Featured Headlines
In N.Y.C., the Coronavirus Is Killing Men Twice as Often as Women – New York Times
More men also are infected than women, and they are hospitalized more frequently, new data show. A similar pattern was seen in China.
New York Sees New Deadliest Day For COVID-19 Toll – CBS NY
New York saw 731 deaths reported in the past 24 hours, the worst day since the coronavirus outbreak began, bringing the state’s total up to 5,489 deaths so far.
The update came during Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s daily COVID-19 briefing on Tuesday looking back on the crisis that started in New York 37 days ago.
Imperial College makes short-term projections – CIDRAP
In the report from Imperial College of London, the authors use COVID-19 deaths to make their short-term projections, and they include several caveats, including that accuracy is affected by quality of surveillance and reporting. Their transmissibility estimates show a stabilizing pattern in 14 countries, including not only Italy, but countries elsewhere, including Argentina, Iran, and South Korea. Only two countries—the Netherlands and Spain—show slow-growing transmission. Predictions of rapidly growing transmission span several continents, including Latin American and North American countries such as Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, Canada, and the United States, plus some European countries, India, Israel, China, Japan, and Algeria. Fewer than 100 deaths in the coming week are expected in 14 countries, including China and South Korea, with very large numbers (more than 5,000 deaths) projected for five countries: France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. [Related projections from Imperial College of London]
Why Does Covid-19 Make Some People So Sick? Ask Their DNA – Wired
SARS-COV-2,the pandemic coronavirus that surfaced for the first time in China last year, is an equal opportunity invader. If you’re a human, it wants in. Regardless of age, race, or sex, the virus appears to infect people at the same rate. Which makes sense, given that it’s a totally new pathogen against which approximately zero humans have preexisting immunity.
Not Just Ventilators: Staff Trained to Run Them Are in Short Supply – Scientific American
Each patient on a breathing machine requires multiple doctors and nurses to care for that person
Why black Americans are at higher risk for coronavirus – CNN
Black Americans have more existing medical issues, less access to health care, and are more likely to work in unstable jobs — all factors that have made the coronavirus pandemic disproportionately hurt blacks more.
Coronavirus State-By-State Projections: When Will Each State Peak? – NPR
A widely cited model offers some predictions. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s COVID-19 projections were cited in recent White House briefings and take into account how the pandemic is playing out in several countries around the world. They incorporate the current trend line of deaths in U.S. states and the estimated impact of social distancing measures to predict when each state might reach peak daily deaths and hospital usage.
Tens of thousands say goodbye to Wuhan as city ends 11 weeks of lockdown – South China Morning Post
An estimated 55,000 people left by rail alone on Wednesday, while 100 commercial flights took off for the first time since January 23
Wuhan residents are keen to get their lives back on track, but some are fearful of the ‘silent carriers’ who could start a second wave of infections
Coronavirus Spreads In Federal Prisons – NPR
Federal prisons are wrestling with the rapid spread of the coronavirus at more than two dozen facilities across the country in an outbreak that has already claimed the lives of at least seven inmates and infected almost 200 more, as well as 63 staff.
Surveillance
Official Reporting for April 8, 2020
| WHO SITREP #78 | ECDC | Country Data | Johns Hopkins | |
| Confirmed Cases | 1,279,722 | 1,244,421 | 1,446,242 |
| Deaths | 72,614 | 68,976 | 83,424 |
Total deaths: 12,064
Travel Related: 1,669
Close Contact: 6,847
Under Investigation: 365,813
Total Cases: 374,329
Surveillance Headlines
USA
Maryland: 4,371 Cases Of COVID-19, Over 100 Deaths Reported – CBS
Florida: Model predicts COVID-19 deaths will peak April 21 – News4Jax
Boston, Massachusetts: One In Three Among Boston Homeless Have Tested Positive For Coronavirus – WGBH
Europe
Italy: Showing signs of stability with fewer cases, deaths, hospitalizations, and ICU admissions. CIDRAP
Spain: Reported a large spike in cases, with nearly 5,500 new cases, and 763 new deaths. CIDRAP
France: Reported 597 new deaths in hospitals and more in nursing homes. Health minister Jerome Salomon said at a briefing today that the rate of new infections are slowing. CIDRAP
Turkey: Reported 3,892 new cases and 76 new deaths. There are now 1,474 patients with COVID-19 admitted to ICUs and added that 987 are on ventilators. CIDRAP
Russia: Reported 1,154 new cases. The “non-working period” has been extended to Apr 30. CIDRAP
Finland: Announced a plan to conduct random COVID-19 antibody tests. CIDRAP
Africa
Africa: COVID-19 time bomb to defuse – World Economic Forum
Africa: COVID-19 Virus tracker in Africa – BBC
Sao Tome and Principe: is the latest country to report its first cases. – WHO
Asia
Wuhan, China: Tens of thousands say goodbye to Wuhan as city ends 11 weeks of lockdown – South China Morning Post
Middle East
Iran: appeals for $5bn IMF loan as deaths pass 4,000 – BBC
Science and Tech
Unprecedented nationwide blood studies seek to track U.S. coronavirus spread – Science Magazine
We still don’t know how many people have been infected with the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. Not only have countries struggled to roll out wide-scale testing for the virus, those efforts inevitably will miss people who have recovered from an infection. The best way to figure out how far and wide the virus has spread in a population is to look at blood. Antibodies, blood proteins that the immune system produces to attack pathogens, are viral fingerprints that remain long after infections are cleared. Sensitive tests can detect them even in people who never felt a single symptom of COVID-19.
Breaking Down the Two Tests That Could Help Contain the COVID-19 Pandemic – Smithsonian
One detects an active infection; another signals that the virus has already left the body. Both are critical for tracking the spread of disease
What Scientists Know About Immunity to the Novel Coronavirus – Smithsonian
Though COVID-19 likely makes recovered patients immune, experts aren’t sure how long protection lasts
Emory-discovered coronavirus drug shows promise in mice, heads to human trials
EIDD-2801 was shown to have effectiveness against both the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 and past ones like SARS and MERS.
Trials of drugs to prevent coronavirus infection begin in health care workers – Science
When malaria researcher Nicholas White saw coronavirus infections picking up around the world 2 months ago, he immediately thought of the impact they could have on poorer countries. “In fragile health care systems, if you start knocking out a few nurses and doctors, the whole thing can collapse,” says White, who is based at Mahidol University in Bangkok. “So we realized that the priority would be to protect them.”
Why the coronavirus lockdown is making the internet stronger than ever – MIT Tech Review
Far from breaking it, the surge in usage the internet is seeing right now is driving a major upgrade.
What type of cells does the novel coronavirus attack? – Science daily
Scientists from the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Charité — Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Thorax Clinic at Heidelberg University Hospital, whose collaboration is taking place under the auspices of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), have examined samples from non-virus infected patients to determine which cells of the lungs and bronchi are targets for novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infection. They discovered that the receptor for this coronavirus is abundantly expressed in certain progenitor cells. These cells normally develop into respiratory tract cells lined with hair-like projections called cilia that sweep mucus and bacteria out of the lungs. [Related Study]
Blood plasma taken from covid-19 survivors might help patients fight it off – MIT Tech Review
A small study from China suggests transfusions of blood from those who have beaten the disease could help buy time for new victims. [Related Study]
Published Research
COVID-19 pandemic in west Africa – The Lancet
Pre-Pub (not yet peer reviewed, should not be regarded as conclusive)
Infection Prevention