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Fauci: No Quick End to Pandemic – MedPageToday

But NIAID director, in CHEST speech, was optimistic about vaccine prospects. In a sobering message to physicians and their patients, the United States’ top infectious disease official suggests the rampaging SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is going to be with us for a while.

Who Are the Scientists Behind the Great Barrington Declaration?

After the authors of a declaration promoting herd immunity spoke to White House officials last week, the scientific community immediately called into question the declaration as well as the scientists who wrote it. [Previous Tulane Outbreak Daily articles on the Great Barrington Declaration here and here]

Roche’s Actemra May Curb Deaths in Critical Covid Patients – Bloomberg

Roche Holding AG’s Actemra may help critically ill patients survive Covid-19, according to researchers who used a novel approach to show those who quickly got the anti-inflammatory medication were 30% less likely to die.

How an Ill-Fated Fishing Voyage Helped Us Understand Covid-19 – New York Times

American Dynasty, a commercial trawler, departed Seattle one day in May to fish for hake off the Washington coast. Before leaving, its 122 crew members were screened for the coronavirus using the highly accurate polymerase chain reaction (P.C.R.) method, and all the results came back negative. But because those tests are “good but not perfect,” in the words of Jesse Bloom, a professor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute in Seattle, they missed at least one case: Somehow SARS-CoV-2 found its way on board. [Related Study Journal of Clinical Microbiology]

U.K. Moves Toward Ethically Controversial Coronavirus Vaccine Trial – NPR

The British government has announced plans for a coronavirus vaccine challenge trial: Volunteers will receive an experimental vaccine and then be deliberately exposed to the coronavirus.

Experts: Don’t count on mild flu season amid COVID-19 – CIDRAP

The Southern Hemisphere had a very light flu season in 2020, with Australia seeing only 315 cases over its winter, down 99.8% from the 130,000 cases seen in most years. But flu experts say that, while the low numbers could portend a similar scenario in the Northern Hemisphere, it would be a foolhardy not to prepare for high caseloads this winter.

Fauci admits administration has restricted his media appearances – CBS News 60 Minutes

In a wide-ranging 60 Minutes interview, Dr. Anthony Fauci expresses his frustration, and explains why, early in the pandemic, masks were largely recommended for health care workers.

Do Masks On Plane Flights Really Cut Your Risk Of Catching COVID-19? – NPR

Early in the coronavirus pandemic, air travel looked like a risky endeavor. Some scientists even worried that airplanes could be sites of superspreading events. For example, in March a Vietnamese businesswoman with a sore throat and a cough boarded a flight in London. Ten hours later, she landed in Hanoi, Vietnam; she infected 15 people on the flight, including more than half of the passengers sitting with her in business class. [Related Journal of Travel Medicine]

Bloomberg Prognosis Podcast: Europe’s Coronavirus Déjà Vu

Millions of Europeans are facing tighter restrictions on their movements, with London, Paris, and Vienna enforcing stricter curbs. On Monday, the government of Wales announced a two-week “fire-break” lockdown designed to curb the spread of coronavirus. All non-essential retail outlets, including pubs and restaurants, will be closed from October 23rd to November 9th. Bloomberg reporter Catherine Bosley reports how Europe is hoping to control this new wave of coronavirus infections and whether another round of restrictions and lockdowns can offset the economic devastation in the region the pandemic has already caused.

We May Never Know the Full Story of COVID-19 – The Atlantic

Journalism, even practiced at its highest levels, has an element of chance. Reporters spend hours riding in taxis or trains or airplanes, or on the telephone or online, hoping to land that meeting that might yield a quote or secreted document resulting in a story. And if the story is particularly noteworthy, that’s a scoop. A big scoop for a reporter is like hitting your number at a roulette table.