(Timeline)
Here are selected news stories relative to the Covid-19 pandemic (and directly or indirectly the science behind it) for the month of October 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 November 2, 2020
October 30, 2020
Science: Gyms. Bars. The White House. See how superspreading events are driving the pandemic
October 29, 2020
Science: India’s COVID-19 cases have declined rapidly—but herd immunity is still far away, scientists say
NYT: Death Rates Have Dropped for Seriously Ill Covid Patients
STAT: Antibody drugs seem to work. But the virus is moving faster than we can make them
nature: Why schools probably aren’t COVID hotspots
October 28, 2020
October 27, 2020
SciAm: A Flu Shot Might Reduce Coronavirus Infections, Early Research Suggests
October 26, 2020
nature: Neanderthal DNA highlights complexity of COVID risk factors
STAT: mRNA vaccines face their first test in the fight against Covid-19. How do they work?
(VIDEO)
CR: Guide to Going Out Safely During the Pandemic
PopSci: Rural America is now the center of the COVID pandemic
October 23, 2020
SN: The arthritis drug tocilizumab doesn’t appear to help fight COVID-19
- Recent randomized controlled trials on tocilizumab, which blocks interleukin-6 (a cytokine), provide evidence that it is not significantly better than a placebo in reducing Covid-19 deaths. It has been believed, mostly from anecdotal evidence, that this drug was effective by reducing the runaway immune reaction referred to as a “cytokine storm“.
nature: The race to make COVID antibody therapies cheaper and more potent
Science: ‘There’s only one chance to do this right’—FDA panel wrestles with COVID-19 vaccine issues
nature: Why COVID outbreaks look set to worsen this winter
PopSci: The current state of the pandemic in five graphs
STAT: Science journal editors shouldn’t contribute to politicizing science
October 22, 2020
SciAm: What We Know So Far about How COVID Affects the Nervous System
- “Some studies show evidence that SARS-CoV-2 can get into nerve cells and the brain. The question remains as to whether it does so routinely or only in the most severe cases.”
AP: FDA approves first COVID-19 drug: antiviral remdesivir
FDA: FDA Approves First Treatment for COVID-19
October 21, 2020
BBC: Long Covid: Who is more likely to get it?
Atlantic: The Tree That Could Help Stop the Pandemic
- The Chilean soapbark tree provides molecules for producing adjuvants that may increase the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines.
nature: Why decoding the immune response to COVID matters for vaccines
MIT: Engineers design a heated face mask to filter and inactivate coronaviruses
STAT: Covid-19’s wintry mix: As we move indoors, dry air will help the coronavirus spread
October 20, 2020
nature: Latin America’s embrace of an unproven COVID treatment is hindering drug trials
- This is the anti-parasite ivermectin.
nature: Dozens to be deliberately infected with coronavirus in UK ‘human challenge’ trials
PopSci: Meet the disease detectives fighting to understand COVID-19
SciAm: Debunking the False Claim That COVID Death Counts Are Inflated
BBC: Coronavirus: German Alpine region goes into lockdown
DW: Germany’s neighbors react to second coronavirus wave
- Austria blocks entry and exit from the town of Kuchl until November 1.
October 19, 2020
SciAm: America’s Last Line of Defense for a Safe Vaccine
NPR: South Korea Eases Coronavirus Restrictions, Touts ‘Exceptional’ Success
October 16, 2020
Science: Remdesivir and interferon fall flat in WHO’s megastudy of COVID-19 treatments
The Atlantic: Inside the Mind of an Anti-vaxxer
October 14, 2020
NatGeo: Invasion and Response
- A graphic guide to how SARS-CoV-2 enters and attacks the human body.
October 13, 2020
NatGeo: A World Gone Viral
October 12, 2020
STAT: Watch: Understanding dexamethasone, the steroid used to treat Trump’s Covid-19
SciAm: Lab-Made ‘Miniproteins’ Could Block the Coronavirus from Infecting Cells
SciAm: Why So Many Americans Are Skeptical of a Coronavirus Vaccine
SciAm: Eight Persistent COVID-19 Myths and Why People Believe Them
October 11, 2020
SciAm: COVID Misinformation Is Killing People
October 10, 2020
SciAm: Neanderthal DNA May Be COVID Risk
October 9, 2020
- An excellent article that illustrates the virus atom by atom and explains what we know about its structure.
nature: What China’s speedy COVID vaccine deployment means for the pandemic
STAT: 7 looming questions about the rollout of a Covid-19 vaccine
October 8, 2020
SciAm: COVID-19 Is Now the Third Leading Cause of Death in the U.S.
Zeit: “It’s Up To Us”
- A leading German virologist gives advice for how to make it through the coming winter.
Science: Researchers face hurdles to evaluate, synthesize COVID-19 evidence at top speed
Science: New test detects coronavirus in just 5 minutes
YouTube: How The Coronavirus Has Spread Across The U.S. (Time-Lapse)
October 7, 2020
SWI: Swiss researchers create artificial lung to study Covid-19 blood clots
STAT: Eli Lilly says its monoclonal antibody cocktail is effective in treating Covid-19
October 6, 2020
STAT: Is ‘it can’t hurt’ the rationale for giving Trump unproven Covid-19 treatments?
MIT: 3 Questions: Why getting ahead of Covid-19 requires modeling more than a health crisis
nature: Face masks: what the data say
nature: COVID-19 vaccines: how to ensure Africa has access
Science: ‘It’s been so, so surreal.’ Critics of Sweden’s lax pandemic policies face fierce backlash
October 5, 2020
Science: Update: Here’s what is known about Trump’s COVID-19 treatment
PopSci: These are the best COVID-19 treatments right now
nature: COVID research updates: Massive contact-tracing effort in India reveals striking trends
Updated May 5, 2021
October 3, 2020
STAT: A one-page memo could defuse the panic about Trump’s Covid-19. Where is it?
October 2, 2020
BI: A day-by-day breakdown of coronavirus symptoms shows how COVID-19 goes from bad to worse
Updated November 26, 2020
STAT: President Trump has tested positive for coronavirus
October 1, 2020
SciAm: Protecting against COVID’s Aerosol Threat
The Lancet: The online anti-vaccine movement in the age of COVID-19
Continue with the timeline for September 2020.
©2020 Dr. Michael Herrera