South Korea has been widely held up as the “model” for fighting COVID-19, yet now appears to be facing a second wave… https://www.wionews.com/world/south-korea-closes-bars-and-clubs-fears-second-wave-of-covid-19-297461
The U.S.N.S. Comfort arrived in New York to help coronavirus patients. This is not its first rodeo, as it has been involved in responding to other pandemics.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-coronavirus-vaccine-takes-so-long_l_5ea868fbc5b66a3cfefa2a36?ncid=APPLENEWS00001 A vaccine in 12-18 months may not be realistic but is hopeful. First, the particular type of vaccine that may work best is determined. Then, there are human clinical trials. There is a lot of safety testing. Then, larger effects are observed such as side effects and at which dosages they come up. Then, … Read more
A documentary made by a Japanese director living in Nanjing documenting the rules implemented in Nanjing to contain COVID-19.
April 27th, 2020: USA Today Article wrote an article based on CDC recommendations for COVID-19 Prevention and Control Masks. It details materials to use in making masks at home and techniques for keeping them clean and effective. https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/2020/04/27/how-clean-care-for-store-and-reuse-masks-protect-coronavirus-n-95-elastometric-homemade-covid-19/5148025002/
A must-read. Here is a group of medical scientists explaining in lay person’s language why the tried-and-true methods established to determine “death rates” (more accurately case fatality rates) are necessary before making policy decisions based on reports based on faulty methods. The upshot: in this case, politicians will be well served using the best scientific … Read more
In this paper published in The Lancet Psychiatry Journal on April 15th, 2020, the researchers suggest that situations of a pandemic, specifically under COVID-19 place many psychological and psychosocial stressors upon individuals. The authors of this paper suggest to collect data on how the pandemic has affected mental health of individuals and then prioritize the … Read more
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-outbreak-computer-algorithm-artificial-intelligence/ A Canadian company, BlueDot, developed an algorithm that tracks infectious outbreaks around the world, tracks flights, and calculates cities with the highest risk of its population contracting disease. This technology was developed following the SARS outbreak in order to prepare, track, and prevent the next infectious disease, thus assigning this new science’s name: outbreak … Read more
https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2020/04/15/coronavirus-vaccine-prospects GSK (bringing the spike protein) and Sanofi (bringing the adjuvant) are going to collaborate on vaccine development. Johnson and Johnson have a stricter timeline planning first-in-human trials in September, while Pfizer with BioNTech is possibly starting human trials in August. The NRDD counts around 78 real vaccine programs, with a diversity of approaches. There … Read more
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/04/13/the-quest-for-a-pandemic-pill
