Tulane Outbreak Daily | May 4, 2020

Featured Headlines

Singapore Was A Shining Star In COVID-19 Control — Until It Wasn’t – NPR

Early on in the coronavirus pandemic, Singapore was praised as a shining example of how to handle the new virus. The World Health Organization pointed out that Singapore’s aggressive contact tracing allowed the city-state to quickly identify and isolate any new cases. It quickly shut down clusters of cases and kept most of its economy — and its schools — open. Through the beginning of April, Singapore had recorded fewer than 600 cases.

Models Predict Near Doubling of Daily Death Toll by June – New York Times

Projections from an internal report show that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention forecast about 200,000 new cases each day by the end of the month.

NEW! From the FLARE Team:

  1. Lung Pathology in COVID-19
  2. Sedation in COVID-19
  3. Ventilator Liberation in COVID-19

UAE researchers monitor SARS-CoV-2 levels in municipal sewage in mass test – Saudi Gazette

Khalifa University of Science and Technology announced Sunday that researchers from its Centre for Biotechnology and the Centre for Membranes and Advanced Water Technology, in collaboration with other stakeholders, are working on a project for the monitoring of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in municipal wastewater, as a method for the early detection and to track the spread of COVID-19 among the general population.

Many COVID-19 Patients are Reporting Neurological Symptoms – Inverse

As case numbers of COVID-19 continue to rise around the world, we are starting to see an increasing number of reports of neurological symptoms. Some studies report that over a third of patients show neurological symptoms. In the vast majority of cases, Covid-19 is a respiratory infection that causes fever, aches, tiredness, sore throat, cough, and, in more severe cases, shortness of breath and respiratory distress. Yet we now understand that Covid-19 can also infect cells outside of the respiratory tract and cause a wide range of symptoms from the gastrointestinal disease (diarrhea and nausea) to heart damage and blood clotting disorders. It appears that we have to add neurological symptoms to this list, too.

Novel coronavirus can multiply in human intestine – Business Insider

Researchers have shown that the novel coronavirus can infect and multiply in cells of the human intestines. [Related Study]

Covid-19 Is Killing Black People Unequally—Don’t Be Surprised – Wired

Ala Stanford is a doctor, but right now her office is a parking lot, a street corner, the sidewalk outside of a Philadelphia Baptist church. Stanford leads a mobile unit of doctors who are bringing free Covid-19 testing to the neighborhoods in Philadelphia that are being hit hardest by the virus: underserved black communities. Across the United States, black Americans are contracting and dying of Covid-19 at wildly disproportionate rates, and in some areas, they aren’t being tested for the virus nearly as frequently as their white peers, either.

This nursing home had California’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak. ‘We weren’t prepared’ – Los Angeles Times

The toll is grim at the Redwood Springs Healthcare Center in Visalia, site of California’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak in a nursing home. As of Thursday, 115 residents had tested positive for COVID-19, 61 staff were infected and 26 residents were dead.

Feds send coronavirus strike force to Amarillo in response to outbreaks in meatpacking plants – Texas Tribune

A federal strike force is headed to Amarillo in response to a surge of coronavirus cases tied to meatpacking plants in the area.

Production of the First Batch of Proposed COVID-19 Vaccines in the US Expected in July – Science Times

Moderna, Inc. and Lonza Group AG announced a global agreement to manufacture one billion doses of Moderna’s proposed vaccine every year, to be produced in the United States in July.

From Drone Police To Second Wave Warnings, Russia In Full Coronavirus Panic – Forbes

Russia seems to be in full coronavirus panic. Their Prime Minister, Mikhail Mishustin, is the second high ranking official to be stricken by COVID-19. Boris Johnson of the UK was first.

A State-by-State Look at Coronavirus in Prisons – The Marshall Project

The Marshall Project is collecting data on COVID-19 infections in state and federal prisons. See how the virus has affected correctional facilities where you live.

[Opinion] Coronavirus and the Sweden Myth – New York Times

The country’s approach to the pandemic sets a seductive example. But the United States shouldn’t copy it. [If you hit a paywall and can not access, please send me an email]

A service trip to Peru offers lessons for treating Covid-19 in the U.S.- Stat

States, I was in Loreto, Peru’s largest province, working with a medical team to provide health care to villages generally cut off from such services. These were mainly communities of huts on or along the Marañon River, with limited or no access to running water, toilets, electricity, or cellphone reception.

Editor’s note: Regarding the case counts below, please consider due to limited testing capabilities in some locations, the real number of cases could be considerably higher.

Official Reporting for May 4, 2020

WHO SITREP #104 ECDC | Country Data Johns Hopkins
Confirmed Cases 3,349,786 3,467,321 3,552,985
Deaths 238,628 246,979 249,079

 

Total cases: 1,122,486
Total deaths: 65,735
(Numbers close out at 4 p.m. the day before reporting.)

Surveillance Headlines

USA

California: Records most single-day deaths in over a week – Milpitas Post

New York: Coronavirus Deaths in New York Increase Slightly, Cuomo Says – New York Times

EUROPE

Spain: After Strict Lockdown, Spain Has Lowest Coronavirus Death Toll In 6 Weeks – Forbes

Russia: cases rise by 10,000 in one-day record – BBC

MIDDLE EAST

Israel: Set to launch antibody testing this week – Jerusalem Post

ASIA

Malaysia migrant raids ‘to reduce Covid-19 spread’ – BBC

AFRICA

Coronavirus: Which African countries are ahead on testing? – BBC

Tanzania: Three MP’s die in 11 days – Quartz

Science and Tech

Low molecular weight heparins inhibit SARS-CoV-2 cell invasion – Medical News

A recent paper available on the preprint server bioRxiv* reports preliminary data on the ability of low molecular weight heparins to interact with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), elicit structural changes in its key proteins and subsequently halt cell invasion. [Related pre-print paper)

How structural biologists revealed the new coronavirus’s structure so quickly – Chemical Engineering News

World’s physics instruments turn their focus to COVID-19 – Physics Today

Antivirals

Remdesivir, tested at Stanford Medicine, becomes first FDA-authorized COVID-19 treatment – Stanford

Stanford Medicine researchers who participated in two separate clinical trials are encouraged by data indicating that remdesivir can treat COVID-19.

Diagnostics

Roche Covid-19 Antibody Test Gets Emergency FDA Approval – Bloomberg

Roche Holding AG became the latest company to win emergency U.S. approval for a coronavirus antibody test and promised a fast scale-up of the tool that policy makers hope will smooth the reopening of economies.


Published Research

Does SARS-CoV-2 cause viral myocarditis in COVID-19 patients? – European Heart Journal

Viral kinetics of SARS-CoV-2 in asymptomatic carriers and presymptomatic patients – International Journal of Infectious Diseases

Rapid reconstruction of SARS-CoV-2 using a synthetic genomics platform – Nature

Detection of SARS-CoV-2-specific humoral and cellular immunity in COVID-19 convalescent individuals – Immunity

Longitudinal Change of SARS-Cov2 Antibodies in Patients with COVID-19 – Journal of Infectious Diseases

Status of SARS-CoV-2 in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with COVID-19 and stroke – BMJ Journal of Neurology

Pre-Pub (not yet peer reviewed, should not be regarded as conclusive)

SARS-CoV-2 Spike S1 Receptor Binding Domain undergoes Conformational Change upon Interaction with Low Molecular Weight Heparins. – Bio Rxiv


Infection Prevention

Can COVID-19 Coronavirus Live In Water? What About Drinking Water And Swimming – Forbes

It looks like the COVID-19 coronavirus may be able to live in water for a few days, potentially even a few weeks. There is a big but, though. And you’ll like this big but. Just because a virus can survive in water doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s present in large enough concentrations to infect you.

How Do You Fight the Coronavirus Without Running Water? – New York Times

Entire communities around the country face this terrifying virus without being even able to wash their hands.

How Long Does COVID-19 Coronavirus Live On Clothes? How To Wash Them – Forbes

Assuming that you wear clothes, you may have been wondering how long the COVID-19 coronavirus may stay on your various garments.

 


Coping in Quarantine

Why solving puzzles feels so satisfying, especially during a quarantine – Washington Post

Smash a Coronavirus Piñata. You’ll Feel Better. – New York Times

Coincidentally, the headline above in the NYT I can relate to. We recently made a transcontinental move from Europe back to the States, and in preparation of our household goods arriving, we rented a giant dumpster and started throwing stuff out. Broken stuff, old technology stuff, dusty boxes of stuff, you get the idea. Trip after trip from the garage to the dumpster was a bit boring until I came across a big box of old lightbulbs. I decided to toss a light bulb into the bin with a very satisfying pop and glass shatter. The next 50 (or so) pop/shatters were used to improve my marksmanship and apparently work off some quarantine stress. I was into it. I suppose a pinata would work just as well, and there is candy for the effort. Readers, if you have a COVID-19 related headline you would like to share with the other 3,000 readers send me an email. Have a good Monday.