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
"Nothing, including monoclonal antibodies, rapid antigen testing, or even a vaccine, will provide a silver bullet. But everything will help. And hundreds of thousands of Americans will keep living who would otherwise have died under a policy of herd immunity."
(John M. Barry)
Chart of the Day
The third coronavirus wave is now effectively nationwide. (chart source)
Masks
- The CDC strongly recommended in newly issued guidelines that all passengers and workers on planes, trains, buses and other public transportation wear masks to control the spread of the novel coronavirus. (washingtonpost.com)
- Universal mask wearing would go a long way in saving American lives this Winter. (statnews.com)
- The debate is raging over whether consumer masks should state how effective they are. (washingtonpost.com)
Vaccines
- A vaccine will not end the pandemic but it's going to help. (unherd.com)
- China is laying the groundwork for global distribution of its coronavirus vaccine. (ft.com)
- The federal govenrment has hired Palantir ($PLTR) to develop software to help with vaccine distribution. (wsj.com)
- Manufacturers are planning strict security regimes to keep vaccine shipments safe. (wsj.com)
- In the UK they are going to undertake human challenge trials to get more data on vaccine dosing. (scientificamerican.com)
- Why some vaccines are more expensive to manufacture than others. (ft.com)
Treatment
- Two new studies show doctors are getting better at treating Covid-19. (npr.org)
- The approval of Covid-19 antibody therapies create their own logistical and financial issues. (wsj.com)
- Some good news - Covid-19 patients are seeing an improvement in lung function. (nytimes.com)
Symptoms
- What we know about how Covid-19 affects the nervous system. (scientificamerican.com)
- Why diabetes and Covid-19 may be a two-way street. (fortune.com)
Long haulers
- Why doctors are struggling to find ways to help Covid-19 long haulers. (washingtonpost.com)
- What doctors who have long term Covid symptoms are saying about the long haul. (wsj.com)
- Long haulers are going online to find support. (wsj.com)
Data
- The CDC puts excess deaths in the US at over 300,000 in 2020. (washingtonpost.com)
- We are likely undercounting the impact of Covid-19 on excess deaths in the US. (qz.com)
- A big, free, data visualization of many aspects of the global response to the coronavirus. (ig.ft.com)
Data analysis
- Covid-19 forecasting models have converged over time. (wsj.com)
- How data can be used to avoid blanket lockdowns. (scientificamerican.com)
- The administration is withholding coronavirus data to outside health researchers. (nytimes.com)
- Why comparing Covid-19 data across countries is problematic. (compoundadvisors.com)
New York
- The New York City outbreak was, in retrospect, deadlier than those in other countries. (bloomberg.com)
- How New York helped seed much of the spread of coronavirus throughout the US. (ft.com)
Europe
- Mortality rates are markedly lower in Europe's second wave. (ft.com)
- The ECDC is plagued with a lack of power to coordinate reponses across Europe. (politico.eu)
- Europe had some of the best health systems in the world but were still overwhelmed by pandemic. (ft.com)
Spread
- The CDC has changed their guidance on what constitutes a Covid-19 'close contact.' (washingtonpost.com)
- In at least five counties where the Trump campaign held big rallies, case counts have surged. (usatoday.com)
- An example of how coronavirus cases on college campuses leak out into the broader populace. (washingtonpost.com)
- What this summer taught us about the transmission of the coronavirus. (fivethirtyeight.com)
- Day care facilities are at low-risk of transmitting Covid-19. (wsj.com)
- Long-term care facilities are still experiencing outbreaks. (washingtonpost.com)
Herd immunity
- Graham Lawton, "We can’t take it for granted that widespread individual immunity will automatically create herd immunity." (newscientist.com)
- The math behind herd immunity is highly assumption-driven. (msn.com)
Surfaces
- We need to tell the public how to prioritize relatives risks and surfaces are relatively low risk. (washingtonpost.com)
- How our knowledge about how the coronavirus survives on surfaces has evolved over time. (wired.com)
- Are we doing more harm than good by constantly wiping down surfaces? (ft.com)
Contact tracing
- Covid-19 test results are still too slow to provide contact tracers useful information. (npr.org)
- The US is paying the price for not have a national contact tracing app. (wsj.com)
Lockdowns
- The US response to the pandemic failed because the lockdown didn't bring case counts down low enough. (marketwatch.com)
- How short, strict lockdowns could help affect the pace of the pandemic. (bloomberg.com)
- What a two-week 'break' would do to change the trajectory of the pandemic. (unherd.com)
Public health
- It's convenient for those in power to shift blame for their failures to younger generations. (bloomberg.com)
- A modest investment in non-pharmaceutical interventions, like better masks, would pay big dividends. (barrons.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- Coronavirus links: the raw materials. (abnormalreturns.com)
- On the challenge of holding two competing thoughts on the pandemic in your head a the same time. (abnormalreturns.com)
