Johns Hopkins
Confirmed Cases: 51,375,050
Deaths: 1,270,167
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Total cases: 10,036,463 (+122,910 New Cases)
Total deaths: 237,731 (+704 New Deaths)
Surveillance Headlines
UNITED STATES
Iowa: Governor announces mask requirements for the first time – NYT
Texas: El Paso calls in ten morgue trucks as coronavirus cases surge – Reuters
EUROPE
Italy: Locks down more regions as a second wave swamps hospitals and the number of new cases keeps rising – NYT
UK: The UK needs a sustainable strategy for COVID-19 – The Lancet
Russia: Russia resists lockdown and pins hopes on vaccine – BBC Link to video
Science and Tech
Mobility network models of COVID-19 explain inequities and inform reopening – Nature
The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically changed human mobility patterns, necessitating epidemiological models which capture the effects of changes in mobility on virus spread1. We introduce a metapopulation SEIR model that integrates fine-grained, dynamic mobility networks to simulate the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in 10 of the largest US metropolitan statistical areas. Derived from cell phone data, our mobility networks map the hourly movements of 98 million people from neighborhoods (census block groups, or CBGs) to points of interest (POIs) such as restaurants and religious establishments, connecting 57k CBGs to 553k POIs with 5.4 billion hourly edges.
Vaccine
In Brazil’s Halt of Chinese Vaccine Trial, Critics See Politics – New York Times
The government offered little explanation as to why it had stopped testing a promising coronavirus shot; an institute involved in the trial said a participant’s death was unrelated to the vaccine.
Pfizer Vaccine Brings Vision of Relief Even as Pandemic Rages On – Bloomberg
A successful vaccine would be the beginning of the end of the outbreak
Therapeutics
Neutralizing COVID Antibody Assay OK’d … But Is It Useful? – MedPageToday
Experts see potential roles, but questions about immunity remain unanswered
Diagnostics
New Type of Test May Better Discern Immunity to the Coronavirus – New York Times
The test detects the response of T cells to the virus — an arm of the immune system that may be just as important as antibodies to preventing reinfection.
Psychological and Sociological Impact
Nursing Home Patients Saved From Covid-19 Are Dying of Loneliness – Bloomberg
Five-star nursing homes have lower death rates from Covid-19 but higher death rates from other causes, apparently because some patients who are isolated for their own good are dying from loneliness, says a study by two economists from the University of Notre Dame. “These homes exposed their residents to severe isolation in an attempt to prevent infection, subsequently leading to premature death by other causes,” says the study, a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper by Christopher J. Cronin and William N. Evans. [Related paper here]
Published Research
COVID research updates: Uninfected children have antibodies to the coronavirus – Nature
How to stop restaurants from driving COVID infections – Nature
Pre-Print Studies
Misinformation, Disinformation, and Conspiracy Theories
The Denialist Playbook – Scientific American
On vaccines, evolution, and more, rejection of science has followed a familiar pattern. Once upon a time, in a land not far away, there was a horrible virus that instilled terror in every town and home. Although most people who became infected showed no symptoms or recovered within a week, in a small fraction of cases the illness progressed, causing loss of reflexes and muscle control, paralysis and, sometimes, death.
Confronting Misinformation – Scientific American
Coping in 2020
I noticed this article last month and took the idea to another level. “I think I’ll plant a few bulbs in the garden” turned into measuring out a 78 x 34 foot “high tunnel” (another term for giant greenhouse) and ordering seeds for flowers that will be blooming in succession from early spring until it snows in 2021. I want to counter the 2020 experience with fragrant beautiful flowers by the thousands. I have no idea what I’m doing, but I have Google and Youtube to show me the way as we enter into a new lockdown period. Stay well friends, and look after each other.
Planting bulbs offers a bit of hope for better things to come. Even this year – Washington Post
Bulb-planting in the fall is always an act of hope. This year, it becomes a form of therapy. When the crocuses, daffodils and tulips next flower, we will be assured of at least one thing: It won’t be 2020.
Vermont Voters Write in Tom Brady, Dr. Fauci and Cheese for President – NBC
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, also impressed over a dozen Vermonters enough to get his name thrown in the mix. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House’s coronavirus task force, received 14 votes of his own.