A linkfest dedicated to the coronavirus pandemic is now a weekly feature here on Abnormal Returns. You can read last week’s edition here. Please be careful and stay safe.
Quote of the Day
"From a policy perspective, we’ve been just as unwilling to sacrifice. Almost everyone thinks that opening schools is extremely important (myself included). But too few people have been willing to discuss what we might be willing to shut down to make that happen."
(Aaron Caroll)
Vaccines
- The optimistic case for a Covid-19 vaccine. (theatlantic.com)
- Given all the candidates, the vaccine story is going to play out in waves. (blogs.sciencemag.org)
- A lot of people will need to be convinced to get a Covid-19 vaccine. (wsj.com)
- There is a potential downside from using adenovirus-based vaccines. (reuters.com)
- Russia's leading vaccine candidate may be effective, but we just don't know. (wsj.com)
- Trump is going to freak out if China gets to a coronavirus vaccine first. (politico.com)
Vaccine policy
- How an early emergency authorization for a vaccine could be done correctly. (statnews.com)
- In a perfect world, an EUA for a coronavirus vaccine would make sense. But that window has long since closed. (msn.com)
- Want herd immunity? You may need to pay people to get a vaccine. (brookings.edu)
- Why the US should share any vaccine with the rest of the world. (axios.com)
Spread
- Derek Thompson, "Silence is golden as an antiviral strategy because of how this disease spreads." (theatlantic.com)
- Despite an older population, how Japan has managed to avoid the worst of the coronavirus. (washingtonpost.com)
- Another example of how no ventilation and masks make for a superspreader event. (businessinsider.com)
- Wedding and funerals have been superspreader events. (washingtonpost.com)
- Add this to the Covid-19 prevention toolbox: strong ventilation. (wsj.com)
- How bathrooms could help spread the novel coronavirus. (washingtonpost.com)
- Can UV-C light be used to slow the spread of the coronavirus? (fortune.com)
- Researchers are focusing on how children may be asymptomatic spreaders. (marketwatch.com)
Long haulers
- Long-term effects on the heart could be the biggest impact on Covid-19 survivors. (scientificamerican.com)
- The long-term symptoms for Covid sufferers go beyond pulmonary issues. (marketwatch.com)
- Now you can count some children among Covid-19 long haulers. (undark.org)
- The story of one coronavirus survivor's struggle with cardiac issues months in. (theatlantic.com)
Testing
- Atul Gawande, "The lunacy of our testing system is the lunacy of our health system in microcosm." (newyorker.com)
- No testing regime is perfect, but what's the alternative to testing widely? (washingtonpost.com)
- How even less precise tests can help slow the spread of the coronavirus. (marginalrevolution.com)
- How the University of Arizona is testing wastewater to pinpoint outbreaks. (nbcnews.com)
- The University of Illinois may have the best testing program in the country. (fortune.com)
- A profile of Jonathan Rothberg who has "committed to the development of a molecular nucleic-acid test as accurate as PCR, as fast and simple as a home pregnancy test, and as inexpensive as an antibody or antigen option." (newyorker.com)
Treatments
- More evidence that treating Covid-19 patients with the common steroid dexamethasone is effective. (statnews.com)
- A blood test could help identify those patients most at-risk of severe Covid-19. (sciencedaily.com)
- How chest X-rays can be helpful in diagnosing Covid-19. (sciencedaily.com)
- The NIH took a shot at the FDA’s case for emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma. (vox.com)
Immunity
- What a Icelandic study tells us about the persistence of Covid-19 antibodies. (bloomberg.com)
- A herd immunity 'strategy' is an oxymoron. (theatlantic.com)
Masks
- Wearing a mask may be the difference between a mild or serious case of Covid-19. (fatherly.com)
- There are some legitimate medical reasons to not wear a mask. (newscientist.com)
PPE
- How the administration made the acquisition of crucial medical supplies, harder not easier. (wsj.com)
- Why there is still a PPE shortage in the US. (cnbc.com)
Cardiac issues
- Thomas Smith, "Covid-19 is like a burglar who slips in your unlocked second-floor window and starts to ransack your house." (elemental.medium.com)
- Why we may need to think of Covid-19 as a disease of the heart. (statnews.com)
- Is there a relationship between the sickle cell trait and severe Covid-19? (statnews.com)
Influenza
- Why the potential overlap of influenza and coronavirus is so dangerous. (wired.com)
- Influenza and the novel coronavirus are different in very significant ways. (washingtonpost.com)
- Researchers don't know how influenza and coronavirus may interact in the body. (npr.org)
- Testing companies are trying to ramp up capacity prior to flu season. (wsj.com)
- September and October are the best time to get your flu shot. (mentalfloss.com)
Hotspots
- The fall in coronavirus cases across the US has stopped. (cnbc.com)
- Covid keeps rolling across the US. (msn.com)
- Hawaii is now a hot spot. (wsj.com)
- This study shows some 40% of Cape Town residents have antibodies. (msn.com)
- Why Covid-19 isn't raging in migrant camps on the Mexican border. (slate.com)
Policy
- Harold Varmus and Rajiv Shah, "The C.D.C., the federal agency that should be crushing the pandemic, is promoting policies that prolong it." (nytimes.com)
- Why confidence in our federal government’s top scientific institutions is falling. (washingtonpost.com)
- The pandemic has exposed the shoddy state of much of America's public health system. (washingtonpost.com)
- New York was slow to react to the coronavirus, but has done well since then. (vox.com)
- Why contact tracing isn't working in the US. (theatlantic.com)
