• Antibody Tests May Hold Clues to COVID-19 Exposure, Immunity—but It's Complicated

    As the nation looks for ways to emerge from the shelter-in-place orders instituted across the country, there’s growing hope that our blood might hold clues for how we move forward. Chris Dall writes in CIDRAP that late last week, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that it has begun recruiting volunteers for a study to determine how many Americans without a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis have been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, based on the presence of antibodies in their blood. Antibody tests, while not useful for diagnostic purposes because of the time it takes to produce an antibody response, could indicate those who’ve had the illness at some point but never received official confirmation of infection, and those who’ve had very mild or even asymptomatic (symptom-free) infections. But experts say there remains a numbers of unknowns that need to be addressed.

  • Don't You Dare Ask When the Lockdown Will End! Matt Hancock Loses His Cool as He Tells Radio Interviewer that the Government Won't Release Exit Plan Because Public Can't Be Trusted with It

    The British Health Secretary Matt Hancock om Thursday insisted the public cannot be trusted with a coronavirus “exit strategy” as they might stop obeying lockdown rules. James Tapsfield writrs in the Daily Mail that in a bad-tempered interview as the government prepares to extend draconian curbs for another three weeks, the Health Secretary said he recognized that “everybody wants to know what the future looks like.” But he flatly dismissed calls for the government to flesh out how the restrictions will finally be eased, despite mounting fears that they are wreaking havoc on the economy. Hancock said the “clarity of messaging” had a “direct impact on how many people obey” social distancing rules.

  • Global COVID-19 Total Tops 2 Million; WHO Responds to U.S. Funding Freeze

    As the global COVID-19 total topped 2 million cases yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) pandemic response was buffeted by fresh attacks from US President Donald Trump, who announced yesterday that his administration would freeze its funding for the agency. Meanwhile, steady activity in hot spots in the United States and Europe pushed the global total to 2,034,425 cases from 185 countries, along with 133,261 deaths.

  • British Firm that Can Deliver 1 Million Coronavirus Tests Per Week Left Waiting for Public Health England Order

    One million coronavirus tests a week can be delivered by a British company, but Public Health England (PHE) has not taken up the offer, it has emerged, amid growing concerns that the Government’s 100,000-a-day target is now unreachable. Sarah Knapton writes in The Telegraph that Berkshire-based Apacor Ltd has already gained approval from the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to supply coronavirus antigen tests and said the first 150,000 could be delivered overnight. The South Korean test, made by Wells Bio, is already being used by Germany, but the PHE laboratory at Colindale has still not sent for a sample so it can be verified and has said it cannot find time to talk to the company until next week. 

  • U.K. Coronavirus Antibody Test Validated – but Results Show under-40s May Not Be Immune

    Tests aimed at determining whether Britons have recovered from coronavirus may not be useful because younger people do not produce sufficient quantities of antibodies to the virus, early research suggests. Sarah Knapton writes in The Telegraph that it was hoped that antibody tests could help kickstart the economy by allowing those who are immune out of lockdown. The government had been hoping to roll out millions of tests in the coming weeks in the belief that some kind of “immunity certificate” might be possible for those testing positive, but supplies from China have so far failed to pass sensitivity and specificity tests. Professor Karol Sikora, a private oncologist and Dean of Medicine at the University of Buckingham, this week validated a test kit using samples from staff at his clinics, which were then verified by a private lab. Around six per cent of staff were found to have had the virus but, crucially, under-40s who had tested positive came back negative, suggesting the test may not be useful for the wider population. 

  • Vanda Pharmaceuticals Starts Phase III COVID-19 Trial of Tradipitant

    Vanda Pharmaceuticals has partnered with The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research’s arm Northwell Health to conduct a Phase III clinical trial of tradipitant to treat severe Covid-19 pneumonia. Clinical Trials Arena reports that enrolment for the trial, called ODYSSEY, has begun. The first patient was enrolled on 15 March at Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City. Tradipitant is a neurokinin-1 receptor (NK-1R) antagonist licensed by the company from Eli Lilly. The drug is being developed to treat gastroparesis, motion sickness, and atopic dermatitis. The double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised ODYSSEY trial will assess the safety and efficacy of oral, 85mg twice-daily dose of the drug in treating neurogenic inflammation of the lung caused by Covid-19.

  • What Are Germany's Updated Lockdown Measures?

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday announced the next phase of the country’s plan to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus and its resulting disease, COVID-19. Elizabeth Schumacher writes in DW that the new regulations are as follows: Retailers smaller than 800 square meters (8,610 square feet) will be allowed to open under the current physical distancing rules on April 20; schools will slowly re-open their doors on May 4, with pupils in their last years of primary and secondary school having the priority. Schools that re-open must have a strict hygiene plan in place; hair salons can resume business on May 4 if strict protective measures are observed; the ongoing rule that individuals may only meet with one person outside their household remains in place, as well as the rule about keeping a minimum of 1.5 meters (5 feet) away from others; large events, such as sports and concerts, will remain banned until August 31; bars, restaurants, day care centers, theaters, and cinemas will stay closed until further notice. Religious gatherings are also canceled for the foreseeable future; protective masks are “strongly recommended,” but not mandatory, in shops and on public transportation; strict controls at Germany’s borders will stay in place for at least 20 more days.

  • Don't You Dare Ask When the Lockdown Will End! Matt Hancock Loses His Cool as He Tells Radio Interviewer that the Government Won't Release Exit Plan Because Public Can't Be Trusted with It

    The British Health Secretary Matt Hancock om Thursday insisted the public cannot be trusted with a coronavirus “exit strategy” as they might stop obeying lockdown rules. James Tapsfield writrs in the Daily Mail that in a bad-tempered interview as the government prepares to extend draconian curbs for another three weeks, the Health Secretary said he recognized that “everybody wants to know what the future looks like.” But he flatly dismissed calls for the government to flesh out how the restrictions will finally be eased, despite mounting fears that they are wreaking havoc on the economy. Hancock said the “clarity of messaging” had a “direct impact on how many people obey” social distancing rules.

  • Donald Trump Is a Braggart but He Has a Point about China's Role in the Coronavirus Crisis

    Were U.S. President Donald Trump a thatch-haired schoolboy, rather than the most powerful man on Earth, Stephen Glover writes in the Daily Mail, “I’ve no doubt he would be the bane of his poor teachers’ lives and attract their ire.” The teachers would note his nasty habit of trying to shift the blame on to others, and his termly reports would be full of reproving remarks about his boastfulness, mendacity, self-righteousness and generally questionable character. And yet a fair-minded teacher would have to concede that, for all his defects, the wayward pupil is sometimes able to extract a nugget of truth which evades the notice of more conventional minds, even if he is then inclined to fly off at a tangent. So it is with the President’s attack on the World Health Organisation (WHO), which Donald Trump accused of being ‘China-centric’ before announcing on Tuesday that he is freezing the funding it receives from Washington. “I [don’t] doubt that part of Trump’s motivation is to deflect some of the fire being directed at him for his flawed management of the crisis towards China and the WHO. This, after all, is election year.  The fact remains, however, that the WHO (a United Nations agency) is a very flawed outfit. It has been far too accommodating of Beijing.”

  • Trump Is Right to Ditch the West's Frighteningly Naive Stance on China

    It’s tricky to get ready for battle when the enemy has a gun to your head, Sherelle Jacobs writes in The Telegraph. Trump’s vow to suspend World Health Organization funding is an attempt to kick the sand of chaos into a situation where its rival has the advantage. Dangerous tactics? Certainly. But Washington is running out of options. This “we are witnessing the fallout of the CCP’s boldest new ruse – installing stooges at the helm of once credible bodies. That the WHO should praise China, having swallowed its faulty intelligence in January that investigations had found no evidence of human-to-human coronavirus transmission, is as absurd as it is unsurprising.” We may not be able to police the world’s second power, but we can better protect ourselves, Jacobs writes. “Britain hasn’t got the memo…. we must urgently [prepare] for the tech Cold war around the corner, treating healthcare as part of our defense sector, and becoming unreliant on China for crucial products and infrastructure.”

  • Amid Talk of Reopening, Fauci Warns U.S. Not There Yet with COVID-19

    In an interview yesterday with the Associated Press, Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said opening up the nation on May 1 is “a bit overly optimistic.” His comments come a day after President Donald Trump announced a new reopening task force, meant to help guide the country back to economic health after the national COVID-19 30 April physical distancing campaign ends. In a heated back-and-forth with reporters, yesterday Trump said that only the president has the ability to call the shots on when and how to reopen the country. But Fauci said yesterday, “We have to have something in place that is efficient and that we can rely on, and we’re not there yet.” Meanwhile, governors yesterday and yesterday continued to outline their plans for reopening.

  • 5 Burning Questions about Tech Efforts to Track COVID-19 Cases

    The pitch from technology companies goes something like this: We can tap phone data to track Covid-19 infections in U.S. communities and swiftly warn people about potential exposure, all without ever compromising anyone’s privacy. Casey Ross writes in STAT that Apple and Google turned heads a few days ago when they announced a joint effort to bolster this public health service — a task known as contact tracing — by building software into smartphones that relies on Bluetooth technology to track users’ proximity to one another. Facebook is participating in a similar effort led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While their brands give them instant credibility in the business world, infectious disease experts aren’t convinced the technology offers a tidy solution to such a complicated public health problem.

  • EU to Unveil Virus Exit Plan, Hoping to Avoid Chaos and Medical System Collapse

    The European Union moved Wednesday to head off a chaotic and potentially disastrous easing of restrictions that are limiting the spread of the coronavirus, warning its 27 nations to move very cautiously as they return to normal life and base their actions on scientific advice. Lorne Cook writes in The Times of Israel that with Austria, the Czech Republic and Denmark already lifting some lockdown measures, the EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, was rushing out its roadmap for members of the world’s biggest trade bloc to coordinate an exit from the lockdowns, which they expect should take several months. Some 80,000 people have now died in Europe from the disease — about two-thirds of the global toll.

  • The Curve Appears to be Flattening — Now What?

    In his previous article, “How Will We Know When the COVID-19 Pandemic is Getting Better,” published on 26 March, Kenny Lin outlined 4 signs in the data we should look for: 1) Decrease in rate of growth of daily cases; 2) Decrease in absolute number of daily cases; 3) Decrease in rate of growth of daily deaths and absolute number of daily deaths; and 4) Decrease in hospital admissions and ventilator utilization. In a 13 April article in Medium, Lin writes that the good news is that #1, the number of new daily COVID-19 cases in the United States, seems to have plateaued at approximately 30,000/day across the country. In some states such as Michigan, the number of new daily cases appears to be declining. Now is not the time to let up, he says. That time is coming, but it is not here yet.

  • Two Million Could Lose Jobs in U.K. in the Coronavirus Lockdown

    Britain should prepare for tough times ahead, the chancellor warned yesterday as the financial watchdog predicted that the lockdown could leave more than two million people unemployed and shrink the economy by 35 per cent. Oliver Wright, Philip Aldrick, and Gurpreet Narwan write in The Times that in a bleak forecast, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said that net public sector borrowing would reach £273 billion, the largest single-year deficit since the Second World War. However, economists suggested that the damage could be even worse. They said the OBR’s prediction that the economy would bounce back quickly as soon as restrictions were lifted, resulting in an annual reduction in GDP of up to 13 per cent, was too optimistic.