(Timeline)
Here are selected news stories relative to the Covid-19 pandemic (and directly or indirectly the science behind it) for the month of June 2020, starting with the most recent news. (Let me know if you hit a paywall or if you find scientific misinformation.)
Click on dark blue words or terms to see their meaning in the glossary.
Return to the latest news on the timeline
Back to July 1, 2020
June 30, 2020
SciAm: To Spot Future Coronavirus Flare-Ups, Search the Sewers
STAT: Learning from Taiwan about responding to Covid-19 — and using electronic health records (Opinion)
June 29, 2020
nature: A race to determine what drives COVID-19 severity
- From an analysis of 94 genomes, there is scientific evidence that the spillover from animals to humans did not happen at the Wuhan wet market as was initially thought. Two variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus were discovered, giving evidence that the spillover happened elsewhere, as some of the earliest patients were not linked to that market. The variants differed in only two nucleotides and do not appear to have led to any differences in Covid-19 severity.
- The same researchers found evidence that the most severe cases of Covid-19 are associated with lymphocytopenia, a low number of lymphocytes in the blood and suggest that this is caused by the cytokine storm known to occur in such patients.
STAT: Researchers report nearly 300 cases of inflammatory syndrome tied to Covid-19 in kids
STAT: Gilead announces long-awaited price for Covid-19 drug remdesivir
- “For all governments in the developed world, including the U.S. government’s Medicaid program and the Department of Veterans Affairs, Gilead will charge $2,340 for a five-day course. U.S. insurers will pay 33% more, or $3,120. Countries in the developing world will get the drug at greatly reduced prices through generic manufacturers to which Gilead has licensed production.”
SciAm: Hospitals Experiment with COVID-19 Treatments, Balancing Hope and Evidence
- “With little data on what works and what doesn’t, doctors trade tips and argue about risks.”
SciAm: Misplaced Analogies: COVID-19 Is More like a Wildfire Than a Wave
June 27, 2020
NYT: How the world missed Covid-19’s silent spread
June 26, 2020
STAT: It’s not just the lungs: The Covid-19 virus attacks like no other ‘respiratory’ infection
(VIDEO)
NatGeo: Here’s how to stop the virus from winning
- “Science denialism is not just a simple matter of logic or ignorance.”
- “Coronavirus infections are rising rapidly in the country, and the surprisingly low death rate could be misleading.”
June 25, 2020
STAT: As Covid-19 cases peak, a virus once again takes advantage of human instinct
- “The virus takes advantage of human instinct. Its long course means that it is possible to believe that things aren’t going to get that bad — long after they are actually becoming catastrophic. And many experts fear — though they may not be able to say for certain — that the U.S. is nearing the point of catastrophe again.”
- But “there’s a lot that we could do”. “There are many other countries that have gained control of their outbreak and they are in a much better place” than the US is in.
SciAm: Easy to Say ‘Get Tested’ for the Coronavirus—Harder to Do: Here’s How
- “Experts explain the best time for testing after exposure and how to find test sites.”
WHO: Q&A: Dexamethasone and COVID-19
Updated March 28, 2023
June 24, 2020
nature: Mounting clues suggest the coronavirus might trigger diabetes
- “Evidence from tissue studies and some people with COVID-19 shows that the virus damages insulin-producing cells.”
- ACE2 enzymes are found on cells in “many organs involved in controlling blood sugar”.
- A global diabetes database has recently been established to keep track of non-diabetic Covid-19 patients with high blood sugar levels.
SciAm: Electrified Fabric Could Zap the Coronavirus on Masks and Clothing
June 23, 2020
SciAm: Special coverage: Inside the Coronavirus
Excellent graphics, Updated in 2024
- An animated visualization of the latest information learned on how SARS-CoV-2 infects cells and replicates.
SciAm: How ‘Superspreading’ Events Drive Most COVID-19 Spread
- 10 to 20% of infected individuals may be infecting 80% of those with Covid-19.
- “Speech emits more particles than normal breathing. And emissions also increase as people speak louder. Singing emits even more particles.”
June 22, 2020
nature: Mini organs reveal how the coronavirus ravages the body
- “The virus can damage lung, liver and kidney tissue grown in the lab, which might explain some severe COVID-19 complications in people.”
SciAm: The Risks of Rushing a COVID-19 Vaccine
June 21, 2020
Science: Drug recently shown to reduce coronavirus death risk could run out, experts warn
- “Hoarding and speculative procurement [of dexamethasone] appear to have already started.”
June 19, 2020
SciAm: Summer Weather Won’t Save Us from Coronavirus
- In a Harvard Medical School study analyzing weather in 4,000 locations, the largest reduction of transmission of Covid-19 found was 30% to 40% with “higher temperatures and increased exposure to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight”.
- However, this is considered “modest”, as Covid-19 case numbers would still rise exponentially.
June 18, 2020
Visual Capitalist: Visualizing the Growth of COVID-19 in the U.S., Organized by State Peak Date
June 17, 2020
SciAm: A Visual Guide to the SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus (July 2020 ed.)
- New knowledge explained graphically of how the spike is cleaved after the viral particle binds to the ACE2 receptor, revealing a protein mechanism that opens the cell membrane so that the RNA can be released into the host cell.
SciAm: Coronavirus Antibody Tests Have a Mathematical Pitfall (July 2020 ed.)
An excellent graphical explanation of the math that affects such tests.
nature: More than one billion people face increased risk of severe COVID-19
Updated May 5, 2021
- “More than 20% of the world’s population has at least one underlying condition that raises the risk of severe” Covid-19 disease.
- “Nearly 350 million people — some of whom do not have underlying conditions — would require hospitalization if infected.”
Science: Source of Beijing’s big new COVID-19 outbreak is still a mystery
- The outbreak in Beijing is linked to the Xinfadi Agricultural Wholesale Market. After testing 356,000 people, 137 cases were confirmed. Surfaces at the market have been found to be contaminated with the virus, including a cutting board used to cut salmon.
- Although it seems more likely that people brought the infection to the market, imported fish may also have been contaminated abroad. Genomics might provide more data.
Visual Capitalist: When Will Life Return to Normal? (INFOGRAPHIC)
STAT: WHO drops hydroxychloroquine from Covid-19 clinical trial
- “Patients who were already enrolled and were in the midst of their hydroxychloroquine regimen can complete their course or stop, the WHO said.”
- “The Solidarity trial is continuing to compare other potential Covid-19 drugs. More than 400 hospitals in 35 countries are participating in the study.”
nature: Coronavirus misinformation, and how scientists can help to fight it
- “Sharing your work and expertise, and engaging with the public, is an important part of being a scientist now.” – a health sociologist
June 16, 2020
nature: Coronavirus breakthrough: dexamethasone is first drug shown to save lives
- Dexamethasone, “an inexpensive and commonly used steroid can save the lives of people seriously ill with COVID-19, a randomized, controlled clinical trial in the United Kingdom has found.”
- “In the trial, it cut deaths by about one-third in patients who were on ventilators because of coronavirus infection.”
- This drug is far more accessible than remdesivir (which is in short supply) and is much easier to administer.
- “For less than £50 [63 USD], you can treat 8 patients and save one life.”
STAT: Major study finds common steroid reduces deaths among patients with severe Covid-19
- Dexamethasone reduced the number of deaths by 35% for patients on ventilators and 20% for unventilated patients on oxygen. These figures are significant. However, no benefit was found for patients not requiring oxygen.
NYT: Coronavirus Live Updates: Drug Proven to Reduce Virus Deaths, Scientists Say
- “Scientists at the University of Oxford said on Tuesday that they have identified what they called the first drug proven to reduce coronavirus-related deaths, after a 6,000-patient trial of the drug in Britain showed that a low-cost steroid could reduce deaths significantly for hospitalized patients.”
PopSci: Scientists are working on at least 135 different coronavirus vaccines
- 125 vaccine candidates are in Phase 1 trials
- 2 vaccine candidates are in Phase 3 trials (large-scale testing on people)
- One of these, “developed by Oxford University, could potentially be ready by autumn 2020.”
nature: Coronavirus research updates: Swiss survey finds that children are less susceptible to infection
Updated May 5, 2021
- In a study at Geneva University Hospitals testing antibodies in 2700 people 5 years of age and older, fewer children than adults were found to have been infected. The researchers suggest that the reason is that children are less susceptible to infection.
nature: How deadly is the coronavirus? Scientists are close to an answer
- The infection fatality rate (IFR) has been particularly difficult to calculate for Covid-19 for several reasons:
- Many people with mild or no symptoms.
- Time between infection and death can be as high as two months.
- The challenge of counting deaths.
- The risk of death varies among individuals and sections of society.
- Death rates decrease as medical intervention improves.
- The IFR is important to know for proper preparation.
- Serious studies seem to calculate an IFR of between 0.5% and 1.0%.
- A serological study last week in Geneva calculated 0.6%.
- More results from serious studies are expected in the near future.
SciAm: African Countries Scramble to Ramp up Testing for COVID-19
NYT: Flushing the Toilet May Fling Coronavirus Aerosols All Over
- “Flushing a toilet can generate a cloud of aerosol droplets that rises nearly three feet. Those droplets may linger in the air long enough to be inhaled by a shared toilet’s next user, or land on surfaces in the bathroom.”
- To limit these aerosol clouds, “close the lid first” and then flush.
June 15, 2020
Science: HIV and TB increase death risk from COVID-19, study finds—but not by much
- An analysis of 12,987 patients in South Africa found that HIV patients were at a 2.75 times higher risk and tuberculosis patients were at a 2.58 times higher risk of death from Covid-19.
- This is much lower than the risks involved with other conditions:
- Risk for patients between 50 and 60 years of age is 10 times higher than a patient less than 40 years of age.
- Risk for patients with diabetes is 4 to 13 times higher.
STAT: FDA revokes emergency use ruling for hydroxychloroquine
- The US FDA considers HCQ to be ineffective for treating Covid-19, but doctors may still use the drug off-label.
June 14, 2020
STAT: Sinovac says early data show its Covid-19 vaccine generated immune responses
- Beijing-based Sinovac’s vaccine, called CoronaVac, “induced neutralizing antibodies in ‘above 90%’ of people who were tested 14 days after receiving two injections, two weeks apart. There were no severe side effects reported, the company said in a statement”. “The preliminary results were from a 600-patient, placebo-controlled Phase 2 study.”
June 13, 2020
SciAm: Why COVID-19 Makes People Lose Their Sense of Smell
- The ACE2 and TMPRSS2 receptors are highly expressed in the olfactory sensory epithelium (OSE) that contains sensory neurons that transmit the sense of smell to the brain. SARS-CoV-2 doesn’t appear to attack these neurons directly, but rather other cells within the OSE. This either prevents air from reaching the olfactory clefts, which are responsible for olfaction (the sense of smell), or causes a dysfunction in the neurons indirectly through processes such as those involved in inflammation or metabolism.
The Straits Times: Popular blood pressure medicines do not put patients at greater Covid-19 risk, new study finds
- New research gives further evidence that taking ACE inhibitors and ARBs does not increase risk of severe Covid-19 disease compared to other treatments for high blood pressure.
Science: Could a global ‘observatory’ of blood help stop the next pandemic?
- A new endeavor called the Global Immunological Observatory (GIO) plans to start with a “pilot project” to track Covid-19 antibodies in blood collected for any reason in health-care settings in the US (and then anonymized) and hopes to evolve to become a watchdog for detecting antibodies from novel pathogens that could potentially start a pandemic.
- Today’s pandemic has made it clear that the US needs a surveillance system that works more rapidly than the current one.
- Chips are already commercially available from companies such as VirScan and Luminex that can detect hundreds of thousands of antibodies, and these can be scaled up in the future for a larger number of samples and with batch processing.
- Antibodies can be nonspecific, meaning they can be produced upon infection by related pathogens, such as antibodies that protect against earlier coronaviruses and that can appear after Covid-19 infections. In this way, antibodies can be detected from unknown pathogens, such as a novel coronavirus.
Forbes: How Low-Dose Radiation Could Be The Trick For Treating COVID-19
- “It’s the anti-inflammatory effects of radiation, not its antiviral action, that could be invaluable to helping patients with COVID-19.”
June 12, 2020
nature: Coronavirus research updates: Modified mice could aid the quest for vaccines and drugs
Updated May 5, 2021
- A team in the US and one in China have successfully used an adenovirus to introduce the gene that expresses the human ACE2 receptor into mice, which normally cannot catch Covid-19. This allows them to become infected so they can be used for laboratory experiments.
- “Like nursing homes and cruise ships, prisons are designed to concentrate a large group of people in a small area, crowding them into communal spaces with little room to isolate the sick. In prisons, many of the public health recommendations for coronavirus prevention — 6 feet of social distancing, frequent hand-washing, and wearing face masks — are difficult to achieve. Those challenges are only exacerbated by overcrowding, aging inmate populations with a high rate of preexisting conditions, and the inherent focus on safety, rather than public health, in correctional departments.”
nature: Why more coronavirus testing won’t automatically help the hardest hit
- One reason (for example) is that drive-through testing favors those who have a car.
- A discussion of the challenges expected in clinical trials of vaccine candidates.
PopSci: All the info you need to refute 5G conspiracy theories
nature: Latin American scientists join the coronavirus vaccine race: ‘No one’s coming to rescue us’
June 11, 2020
nature: Why children avoid the worst coronavirus complications might lie in their arteries
- “Evidence is mounting that healthy blood vessels protect children from serious effects of COVID-19, such as stroke.”
- According to one large survey, children 17 and under in the US make up 22% of the population but less than 2% of COVID-19 cases. Of 2,572 infected children surveyed, 5.7% were hospitalized and three died.
- A team headed by Dr. Frank Ruschitzka at the University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland found widespread inflammation of endothelial cells in patients with severe Covid-19, cells that are known to affect the clotting properties of the blood and suggested that damage to these cells are the cause of clotting throughout the body. (Read more about the discovery of the role of endothelial cells in Covid-19 in the June 2 article in Science, the April 20 article in The Lancet and the May 8 article in Nature.)
- Paul Monagle, a pediatric hematologist at the Melbourne Children’s Campus hypothesizes that severe Covid-19 is rare in children because of their healthy endothelial cells. He will perform two experiments involving plasma from children and adults to test his hypothesis.
nature: Virus conscripts a pair of human proteins to invade cells
Update May 5, 2021
- Researchers in Britain have shown that neuropilin-1 (NRP1), a human protein, can bind to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, helping the virus bind to a cell.
- They have also shown that an antibody binding to NRP1 prevents infection of cells in vitro (in the laboratory).
- In mice, NPR1 helped the virus reach the central nervous system.
- It is suggested that treatment drugs designed to block the binding of NRP1 onto the spike could be effective.
STAT: Immunity to the coronavirus remains a mystery. Scientists are trying to crack the case
- Experts expect that those who have recovered from Covid-19 have immunity at some level for some period of time. However, they don’t know what the “correlates of protection” are (markers such as antibodies and cells) that will provide that protection.
- A search for these correlates can happen at the same time as vaccine development, as the latter can be done experimentally.
- After vaccines are in use, correlates can be tracked in the body in order to determine when another dose might become necessary.
nature: A massive number of viral imports seeded the UK outbreak
Updated May 5, 2021
- A team at Oxford using genomics found 1,356 introductions of cases into the UK.
- About one-third came from Spain, just under one-third from France.
- Only 0.1% came from China.
- Not yet peer reviewed.
June 10, 2020
STAT: ‘Flying blind’: Doctors race to understand what Covid-19 means for people with HIV
- Science knows very little about the effects of HIV on the risk of Covid-19 symptoms, complications and death. Two studies to date had too few participants to arrive at conclusive results.
- A research team in the US is trying to learn about this by analyzing a large number of health records.
- Individuals with HIV have a higher risk of lung information and pneumonia from the annual flu, so it may be similar for Covid-19.
- Preliminary data is expected by early fall.
CNN: Covid-19 is Dr. Anthony Fauci’s ‘worst nightmare’
- “We don’t know the extent of full recovery or partial recovery, so there’s a lot we need to learn,” Dr. Fauci said. We don’t know how those who recovered from Covid-19 will be a few months from now.
- The ACE2 enzyme serves normally as part of the “renin angiotensin system” by reducing the amount of angiotensin II (a peptide that narrows blood vessels) just outside of the cell. It reduces the level of angiotensin by converting it to angiotensin-(1-7), which dilates blood vessels. However, angiotensin-(1-7) is also known to reduce inflammation and blood-clotting.
- As the ACE2 enzyme serves as a receptor for SARS-CoV-2, the infection keeps many of these receptor sites from performing their normal role, thus reducing the amount of angiotensin-(1-7) along with its anti-inflammatory and anti-clotting benefit.
- Constant Therapeutics, a small biotech company in Boston, is planning on conducting trials on its intravenous TXA127 drug to test its effectiveness on Covid-19 patients. This drug delivers “a pharmaceutical version of” angiotensin-(1-7), which may compensate for the reduced amounts of this peptide caused by a Covid-19 infection and thereby reduce both inflammation and blood-clotting.
NYT: Surging Coronavirus Cases Push Latin America ‘to the Limit’
Al Jazeera: Which countries have not reported any coronavirus cases?
Updated September 14, 2020
- Twelve countries have not reported any coronavirus cases: Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, North Korea, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Vanuatu
PopSci: What we can learn from New Zealand’s successful fight against COVID-19
June 9, 2020
STAT: A national registry could help defeat sepsis, a big contributor to Covid-19 deaths
- The cytokine storm seen in many Covid-19 patients can lead to life-threatening sepsis. Survival of sepsis leads to temporary or permanent mental and physical impairment in almost 60% of cases and for the elderly an increased risk of death from certain causes within three years.
- “The first step is to gather and analyze reliable and consistent data on who gets sepsis, what treatments work, and how best to support survivors and their families.”
- “A national sepsis registry would build on the existing systems that already capture the information we need: electronic medical record systems, state reporting programs, and forms that are already in use by clinicians.”
STAT: ‘We don’t actually have that answer yet’: WHO clarifies comments on asymptomatic spread of Covid-19
- The WHO explains a confusion from its remarks about what science does not yet know regarding how much spreading occurs from individuals not having symptoms of Covid-19.
- Part of the confusion regarded the use of the word “asymptomatic“. The strict sense of the term refers to individuals who will never show symptoms for their case. Science already knows very well that there is considerable spread a day or two before an individual shows symptoms, so it would be best to use the term “presymptomatic” for greater semantic clarity, if we are talking in general or about past situations when it is known whether or not symptoms developed. Language can lead to confusion, even with scientific terms.
PopSci: The truth about asymptomatic COVID-19
- On the same topic discussed in the STAT article above.
- Masks should be used for several reasons, such as initial viral load. “There’s also a striking correlation between those countries that implemented mask-wearing early—mostly those previously hit by SARS, but also [the Czech Republic] —and low death rates from coronavirus.”
SciAm: Good News and Bad News about COVID-19 Misinformation
- “The good news is that people don’t necessarily believe it. The bad news is that they don’t necessarily believe valid information about the pandemic either.”
Science: Coronavirus rips through Dutch mink farms, triggering culls to prevent human infections
- The Netherlands is the only country reporting the spillover of Covid-19 to mink.
- Two people are believed to catch Covid-19 from mink, leading to the decision to kill all the mink to prevent more people from catching the virus from them.
STAT: Merck’s Julie Gerberding, a ‘vaccine optimist,’ on Covid-19 and what comes next
(VIDEO)
Science: Three big studies dim hopes that hydroxychloroquine can treat or prevent COVID-19
- After three large studies on HCQ, scientists are losing hope for any significant benefit from the drug, although some still want to see all the data before deciding.
NPR: Banned From Nursing Homes, Families See Shocking Decline In Their Loved Ones
nature: Beware the illusion of certainty: it can be weaponized
- This article promotes a new book. “It is a fascinating interdisciplinary exploration of how scientists produce and use evidence. The COVID-19 crisis underscores their core message that science is a mostly productive cycle of rigorous scrutiny by experts, not a rational progression towards immutable facts. What is established one day is reconsidered the next — as anyone outside academia can now observe in real time. Science is powered by uncertainties, error margins, competition, disclaimers, collaboration and stress. In dark times, all of that can be weaponized.”
DW: Coronavirus latest: Moscow eases lockdown restrictions
- Latest news from around the world.
NatGeo: In this sprawling city within a city, fighting coronavirus requires solidarity
- In Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya.
PopSci: New Zealand has eliminated COVID-19. Here’s how they’re keeping it that way.
- “The last confirmed COVID-19 patient in New Zealand left the hospital 12 days ago. Since then, the country has kept a watchful eye to see if any new cases would pop up. With much relief, on Monday, health officials announced that, for now, the novel coronavirus has been eliminated in New Zealand.”
- “New Zealand joins a handful of countries, including Iceland, that were able to successfully eliminate the virus. But the future is still uncertain. New Zealand’s final phase of reopening still includes strict health measures, including severe travel restrictions. Only New Zealand residents can enter the country, and Kiwis reentering from travel abroad will have to quarantine themselves for two weeks.”
June 8, 2020
Science: Who’s to blame? These three scientists are at the heart of the Surgisphere COVID-19 scandal
NPR: Nothing Like SARS: Researchers Warn The Coronavirus Will Not Fade Away Any Time Soon
- “This virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities, and this virus may never go away.”
- “But the novel coronavirus might not have the staying power of some of these other endemic viruses. For one thing, it doesn’t mutate as fast as flu. And it doesn’t usually appear to hide out in the body after the initial infection, WHO specialists say.”
BBC: Coronavirus: Lockdowns in Europe saved millions of lives
nature: Critiqued coronavirus simulation gets thumbs up from code-checking efforts
- “Released in mid-March, the original study suggested there could be half a million UK deaths if nothing were done to stop the virus, and modelled how various policy interventions might help. But Imperial scientists did not immediately make the code available for public scrutiny.”
- “The successful code testing isn’t a review of the scientific accuracy of the simulation, produced by a team led by mathematical epidemiologist Neil Ferguson. But it dispels some misapprehensions about the code, and shows that others can repeat the original findings.” It is important to have a model verified in this manner.
CSM: Why coronavirus modeling is so hard to pin down
- The IHME model that has been making projections in the US “uses a technique called ‘curve fitting’ in which researchers try to find patterns from previous COVID-19 outbreaks in other countries and apply them to current ones.”
- “Part of the reason these kinds of predictions are so hard is that the model changes according to how we react to it. If a dire outlook prompts us to take stricter measures, then it might, in virtue of its own predictions, become less accurate. That’s because you are part of the system.”
- The article includes a clever comic strip.
PopSci: Tear gas during COVID-19 is a public health disaster
- “Case studies on the crowd-control weapon show just how dangerous it can be for the lungs.”
SciAm: Which Experts Should You Listen to during the Pandemic?
- “But one general lesson for outsiders is that the best recipe for making an impact is through collaboration with experts trained in the relevant discipline.”
- “Even the most highly educated and successful among us are not immune to gullibility. Humility about the limits of our own knowledge is imperative, including when trying to identify true expertise in others. Seeking knowledge—now as much as ever—means keeping an open mind, checking sources conscientiously, and sometimes admitting “I don’t know.” Being prepared to make that last confession may be the surest way to ensure our future arrival at the truth.”
June 6, 2020
Economist: How SARS-CoV-2 causes disease and death in covid-19
nature: The biggest mystery: what it will take to trace the coronavirus source
I find this to be a very informative article that explains the evidence pointing to a natural origin of the virus and the lack of any evidence that indicates the virus is engineered. – MH
SciAm: What Social Distancing Reveals about East-West Differences
June 5, 2020
SciAm: So How Deadly Is COVID-19?
- The author, an emergency physician, explains very clearly how the true mortality rate depends on many factors that do not depend directly on the virus and is difficult to calculate, but he says “we know enough to know that this virus is deadly serious”.
- “Every day for weeks, my colleagues and I have faced wave after wave of COVID patients in their 30s, 50s or 80s, many of them extraordinarily ill. Some of these people have died. Its virulence is astonishing, at least among hospitalized patients. Experienced physicians know that this is nothing like the flu.”
- Covid-19 spreads at least twice as fast as the flu.
- The seriousness of the disease likely depends on the number of viral particles an individual is exposed to, meaning that masks and social distancing are important.
- “Wherever the mortality rates may settle, we have enough information to act responsibly, with carefully phased reopenings and robust testing and contact tracing.”
STAT: Contact tracing technology must protect people from discrimination as well as disease
- A contact tracing app was able to locate thousands of people possibly infected in bars in a gay neighborhood in South Korea. However, very many of them did not want to come forward for fear of discrimination after strong “anti-gay rhetoric” in the media.
- Principles to safeguard privacy in Bluetooth contact tracing have been written up in Data Rights for Exposure Notification and in the Contact Tracing Joint Statement.
- “Key principles” include voluntary participation, trust, no punishment or stigmatization, no buying or selling of data and no “fear of consequences”.
STAT: How the world can avoid screwing up the response to Covid-19 again
- Although the title references the “world”, it is mostly about mistakes that have been made in the USA.
- According to responses on an online survey of 502 adults by the CDC:
- 19% applied bleach to food,
- 18% put household cleaners on their skin,
- 10% sprayed disinfectant on themselves
- 6% had inhaled vapors of cleaning products
- 4% drank or gargled with diluted bleach, soap, or other disinfectants
- “These practices pose a risk of severe tissue damage and corrosive injury and should be strictly avoided,” – CDC researchers
- According to a press release, in a large UK trial called RECOVERY with 4,674 participants there was no significant benefit in the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19.
nature: High-profile coronavirus retractions raise concerns about data oversight
- Articles in question during the past three days were retracted because the little-known company Surgisphere that supplied the researchers data from hospitals worldwide did not allow its raw data to be verified.
- “This whole event is catastrophic — it is problematic for the journals involved, it is problematic for the integrity of science, it is problematic for medicine, and it is problematic for the notion of clinical trials and evidence generation.”
This is far from the ideal way for science to advance. Science will eventually advance, even if those involved in scientific research are not honest, but it slows science down, which is unfortunate during a time when we need science. Even if the company supplying the data made honest mistakes, researchers must do their part to verify the data. As top journals were involved, I would think this is very embarrassing for them. – MH
Science: This cow’s antibodies could be the newest weapon against COVID-19
- A biotech company in South Dakota, USA, has inserted genes into the DNA of cows so that certain immune cells will produce antibodies in the same way it happens in the human body. Antigens introduced into the cows such as the SARS-CoV-2 spike will then produce human antibodies.
- One advantage of this method is that different kinds of antibodies could be produced that attach to different parts of the virus.
- In clinical trials these antibodies appear to be four times better than convalescent plasma in preventing the virus from entering cells.
- One cow could produce enough antibodies for hundreds of people per month.
- “Essentially, the cows are used as a giant bioreactor.”
- Clinical trials will begin to see if these antibodies can prevent infections.
- There has never yet been any approval for treatment of any antibodies produced in animals.
- “The whole approach is based on sound science and on past experience going back more than a century.”
nature: The pandemic mixed up what scientists study – and some won’t go back
- “Experts say that research into infectious diseases is likely to enjoy a higher profile as a result of the pandemic, but that will depend heavily on whether governments alter their funding patterns in the long term.”
SciAm: Opinion: The New Science of Lockdowns
BBC: How Bill Gates became the voodoo doll of Covid conspiracies
June 4, 2020
PopSci: Coronavirus and the Flu: A Looming Double Threat
- A “worst-case scenario” would be Covid-19 and the flu spreading during the upcoming flu season, making it more difficult to diagnose patients and burdening the hospitals. (The 2017–2018 flu stretched the health-care system.)
- However, “flattening the curve” might also reduce the number of flu cases. Human behavior and policy play a big role.
- A study in northern California found that about 20% of those diagnosed with Covid-19 were also infected with a another respiratory virus.
- Science does not know why, but viruses spreading in the same area don’t generally peak at the same.
- Flu activity dropped dramatically in Hong Kong after measures were taken to contain Covid-19 and in the US after the Covid-19 pandemic was declared.
- North Carolina’s state health director says, “We do have a vaccine for flu. Get the vaccine.”
NYT: Who Is Most Likely to Die From the Coronavirus?
- As of June 3, around 90% of deaths in New York and Chicago were of those with chronic underlying health conditions. According to the CDC, such underlying conditions are much more common among poorer people. “Rates of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, kidney disease and diabetes, for example, among the poorest 10 percent of New Yorkers are estimated to be more that 40 percent higher than the median rate.”
- There’s a “socioeconomic gradient in health”. Richer people have:
- better diets, housing and working conditions;
- less exposure to unhealthy environments at home and at work;
- less stress and healthier physical activity (as in green areas); and
- better health care.
- “There are many policies that would make a difference: investments in early childhood education, school-based health centers, after-school programs, cognitive-behavioral therapy for adolescents, home-based nursing care, peer-group sessions for pregnant women, better and more affordable housing as well as transportation infrastructure, among others.”
STAT: MIT engineers develop a system to help physicians get the most out of ventilators
(VIDEO)
- Valves on tubes allow for more flexibility in matching patients who need to share a ventilator.
nature: The coronavirus outbreak could make it quicker and easier to trial drugs
- “Remote clinical trials and other changes could permanently alter pharmaceutical development.”
PopSci: A major study just found hydroxychloroquine doesn’t prevent COVID-19
June 3, 2020
Science: Why coronavirus hits men harder: sex hormones offer clues
- A new hypothesis is that androgen increases the risk of severe Covid-19 by increasing the number of TMPRSS2 enzymes on the cell membrane when it binds to androgen receptors. TMPRSS2 is responsible for cleaving the SARS-CoV-2 spike after it binds to the ACE2 receptor, allowing the spherical envelope to fuse onto the cell membrane. An increased availability of TMPRSS2 enzymes would then accelerate the infection of cells.
- There is evidence from prostate cancer research that when androgen binds to the androgen receptor in the prostate, it increases the number of TMPRSS2 enzymes in the cells there.
- Data of Covid-19 patients in Veneto, Italy, show that prostate cancer patients not on androgen deprivation therapy were four times as likely to be infected with Covid-19 than those on the therapy (although data on hospitalization and death were not as significant).
- Two studies in Spain showed there was a significantly higher representation of men with male pattern baldness among Covid-19 patients compared to the general population. This type of baldness is associated with higher levels of a molecule produced when an androgen hormone is metabolized (processed chemically in the body).
NYT: Genes May Leave Some People More Vulnerable to Severe Covid-19
- Blood type A is linked to a 50% greater likelihood of ending up on a ventilator.
- A “locus” on Chromosome 3 exhibits an even stronger link to Covid-19 severity, but it is not sure which one(s) of six candidate genes:
- One gene encodes a protein that interacts with the ACE2 receptor.
- Another gene encodes a signaling protein of the immune system.
STAT: WHO resumes hydroxychloroquine study for Covid-19, after reviewing safety concerns
- The WHO resumed its trials after another HCQ study was called into question. (See yesterday’s news sources.)
PopSci: Hydroxychloroquine is getting another shot as a COVID-19 treatment
Updated on July 31, 2020
- A simpler article explaining the issues surrounding the retraction of an HCQ study discussed in other news articles yesterday and today.
This is exciting for researching at the molecular level and will surely be put to good use to better understand SARS-CoV-2. – MH
BBC: India coronavirus: The man who survived 36 days on a ventilator
June 2, 2020
Science: Blood vessel attack could trigger coronavirus’ fatal ‘second phase’
- A new hypothesis by Swiss researchers is that a 3-phase “vicious cycle” causes most of the Covid-19 deaths:
- 1) Endothelial cells normally “help regulate blood pressure, prevent inflammation, and inhibit clotting” (in part by producing nitric oxide (NO)). When damaged by SARS-CoV-2 infection, they send out signal proteins to attract “immune cells and clotting factors“, which try to repair the damage, and to warn nearby endothelial cells. Some cells might self-destruct, spilling out their contents.
- 2) Blood fluid leaks from the capillaries into the alveoli (a symptom of ARDS), white blood cells collect and NO levels likely drop dramatically. Endothelial cells and immune cells produce interleukins and other signaling molecules, which raise blood pressure locally and weaken cell junctions. The exposed membrane below the endothelial cells “triggers uncontrolled clotting”. D-dimer, a known marker is produced when clots degrade.
- 3) The inflammatory response spreads out of control, further driving ARDS and leading to shock.
- The endothelial cells are already “compromised” in the case of diabetes, obesity or cardiovascular issues, which would explain why such conditions lead to higher mortality rates. Therapeutic drugs that treat such conditions might be helpful.” Young people without known risk factors for COVID-19 … might have undiagnosed clotting or autoimmune disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis, that amplify the effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection”. Anti-clotting, anti-inflammatory, and anti-platelet drugs and statins might help treat patients.
- (Read more about the discovery of the role of endothelial cells in Covid-19 in the April 20 article in The Lancet and in the May 8 article in Nature.)
UNC: Researchers map SARS-CoV-2 infection in cells of nasal cavity, bronchia, lungs
- Researchers found “a striking pattern of continuous variation, or gradient, from a relatively high infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 in cells lining the nasal passages, to less infectivity in cells lining the throat and bronchia, to relatively low infectivity in lung cells”.
- The infectivity corresponded to densities on the cell membrane of ACE2, TMPRSS2, and furin enzymes.
- “Intriguingly, the virus did not infect airway-lining cells called club cells, despite the fact that these cells express both ACE2 and TMPRSS2.”
- Infection in the lungs appears in patches, providing evidence that the virus is aspirated into the lungs.
- The research team created a tool by engineering SARS-CoV-2 to produce light by phosphorescence, which can be useful in other studies.
Reuters: Distancing and masks cut COVID-19 risk, says largest review of evidence
- In the largest review so far, an analysis of evidence from 172 studies in 16 countries shows that the best protection against Covid-19 is:
- Maintaining a distance of at least one meter (3 feet).
- Wearing face masks and eye protection.
- Also critical:
- Frequent handwashing and good hygiene.
- However, even all these measures together do not offer complete protection.
Science: A mysterious company’s coronavirus papers in top medical journals may be unraveling
- An investigation is now underway on Surgisphere, a relatively unknown company that provided seemingly implausible data on deaths of Covid-19 patients for a hydroxychloroquine study that concluded that the drug was associated with a high risk of death. (These results made the WHO decide to suspend its trials of the drug.)
- Two other studies that used Surgisphere’s data also produced controversial results.
STAT news also wrote about this same issue.
STAT: Covid-19 has exposed cracks in the global medicines supply chain. We need to fix them
- “Now is the time to address these vulnerabilities and enhance our ability to respond to pandemics and other public health crises.”:
- “Increase geographic diversity in manufacturing”
- “Ensure supply of critical medicines”
- “Increase transparency and enhance global cooperation”
- “Strengthen regulatory systems and quality assurance”
STAT: Optimism, not evidence, is driving America’s return-to-work strategy
AP: VIRUS DIARY: Sweden stayed open. I stayed at home.
- “Official advice tells anyone not ‘vulnerable’ to stay home only if symptomatic, and to socially distance when out. We’re not actively seeking herd immunity, they say. But equally, we don’t want to suppress the virus by locking down, testing and tracing.”
Science: Scientists rush to defend Venezuelan colleagues threatened over coronavirus study
- According to a May 8 18-page scientific report by a Venezuelan scientific academy, mathematical models project between 1000 and 4000 cases daily during a peak sometime between June and September.
- This was criticized by the government that is considering punishing the academy for making it look like the government is lying about the severity of the pandemic.
- Scientists in Venezuela and worldwide have voiced their support of the academy.
I try to avoid any kind of political discussion, as this site is dedicated to science. My reason for including this article is to show how science is a “social endeavor”, whereby scientists will generally support the research of other scientists’ work when it is based on science that can be verified and does not contradict widely accepted evidence. Moreover, by including this article on my News Timeline, readers will observe by September how accurate the projections are. – MH
June 1, 2020
SciAm: Three Ways to Make Coronavirus Drugs in a Hurry
- 1) Prevent the entry of SARS-CoV-2 RNA into a cell.
- With antibodies from convalescent plasma for patients with severe acute respiratory distress (ARDS).
- Synthesize antibodies found in the convalescent plasma.
- Synthesize a decoy of the ACE2 receptor to which the virion sticks.
- 2) Jam the mechanism in the host cell that makes copies of the viral RNA.
- Such as with remdesivir (intravenous)
- EIDD-2801 (a pill).
- Unlike remdesivir, works on all SARS-CoV-2 variants.
- Works also on many other viruses.
- 3) Stop the immune system from overreacting in a cytokine storm.
- Synthesize an antibody that can bind to interleukin-6.
- Researchers are searching through 20,000 FDA approved drugs for other conditions to see if any are effective against Covid-19. 133 of these became experimental drugs by mid-April and 49 are entering clinical trials.
- 12 potential treatments are described on a chart.
- The goal is to have a pill that can work early to prevent severe illness.
- “By limiting symptoms, drugs may be able to keep some patients out of the hospital and keep hospitalized patients off of ventilators. They can serve as a bridge to survival as other scientists rush to develop the real virus slayer: a vaccine.”
SciAm: Genetic Engineering Could Make a COVID-19 Vaccine in Months Rather Than Years
- “The established approach is to grow weakened viruses in chicken eggs—or more recently in mammalian or insect cells—and extract the desired pieces.” This would be too slow for the current crisis.
- Almost all vaccine development focuses on introducing genetic material into the human body that would lead to creating antigens (that are at least part of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein) in human cells by one of three different ways:
- 1) Injecting a DNA ring-shaped plasmid.
- Not easy to be scaled up to manufacture many vaccines.
- 2) Injecting RNA.
- Less stable, easy to degrade, and must be kept refrigerated or frozen.
- Not easy to be scaled up to manufacture many vaccines.
- 3) Injecting an adenovirus (one of the common cold viruses) with engineered DNA.
- Virus can be engineered not to replicate.
- Easy to be scaled up to manufacture many vaccines, but can take longer to develop.
- 1) Injecting a DNA ring-shaped plasmid.
SciAm: Virus Mutations Reveal How COVID-19 Really Spread
- This article contains an informative graphic showing visually how the virus spread around the world as determined by mutations.
SciAm: How the COVID-19 Pandemic Could End
- “The end game will likely involve a mix of efforts that stopped historic outbreaks: social-control measures, medications and a vaccine.”
- “How long control measures such as social distancing must stay in place, for instance—depends in large part on how strictly people obey restrictions and how effectively governments respond.”
- “The question of how the pandemic plays out is at least 50 percent social and political.”
NYT: After 6 Months, Important Mysteries About Coronavirus Endure
- Important mysteries that remain:
- “How many people have been infected.”
- “The amount of virus it takes to make you sick.”
- “Why some people get so much sicker than others.”
- “The role of children in spreading the virus.”
- “When or where the new coronavirus started spreading.”
- “How long you’ll be immune after infection.”
NYT: How You Should Read Coronavirus Studies, or Any Science Paper
nature: What’s the risk that animals will spread the coronavirus?
- Although several mammals have been found to catch Covid-19 from humans, there’s only evidence so far of one mammal, the mink, having passed the virus on to humans. (However, it is very difficult to prove the direction of the transmission.)
- “The virus could be spreading undetected in some animals that we don’t know about.” It is important to find out which mammals can pass the virus back to humans, because this makes it more difficult to control the pandemic.
Science: NIH-halted study unveils its massive analysis of bat coronaviruses
- “There is plenty of evidence that some of these [other coronaviruses] are spilling over to humans all the time in southern China, Daszak says. In an earlier paper, Daszak and co-workers found SARS-related antibodies to coronaviruses in about 3% of people they sampled in China living near bat caves, suggesting they had been infected by some of these viruses. He argues that the world needs to change its approach and go from reacting to pandemics to trying to identify dangerous coronaviruses before they emerge.”
STAT: Gilead’s remdesivir shows some benefit in patients with moderate Covid-19, new data show
- This study adds to evidence that remdesivir is effective in treating patients moderately ill with Covid-19 (those hospitalized but not on a ventilator). It is now already widely accepted that this drug is effective in reducing the time in the hospital for patients who are seriously ill.
Science: Operation Warp Speed selects billionaire scientist’s COVID-19 vaccine for monkey tests
- The vaccine uses an adenovirus (one kind of common cold virus) engineered to carry two SARS-CoV-2 genes. Each gene will produce a structural SARS-CoV-2 protein in a human host cell. One is of the spike and another of the capsid. These proteins are expected to elicit antibodies.
PopSci: Why only half of Americans say they would get a COVID-19 vaccine
- Results of a survey are shown.
CSM: Ohio governor’s science-based COVID-19 response wins bipartisan praise
- The governor of Ohio imposed restrictions early, even before the first Covid-19 case was detected.
- “The moves may have seemed radical at the time, but as Ohio now begins to gradually reopen, having recorded just under 2,000 deaths so far, public health experts say the governor’s swift actions likely helped the state avoid the fate of its northern neighbor, Michigan, or that of many East Coast hot spots.”
Continue with the timeline for May 2020.
©2020 Dr. Michael Herrera