Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19) (SARS-CoV-2) [2020]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-idUSKBN25X0TD

Coronavirus rising in 22 U.S. states

Coronavirus cases are rising in 22 of the 50 U.S. states, according to a Reuters analysis, a worrisome trend on a Labor Day holiday weekend traditionally filled with family gatherings and parties to mark the end of summer.

As little as three weeks ago, cases were increasing in only three states, Hawaii, Illinois and South Dakota, according to an analysis comparing cases for the two-week period of Aug. 8-22 with the past two weeks.

Most of the 22 states where cases are now rising are in the less-populated parts of the Midwest and South.

On a percentage basis, South Dakota had the biggest increase over the past two weeks at 126%, reporting over 3,700 new cases. Health officials have linked some of the rise to hundreds of thousands of motorcyclists who descended on Sturgis, South Dakota, for an annual rally in August.

Cases are also rising rapidly in Iowa, with 13,600 new infections in the past two weeks, and North Dakota, with 3,600 new cases in the same period.

The increases are masked nationwide by decreasing new infections in the most populous states of California, Florida and Texas.

...

Also contributing to the spike in U.S. cases is the re-opening of schools and colleges in many areas and the large gatherings taking place despite the warnings of health experts, ranging from protests against racial injustice to rallies in support of President Donald Trump.

The government’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has said that it is crucial that the outbreak be contained before the cold weather sets in, when influenza cases are likely to spike alongside COVID-19 and more people begin to move indoors, increasing the risk of contagion.
 
Indiana is moving to stage 5 of our state's re-opening on Saturday. Basically we have a mask mandate in affect until October 17th, but everything else it's back to full normal.

Covid is officially over in my state, HURRAH! :D


Oh wait, we're being total morons and we're gonna all die because of it. Boo. :(
 
Ok, I thought we had it bad in Indiana...then of course Florida says, "HOLD MY BEER!"

They're saying your lives are worth less than their local economy.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Friday scrapped Covid-19 restrictions on bars and restaurants the same day the US state saw 122 deaths topping 14,000 dead.​

The executive order signed by DeSantis, a close Republican ally of President Donald Trump, “removes state-level restrictions on businesses, such as restaurants.”​

Floridians and business owners need “certainty and the ability to provide for themselves and their families,” the order reads in part.​
 
Here's something very interesting which looks like it probably explains why a seemingly random number of younger, healthier people might suffer from more severe illness even without other obvious co-morbidities:

https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2020/09/28/interferon-and-the-coronavirus

This would effectively make Covid-19 act as an auto-immune disease to a small proportion of the population who, for whatever reason, are mounting an immune response to this type of interferon. Might well explain why convalescent plasma hasn't proved effective, if the plasma contains antibodies which attack the immune system response! If nothing else, testing to see who is most at risk could be helpful.
 
Yeah those studies about interferon are getting noticed.

There are trials ongoing for delivering different types of interferon, including as an inhaler. The key is to be able to take it early on after the infection, since interferon is the first response to infection before other parts of the immune system such as antibodies and T cells.
 
Depending on the type of interferon, surely such an inhaler might not be the best for patients if they've already got an auto-immune response against it?

Hopefully, if this stuff pans out, there will be a quick test available to check for such a response before treatment is given!

We'll have to end up taking a test for Covid-19 followed by a test for auto antibodies followed by treatment.
 
Depending on the type of interferon, surely such an inhaler might not be the best for patients if they've already got an auto-immune response against it?

Hopefully, if this stuff pans out, there will be a quick test available to check for such a response before treatment is given!

We'll have to end up taking a test for Covid-19 followed by a test for auto antibodies followed by treatment.

There are different types of interferon. As Derek Lowe concludes:

As the paper notes at the end, these results have direct clinical implications. First off, anyone who screens with such antibodies needs to take extreme precautions, because they are clearly at far greater risk of severe disease and death than the run of the population. Second, this means that treating such patients with alpha-interferon will be a doomed effort, but beta-interferon (currently being studied intranasally) might still work, because antibodies to that one were rare.

So here is an interferon beta which is being studied in the UK:

Interferon beta (IFN-beta) applicability to COVID-19
Interferon beta is a naturally- occurring protein, which orchestrates the body’s antiviral responses. There is evidence that deficiency in IFN-beta production by the lung could explain the enhanced susceptibility in ‘at-risk’ patient groups to developing severe lower respiratory tract (lung) disease during respiratory viral infections. Furthermore, viruses, including coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV, have evolved mechanisms which suppress endogenous IFN-beta production, thereby helping the virus evade the innate immune system. The addition of exogenous IFN-beta before or during viral infection of lung cells either prevents or greatly diminishes cell damage and viral replication, respectively. Synairgen’s SNG001 is a formulation of IFN-beta-1a for direct delivery to the lungs via nebulisation. It is pH neutral, and is free of mannitol, arginine and human serum albumin, making it suitable for inhaled delivery direct to the site of action.

Previously, two Phase II clinical trials in asthmatic patients showed that inhaled SNG001 treatment activated antiviral pathways in the lung, along with improving lung function in patients with a respiratory viral infection.

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-...nalysis-of-SNG001-trial-in-COPD-patients.html

This product was originally for other respiratory diseases but the company pivoted to covid earlier this year.

They were going to try to have a program where they would send inhalers by mail to people in the UK who tested positive. They hyped up results in July, based on a small study. So presumably they're doing a larger trial now.
 
I understand there are different interferon types and mentioned such. I suppose a lot depends on how many people have antibodies which work against interferon beta. As you note, Lowe mentions this is rarer than interferon alpha. Have to admit I didn't try to read through the paper Lowe was discussing so I don't know if this was mentioned at all.

Somewhere in the comments, there is a mention that the interferon beta inhaler (spun out from the University of Southampton, I seem to think?) is in wider trials now. As with so many potential treatments which have been mentioned over the past 6 months or so, there is often a noisy splash in the media, followed by a long silence. Let's hope it really does prove useful.
 
There are so many studies going on now.

Most of them are about trying out existing drugs, in the hope that they have some effectiveness against this virus.

Regeneron just issued a PR about their monoclonal antibodies. They hype up the results but it's not clear this is any more effective than remdesivir.

Eli Lilly released info. earlier this month about their monoclonal antibody. Again, mixed or lukewarm results at best.

I'm starting to get pessimistic. Researchers and drug companies are eager to hype up the things they're working on but the results so far have been anything but game-changing.

These monoclonal antibodies are among the first therapeutics specifically targeting Covid-19. Most of the other drugs they're testing are existing drugs, the rationale being that they're proven to be safe for human use and maybe we get lucky that they work on this virus too. So they would try things like malaria drugs or drugs for parasites on dogs. Some of it is from using supercomputer screening of molecules to see which ones would interact with the corona virus structure.

I'm not dismissing that the first vaccines can reduce infections and deaths and some other drugs will help reduce infections and cases by a few percent. But completely wipe out the virus? It may be that we're going to have to live with this virus for several years before maybe longer-term R&D finds a treatment or vaccines which are far more effective than anything we're going to get in the next year or two.

Like I said, there was a lot of hope in the spring. But in the fall, the results of these trials are not so promising.
 
US coronavirus: New cases surge in Florida

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/u...s-surge-in-florida/ar-BB19wy0U?ocid=Peregrine

Florida reported a spike in new coronavirus cases Tuesday, just days after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order allowing restaurants and bars to operate at full capacity.

New cases surged to 3,266 from the 738 reported Monday, according to the state's health department. That's the highest one-day number since September 19.

DeSantis lifted restrictions on bars and residents Friday, and scenes of crowded bars and restaurants played out around the state over the weekend.
 
Notre Dame football head coach Brian Kelly says Covid-19 'spread like wildfire' on his team

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nc...-spread-like-wildfire-on-his-team/ar-BB19y41B

Team doctors have traced an outbreak of Covid-19 on the Notre Dame football team to two specific events, including a pregame meal, head coach Brian Kelly said Tuesday.

The University of Notre Dame announced Monday that 18 players had tested positive for the virus. Kelly told ESPN the team doctors are the ones who traced the infection to their game against South Florida 10 days ago.

Ahead of the September 19 blowout win, the team congregated for a pregame meal, and during the game, one player was treated for dehydration after throwing up on the sideline. That player later tested positive for coronavirus, according to Kelly.

"Throughout our entire time together, we had not had one meal where we sat down together. Everything was grab and go," Kelly told said.

"We get into our game situation where we have pregame meal together, and that cost us. Big. We had somebody who was asymptomatic, and it spread like wildfire throughout our meeting area where we were eating and then it got guys in contact tracing."

Stemming from their recent testing results, Notre Dame said Monday that 25 football players were in isolation with 14 others in quarantine.
 
COVID-19 cases among young adults in U.S. rise 55% in August: CDC

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/c...ults-in-u-s-rise-55-in-august-cdc/ar-BB19xLwI

(Reuters) - Coronavirus cases among young adults rose steadily across the United States in recent weeks as universities reopened, suggesting the need for this group to take more measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, a U.S. health agency said.

Universities that want to reopen for in-person learning need to implement mitigation steps such as mask wearing and social distancing to curb the spread of the virus among young adults, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in the report.

Between Aug. 2 and Sept. 5, weekly cases of COVID-19 among people aged 18 to 22 rose 55.1%. The Northeast region recorded a 144% increase in COVID-19 cases, while Midwest cases rose 123.4%, the report said.

The uptick in cases was not solely attributable to increased testing and could be linked to some universities resuming in-person attendance, the CDC researchers said. They also said transmission could also be among young adults not attending college.

Previous reports identify young adults as being less likely to adhere to prevention measures, the report said.

In a separate study published in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) on Tuesday, researchers reported a rapid rise of COVID-19 cases two weeks after a North Carolina university opened its campus to students.

The study found that between Aug. 3 and Aug. 25, the university reported 670 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19, with preliminary investigations finding that student gatherings and congregate living settings likely contributed to the spread.

On Aug. 19, classes moved online and the school began to reduce density of on-campus housing.
 
NYC's rising Covid cases are a warning (opinion)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/nyc-s-rising-covid-cases-are-a-warning-opinion/ar-BB19yhzH

Covid-19 cases have ticked up in 21 states. In New York City, positive Covid-19 tests have increased so significantly that they've driven the city's positive rate above 3% -- lower than in other parts of the US, but still the highest daily rate New York has seen since June.

And Europe is already in its second wave, with the UK and France recording the most cases since the beginning of the pandemic and sobering signs from other countries such as the Czech Republic and Spain, where the health minister said Friday his government has recommended a total lockdown in Madrid.

A perfect storm for a major Covid-19 resurgence looms in many parts of the world. With rates down and life returning to something resembling normal, a false sense of security seems to have taken hold, especially in the United States.

Masks are coming off. Gatherings are getting bigger and personal safety protocols looser. Schools, gyms, salons and indoor restaurants are reopening. Many students have returned to college campuses, where they are already socializing in groups and spreading the virus.


Temperatures outdoors are dropping, which will inevitably push many more people inside to dine, exercise, celebrate and socialize. Cases in some parts of Brooklyn and Queens "continue to grow at an alarming rate," said the New York City health department Monday. Part-time in-person learning just began Tuesday for New York City schools, which as of a week ago had already seen Covid-19 cases in 100 buildings, according to The New York Times.

Infections are particularly high in some Orthodox Jewish communities in New York City and in the suburbs, where, as Gov. Andrew Cuomo seemed to acknowledge in a Tuesday briefing (with his repeated insistence that his appeal for stricter anti-Covid-19 measures was about public health and not religion), resistance to government intervention can be strong. But the most worrying part is that some of these communities just gathered for the recent religious holidays -- and that's just one example of what's coming in other communities across the city if Americans are planning to get together inside for Thanksgiving and any other upcoming autumn and winter holidays and events.

The question, experts say, isn't whether a second wave is coming; it's how devastating a second wave will be.
 
First the news that eight Tennessee Titans players/coaches have tested positive for COVID-18 then this:

Las Vegas Raiders looking into why players were without masks at charity event

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id...-looking-why-players-were-masks-charity-event

Several Las Vegas Raiders players attended a charity event held by teammate Darren Waller that violated Nevada rules for the coronavirus pandemic and might have broken NFL regulations.

The Darren Waller Foundation held a fundraising event at the DragonRidge Country Club in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson on Monday night. The money being raised was intended to help young people overcome drug and alcohol addiction.

Players were seen on video without masks during the indoor event while talking and mingling with guests, who also weren't wearing masks.

The City of Henderson fined the country club $2,000 on Tuesday for four violations of the Nevada governor's COVID-19 emergency directives, including people not wearing masks and more than 50 people at the event. The club has 30 days to pay the fine or dispute it.

Among the players in attendance were quarterbacks Derek Carr and Nathan Peterman, tight ends Jason Witten, Foster Moreau and Derek Carrier, receiver Zay Jones, cornerback Nevin Lawson, and Waller.

Rules from the NFL and NFLPA limit what players are allowed to do away from team facilities this season to try to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Players are banned from attending any event that "violates local and state restrictions."

This is the latest possible infraction of the COVID-19 protocols by the Raiders early this season. Coach Jon Gruden was fined $100,000 and the team fined $250,000 because he failed to wear his mask properly on the sideline during a Week 2 game against the New Orleans Saints, sources previously told ESPN.

The team is also being investigated for allowing an unauthorized team employee in the locker room after the Saints game, ESPN reported Sunday.
 
Clutching at straws somewhat, I suppose the only positive from the ongoing second wave is that it will enable the many vaccines in development to be tested for efficacy more quickly! At some cost in lives, of course.
 
A courier from my country's electricity company sent me a letter. He didn't wear face mask properly (nose and mouth uncovered)

Me: thank you, sorry I'm signing from here (while taking steps back)

Courier: I'm not sick, I've been tested. Heck, a few days ago I was one of the agents doing rapid test to people. (while smiling)

Me: but what if I'm infected with covid?

Courier: ah. True. Yes.

Hmmmmmm

(btw about he says he was doing rapid test to people, in Indonesia its quite often any help from anyone got green light even for important works. So he could be telling the truth)
 
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