Featured Headlines
‘It Was Like a Time Bomb’: How ICE Helped Spread the Coronavirus – NYT
An investigation by The New York Times and The Marshall Project reveals how Immigration and Customs Enforcement became a spreader of the coronavirus.
Fauci on coronavirus pandemic: ‘Worst nightmare’ – San Francisco Chronicle
The coronavirus pandemic is a public health official’s “worst nightmare” because of the efficient way the virus spreads and its confounding effects on the body, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States’ top infectious disease expert, said in a briefing ahead of a COVID-19 conference set to start Friday. “I’ve never seen a virus in which you have 20% to 40% of individuals who have no symptoms at all, to individuals who get mild illness, to people who are confined to beds at home for weeks with multiple post-viral symptoms, to some who require hospitalization, intensive care, ventilation, to death,” he said. “This is completely unique in what we’ve experienced.”
National Institutes Of Health Chief Gives Update On The Coronavirus In The U.S. – NPR
11 Min audio at the link – NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly talks with Dr. Francis Collins, the National Institutes of Health director, about the surge in coronavirus cases, the reopening of schools this fall and the race for a vaccine.
States that were among the earliest to reopen have driven the surge in cases in the U.S. – NYT
At least six states set single-day case records on Thursday: Alabama, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Oregon and Texas. And at least two states recorded their highest death totals for a single day: Florida, with 120, and Tennessee, with 22.
A New Year’s Feast Spread the Virus and Now It Divides Scientists – Bloomberg
As three families lunched at neighboring tables in a stuffy restaurant in southern China in January, they partook of more than a New Year’s meal. They shared an invisible pathogen apparently carried aloft in an air conditioner’s breeze. Ten diners later came down with Covid-19, but none of the waiters or other 73 patrons in the room contracted the disease. A video recording and a simulation of airflow dynamics support what scientists had feared, namely that the virus could linger in turbulent air long enough to cause multiple infections. [Related CDC Paper]
Scientists call for pandemic investigations to focus on wildlife trade – Nature
The World Health Organization is sending scientists to China this weekend to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 outbreak. [Related pre-print study] [Another related pre-print study]
Clinical Considerations
How does asthma affect COVID-19 severity? New research weighs in – Atlanta Journal Constitution
As experts look to learn more about the link between asthma and COVID-19, a new study from researchers at Rutgers University suggests that the chronic respiratory condition may not increase the severity of the virus. [Related Rutgers Study]
Pathologist found blood clots in ‘almost every organ’ during autopsies on Covid-19 patients – CNN
Autopsies on people who died of the coronavirus are helping doctors understand how the disease affects the body — and one of the most remarkable findings concerned blood clotting, a pathologist says. [Related Study]
How Often Does COVID-19 Combine Forces With Other Viruses? – Med Page Today
Other respiratory viruses haven’t co-infected SARS-CoV-2 patients much so far, although those findings from the end of the cold and flu season may need an update in the fall, researchers suggested. [Related Study]
Official Reporting for July 10, 2020
World Health Organization
SITREP #172
Confirmed Cases: 12,102,328
Deaths: 551,046
ECDC
Confirmed Cases: 12,245,417
Deaths: 549,276
Johns Hopkins
Confirmed Cases: 12,342,043
Deaths: 554,721
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Total deaths: 132,855
Surveillance Headlines
UNITED STATES
Texas: San Antonio doctor says young man died of COVID-19 after attending a party – KSAT News
Missouri: Missouri again breaks record for most COVID-19 cases reported in single day – SLT
California: Virus Ravaging Historic Prison Spirals Into Health Crisis – Bloomberg
Georgia: Georgia Sees Dramatic Rise In Hospitalized COVID-19 patients – WABE News
North Carolina: NC COVID-19 update: Hospitalizations top 1,000 as cases jump over 2,000 in 24 hours – WLOS
AFRICA
COVID-19 pandemic in Africa is now reaching ‘full speed’ – AP
MIDDLE EAST
ASIA
India: Why India cases are rising to multiple peaks – AP
Science and Tech
These Scientists Raced to Find a Covid-19 Drug. Then the Virus Found Them – New York Times
This spring, researchers at Regeneron’s Westchester headquarters found themselves in one of the country’s first coronavirus hot spots.In January, as a frightening new virus filled hospital wards in Wuhan, China, Stephanie Giordano, a 25-year-old researcher at the drugmaker Regeneron, in a suburb of New York City, began working on a treatment for the disease.
Scientists focus on how immune system T cells fight coronavirus in absence of antibodies – Reuters
As scientists question whether the presence, or absence, of antibodies to the novel coronavirus can reliably determine immunity, some are looking to a different component of the immune system, known as T cells, for their role in protecting people in the pandemic.
Published Research
Asthma and COVID: What Are the Important Questions? – The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
COVID-19 Outbreak Associated with Air Conditioning in Restaurant, Guangzhou, China, 2020 – CDC
Megakaryocytes and platelet-fibrin thrombi characterize multi-organ thrombosis at autopsy in COVID-19: A case series – The Lancet
Adipose-derived mesenchymal stromal cells for the treatment of patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia requiring mechanical ventilation. A proof of concept study – The Lancet
Brief Report of Co-infections with SARS-CoV-2 and Other Respiratory Pathogens – Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology
Pre-Pub (not yet peer reviewed, should not be regarded as conclusive)
No evidence of coronaviruses or other potentially zoonotic viruses in Sunda pangolins (Manis javanica) entering the wildlife trade via Malaysia – BioRXiv
Origin and cross-species transmission of bat coronaviruses in China – BioRXiv
Air recirculation role in the infection with COVID-19, lessons learned from Diamond Princess cruise ship – BioRXiv
Coping in Quarantine
“Please Scream Inside Your Heart” Isn’t that what we are all doing right now?
‘Please Scream Inside Your Heart,’ Japanese Amusement Park Tells Thrill-Seekers – The Fuji-Q Highland amusement park near Tokyo has an unorthodox request for its roller coaster riders. “Please scream inside your heart,” and not out loud, the park is asking. The unusual ask is meant to reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus. While some may be skeptical that it’s possible to quietly ride a roller coaster, a promotional video from Fuji-Q proves that it can be done. Link to the video here.
