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, get a flu shot and stay safe.
Quote of the Day
"We have the raw materials necessary to cope with COVID-19, but this does no good unless we know how to put our contributions together in useful ways."
(Lee Anne Fennell)
Vaccines
- What happens if multiple vaccines are approved around the same time? (nytimes.com)
- Why we could have 50 different vaccine rollout strategies. (wired.com)
- Why so many Americans are skeptical of a Covid-19 vaccine. (scientificamerican.com)
- How to persuade anti-vaxxers. (theatlantic.com)
- Drug makers are hoping their work on vaccines will provide a halo effect for the industry. (nytimes.com)
- A graphical look at the race to a vaccine. (washingtonpost.com)
Data
- Falling mortality rates seem to be associated with lower viral loads. (washingtonpost.com)
- Why men are more susceptible to severe Covid-19. (theconversation.com)
- We're still learning about the relationship between (cold) weather and coronavirus cases. (washingtonpost.com)
- Covid-19 has delayed the diagnosis of various cancers. (wsj.com)
- Lockdowns lowered the rate of premature births. (nytimes.com)
Treatments
- Remdesivir has little effect on mortality rates. (ft.com)
- Monoclonal antibodies are a promising treatment but expensive to make and hard to target. (nytimes.com)
- Can we use AI to distinguish Covid-19 from influenza? (statnews.com)
Long haulers
- Some Covid-19 patients who didn't experience severe illness are still experiencing symptoms months on. (msn.com)
- Many Covid-19 patients complain about a persistent 'brain fog.' (nytimes.com)
- More research is going to have to be done sort out these effects. (nytimes.com)
Spread
- Most of the rules in place don't properly take into account the indoor spread of aerosolized virus. (kottke.org)
- Why so many are still befuddled by the risk of indoor gatherings. (theatlantic.com)
- Respiratory droplets -- the most common mode of transmission -- don't obey our social distancing guidelines. (sciencedaily.com)
- A great example why people should isolate after a known exposure to Covid. (news.yahoo.com)
Masks
- This study showed mask mandates reduced new coronavirus cases in Canada by 25-40%. (privpapers.ssrn.com)
- The White House blocked a proposed CDC rule on mask wearing on public transportation. (nytimes.com)
Safety
- How to avoid Covid while voting. (scientificamerican.com)
- How safe is to play a woodwind instrument in pandemic? (theatlantic.com)
Europe
- Europe has overtaken US for new coronavirus cases. (washingtonpost.com)
- Case counts in Europe's school are creeping higher. (wsj.com)
- Sweden's approach to the coronavirus is converging with that of its neighbors. (sciencemag.org)
Herd immunity
- Herd immunity is not a public health strategy. (washingtonpost.com)
- Why the idea of herd immunity is seductive to many. (marginalrevolution.com)
Reinfection
- The first confirmed case of a coronavirus reinfection in the US. (thelancet.com)
- As far as we can tell, reinfection is pretty rare. (blogs.sciencemag.org)
Public health
- Max Nisen and Sam Fazeli, "The defining feature of Covid-19 in America, beyond its sheer size, is the way it has been politicized." (bloomberg.com)
- The coronavirus pandemic demonstrates the need for speed and clarity when dealing with an incipient pandemic. (wsj.com)
- Going into the winter, what can we learn from the countries best handling the pandemic? (theatlantic.com)
- Which US states have had the best pandemic response? (politico.com)
- How does a demoralized and marginalized CDC move forward? (wsj.com)
- The Trump administration is blocking Covid-19 research it doesn't like. (wired.com)
- Eight persistent Covid myths and why they persist. (scientificamerican.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- Coronavirus links: a very clear signal. (abnormalreturns.com)
- On the challenge of holding two competing thoughts on the pandemic in your head a the same time. (abnormalreturns.com)