The pandemic has put the United States in unusual and humbling global company.
Once viewed as a beacon of government competence and a model for public health, the US has fumbled the response to the coronavirus pandemic even more than countries known for widespread corruption, poor healthcare, and ubiquitous poverty to the shock of many around the world. By many measures, the US is now faring worse than Mexico, Brazil, India, and Russia.
This is not lost on people in those countries, many of whom are watching the situation unfold in the US with shock and bewilderment.
Roxana Snchez, an economist in Mexico City, has always resented her countrys corrupt presidents and looked longingly at the seemingly upright politics of the US. But these days, as she watches President Donald Trump musing on television about drinking disinfectant, she sees in the US an even more dangerous kind of leader: an ignorant one.
Alexey Raksha, an independent demographer in Moscow, grew distressed this summer as he watched Russians emerge from months of lockdown and promptly begin partying, going to restaurants, and generally ignoring recommendations from public health experts. Coronavirus cases in the country surged. When he turned on the TV, he was shocked to see similar scenes playing out in the US. It looked to him like Russias impoverished, remote regions had a lot in common with states like Florida, Texas, and Georgia, where cases are currently spiking.
In the countries where the death toll is the highest, there is no real leadership.
Nondita DSouza, principal of a school in western India, watched with dismay as parents in her area threw temper tantrums when schools closed because of the pandemic; she then experienced a jolt of disappointment and recognition as the same kinds of debates playing out in the US.
While these countries seem so different, the response to the pandemic in each place has underscored all the other things they have in common: populist or authoritarian-leaning leaders, officials who have flouted the advice of their top scientists while pushing absurd remedies to fight the virus, and enormous swaths of the population with no safety net to help them stay at home.
The US is no longer an example for other countries to follow, said Snchez, the Mexico City economist. Instead, she said, it has become an example of something else: In the countries where the death toll is the highest, there is no real leadership.
Coronavirus protection candle in esoteric products store on April 16, 2020 in Pachuca, Mexico.
In all these countries and others that have emerged as hot spots top officials initially downplayed the severity of the crisis, fumbled lock downs, and sometimes even seemed to embrace magical thinking to ward it off.
Mexicos President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador said he carries palm-sized amulets as protective shields against the coronavirus. In Russia, where President Vladimir Putin was largely absent from the countrys response, homemade recipes spread widely, including one for a miracle drink of lemon and baking soda to cleanse the body.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India proposed banging pots and pans; his followers were quick to circulate videos over WhatsApp suggesting the sounds cumulative vibration, similar to temple bells, would destroy the viruss potency. Modi also repeatedly extolled the virtue of yoga as a protective shield against the virus. Last week, he and several Hindu priests ignored social distancing rules to gather and lay down the foundation stone of a Hindu temple. (Subsequently, a priest who shared the stage with the Modi tested positive for the virus.)
Leaders had waved off the advice of their top scientists, so why shouldnt everyone else?
In the wake of such messaging, people in these countries have often failed to take the virus seriously themselves. Leaders had waved off the advice of their top scientists, so why shouldnt everyone else? Especially since, as in the US, many people were told they had to choose between public health and the economy, between catching an illness their leaders have pooh-poohed and putting food on the table.
By April, as the number of infections was multiplying rapidly in Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro, who called the disease caused by the coronavirus a little flu, fired his widely beloved health minister, Luiz Henrique Mandetta. While Mandetta had been urging social distancing, Bolsonaro demanded people return to work.
In Russia, Putin initially ordered a nationwide paid holiday in late March, when there were less than 1,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, but he quickly sloughed much of the power and responsibility to regional governors. Some of them imposed restrictions on public transport and public gatherings, and citywide lockdowns for those hardest hit; in Moscow, residents were required to download a digital pass to leave home.
But caught off guard, many regional governments were not up to the challenge, and their responses were confusing or lackluster. As a result, many Russians went about their daily lives, flouting or ignoring public health recommendations, such as wearing face masks. News reports described restaurants and bars in Moscow and St. Petersburg as being near full capacity while infections surged; owners complained about the financial hit long-term closures would cause.
Most of the measures were gradually lifted starting in May, when Putin said the country should reopen and people should get back to work. The daily rates of infection surged. Nevertheless, much of the country continued to behave as if everything was fine. A New York Times story published at the beginning of August quoted young Russians who are out partying again at bars without masks because they want to have a life.
In Mexico, Hugo Lpez-Gatell Ramrez, the deputy health minister in charge of the governments coronavirus response, told people to keep their distance, stay home, and wear masks. Lpez Obrador flouted each of these suggestions, continuing to hug people, travel, and go maskless, even in crowded rooms.
One of the only times that Lpez Obrador has worn a mask in public was when he went to meet Trump, who himself has stoked the raging debate over mask use in the US.
In Acapulco, a major tourist port city on Mexicos Pacific coast, people continued attending weddings and hosting quinceaeras. And it wasnt just locals skeptical people from Mexico City who drove to Acapulco to ride out the pandemic in their luxury condominiums have also been throwing parties. The government, despite its lackadaisical and conflicted stance, eventually deployed the Mexican National Guard to break them up.
It has been a challenge to make people understand that the coronavirus is, for starters, real, Adela Romn Ocampo, the mayor of Acapulco, told BuzzFeed News.
At the same time, when many of these places did finally lock down, they did so without a plan to boost the social safety net.
In India, Modi imposed one of the harshest lockdowns in the world in late March. Some people were confined to their homes for weeks, but the lockdown also left millions stranded without work, unable to make rent, or feed their families and also unable to leave the cities for their hometowns.
This, according to Supriya Sharma, an editor at the Indian news website Scroll.in, is when the trouble began. Rural migrants were forcibly held back in cities for two months as infections rose. When they were finally allowed to go home, they took the virus from urban hotspots to rural areas across the country, Sharma told BuzzFeed News over email. Now, cases are rising in every state, every region of the country even Bihar and Odisha where the health infrastructure is extremely poor. Frontline workers are fatigued, hospitals are overwhelmed, and the economic crisis means theres little scope for any more lockdowns.
There are echoes of all this in what has happened in the US. In April, Trump famously spoke on national television about the possibility of shining a powerful beam of light or disinfectant inside patients to kill the coronavirus. He also repeatedly called for the economy, and later schools, to be reopened, absent what many experts said was a real plan to do so safely. His administration has undercut his own public health experts, as when his aides provided campaign style opposition research on Dr. Anthony Fauci.
What these leaders have in common is the inability to navigate ambiguity and the need for certainty, even when its baseless Michael S. Roth, president of Wesleyan University, told BuzzFeed News. And in a pandemic, that becomes a deadly combination.
A health worker in New Delhi wearing a protective suit takes a nasal swab from a man to test for COVID-19 coronavirus.
Even before the pandemic, public healthcare in these countries was in trouble. Many hospitals suffered from crumbling infrastructure, medicine shortages, and ill-prepared staffers.
In Mexico, Lpez Obrador implemented steep budget cuts shortly after his inauguration in 2018. Doctors, nurses, and patients complained of empty medicine cabinets and delayed surgeries. When the coronavirus hit the country of 126 million, many people stayed away from hospitals, which are perceived as inefficient and even dangerous.
Blanca Imelda, a nurse in a clinic in Culiacn in Sinaloa state, became infected with the virus in late April. Immediately, she told her children: If I get very ill, Id rather die at home than over there, referring to the local hospital. Imelda, 58, said doctors didnt have the resources to give patients optimal care.
When her son became infected, a doctor told her by telephone to administer hydroxychloroquine. Her son had a bad reaction; Imelda was unable to care for him at home, and she rushed him to the hospital. Staffers told her that he was no longer infected and turned them away. As Imelda hooked him up to an IV at home, she prayed, asking God to spare him. He survived.
In Russia, the healthcare system has been underfunded and in abysmal shape for decades. With the exception of some hospitals in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the countrys two most populated cities, most healthcare facilities are dilapidated and suffer severe shortages of doctors, nurses, equipment, and medication. Moreover, medical staffers work long hours (sometimes 48-hour shifts with just 24 hours in between) for very little money, according to news reports and experts who spoke to BuzzFeed News. Then came the pandemic, inundating already overburdened hospitals and doctors with far more patients than they were used to seeing.
As Imelda hooked him up to an IV at home, she prayed, asking God to spare him. He survived.
Dmitry Seryogin, a paramedic in the city of Oryol, about 225 miles south of Moscow, told BuzzFeed News that early in the pandemic there was a severe lack of personal protective equipment for hospital staffers, leading to medical workers getting infected with the coronavirus. Many doctors and nurses died but their deaths often went unreported. So Alexey Erlikh, a Moscow cardiologist, cofounded an advocacy group for medical workers that created a memory list of Russian healthcare workers who have died of COVID-19 after treating coronavirus patients.
The situation is eerily similar in India, where the number of cases has crossed 1.5 million. Some estimate the country could overtake the US and Brazil with the most cases in the world by early 2021. At present, India has seven doctors and 17 nurses for every 10,000 people. (The global average is 13.9 doctors and 28.6 nurses per 10,000.)
Meanwhile, many people in India have treated medical professionals as a threat, worried that they are carrying the virus. Medics in several parts of the country were harassed, assaulted, and even evicted on suspicion of being infected until the government finally intervened, warning citizens and police to lay off frontline workers.
The US, by contrast, spends more than any other country on healthcare. And yet its system has also buckled. As the Atlantics Ed Yong noted, the country has squandered immense resources, leaving citizens and healthcare workers prey to an expensive and ineffective healthcare system. Meanwhile, a history of systemic racism in its healthcare system further endangers already vulnerable sections of the population.
An employee of the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing scanning passengers' body temperature with a thermal imaging camera at Pulkovo International Airport in St. Petersburg.
On top of crumbling public health systems and the magical thinking approach, these countries have also been plagued by spotty testing; plus, in many cases, faulty or manipulated statistics have made it difficult or impossible for public health officials and epidemiologists to get a handle on the spread.
This has played out in the US ever since the pandemics early days, beginning when errors at the CDC led to a severe shortage of tests. Since then, Trump has repeatedly promoted a specious claim that case numbers are high due to the countrys high testing volume, and has even called for slowing down testing. In recent weeks, testing has declined sharply in hot spot states, which has epidemiologists worried that cases are being missed.
In India, the health ministry has wheeled out statistics to boost public confidence. But the countrys testing rate is dangerously low: While more than 2 million tests have been administered, India is still only testing around 4,100 people per million. (The global average is 29,000 tests per million.) Sulakshana Nandi, director of People's Health Movement, a rural health advocacy group, told BuzzFeed News that huge number of cases are being missed, mainly due to grossly inadequate testing.
Even the one thing Modi has congratulated himself for that India has the lowest fatality rate among the worst-affected countries might be false.
We are missing COVID-19 deaths in the same way that we are missing cases due to less testing, Nandi said. In India, death-reporting by the government has always been a problem. There is a long-standing practice of underreporting specific disease mortality. We have seen that with regards to malaria, tuberculosis, dengue, and many others.
In my opinion, the number of cases and deaths may be underestimated in order to calm the population.
In Russia, health experts and a former government statistician told BuzzFeed News that the number of coronavirus cases and related deaths are being drastically undercounted.
Alexey Raksha, the Moscow demographer, worked for Rosstat, the Russian federal statistics agency, before being forced out early this year for speaking out about flaws in its recording system. He has studied mortality rates throughout the county since the early days of the pandemic and compared them with official death counts. He quickly found inconsistencies, he said.
For instance, the number of deaths recorded in Moscow in April, 11,846, was almost 20% higher than that of the same month last year, and in May the number was 15,713, about 58% higher that the previous year, Raksha said. Yet in April this year, just 658 deaths were attributed to COVID-19, and in May the figure was just 2,757. Reports from the city of St. Petersburg and across the country were similar, Raksha said. That suggests that officials were missing or undercounting deaths.
Russias Ministry of Health had reported 932,493 cases and 15,872 deaths as of Wednesday. But based on Rakshas calculations, the actual number of coronavirus cases in the country could probably be 1.2, 1.3, or 1.4 million with the true number of deaths closer to 40,000.
As of August 21, 2020
Populist right-wing leader. Universal healthcare but public health expenditure per capita has been declining. Independent media that Bolsonaro deems his enemy.
Populist, right-wing leader. A once robust public healthcare system has crumbled under years of neglect, leaving behind a few stretched high-quality public hospitals. Those who can afford it go to private hospitals that have a reputation for price gouging. Almost all media is corporate-owned, and almost all of it kowtows to the BJP.
Populist left-leaning leader (with major caveats). Global healthcare though in shambles (medicine shortages, crumbling infrastructure). Mix of independent and state-funded media.
Authoritarian leader. State-provided healthcare. Powerful and obedient state-run media.
Populist right-wing leader with authoritarian tendencies who has downplayed and politicized the outbreak. Poorly coordinated federal response on testing coupled with expensive and ineffective private healthcare system. Trump frequently characterizes media coverage of pandemic as fake news.
Source: Johns Hopkins University
Seryogin, the paramedic in Oryol, said he also doubts the official coronavirus statistics, based on what he has seen. In my opinion, the number of cases and deaths may be underestimated in order to calm the population, he said.
He added that limited testing is partly to blame for the alleged inaccuracies. He said people are currently only tested for COVID-19 at hospitals when they are diagnosed with pneumonia and that authorities are also not counting deaths as being related to COVID-19 if the person had a preexisting condition.
For the governments part, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova lauded the countrys testing capacity in April. As of Wednesday, it had conducted a total of 17,803,955 tests, according to the Ministry of Health. Moreover, Putin boasted this month of approving the worlds first coronavirus vaccine, although there is skepticism over its efficacy and safety.
And in Mexico, officials admitted that there were 71,314 excess deaths in 20 of the 32 states between March 15 and June 27 the official COVID-19 death count is just 59,106. The government came under fire in May, after the news media reported that the death toll in Mexico City was more than three times what the official figures claimed.
By July, half the tests in Mexico were coming back positive, a sign that only those who present serious symptoms are getting tested. According to the World Health Organization, countries should not reopen their economies until they get test positivity rates at 5% or lower.
Yet, despite Mexico having the highest percentage of positive tests in the world, restaurants in many parts of the country boast full tables, stores are trying to lure people back with deep discounts, and subway platforms are packed.
Crosses, red balloons and Brazilian flags are placed in the sand on Copacabana beach in a demonstration to honor the victims of COVID-19, as the country heads to a milestone of 100,000 new coronavirus related deaths, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2020.
Mriga Kapadiya, co-owner and cofounder of the NorBlack NorWhite apparel line, is a Canadian citizen of Indian origin who found herself locked down in south India when travel restrictions first hit the country.
Over the last few months, Kapadiya said, she has regularly checked on friends in Toronto, New York, and Los Angeles. The differences were stark.
In Toronto, her friends had solid government welfare support, she said, and a stable income to at least pay rent and create some time and space to think about next steps.
But in New York, the lack of government support, physical space, major job cuts coupled with the uprising and political climate, it seems to be extremely difficult on every single level.
She sees in New York the same thing as in India: People have given up on the idea that the government will keep them safe, fed, or housed. They are on their own to protect themselves from the virus, and to figure out how to make a living as it rages around them.
Emilio Reyes, an antiques vendor in Mexico City, said he cant rely on his government. When the pandemic first reached Mexico, Reyes said, he underestimated its potential. And as he watched Lpez Obrador zigzag the country hugging and kissing people during political events in April, with much of the world already in lockdown Reyes became convinced the virus was nothing to worry about. But then a relative died. Neighbors and close friends soon followed.
Mexico doesnt give a fuck, he said. The thing about the government helping people? Thats a show.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage across the globe, the question being posed in scientific journals, on TV talk shows, and over dinner tables all across America is this: When will we have a vaccine? The answer to that billion-dollar question is still up in the airas of this writing, dozens of vaccines are in human trials, though experts including Dr. Anthony Fauci have said the likeliest approval date is early 2021. So, perhaps an even more important question is this: Once we have a vaccine, will enough people be willing to get it?
In an exclusive survey of almost 3,000 women by Prevention, HealthyWomen, and GCI Health, 57% of respondents said they would get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as its available. Readers are not opposed to vaccines on principle79% are planning to get the flu shot this year. But there is a sense of distrust over the COVID vaccine, which is being pushed through the development stages in record time: In the survey, 32% of respondents said, There is not enough long-term data.
But there is much to find encouraging about these numbers, says Wendy Lund, the CEO of GCI Health. An average of 64% of women over age 55 plan to get the vaccine, and surprisingly 74% of women between 18 and 24 plan to get it, she points out. "The younger women are early adapters, she says. They also want to get out of the house and get on with all theyre missing, and they know a vaccine is our best hope to emerge from this crisis.
While there is still much we dont know about when a vaccine will be approved and how it sill be distributed, heres what we do know:
Experts generally agree that in order to stop the spread of the virusand for the country to go back to normal, including opening schools, offices, and businesseswe need a vaccine. And though it would be great to have decades to study long-term effects, we cant afford to wait that long to stop COVID-19, which has already infected more than 5 million Americans and caused over 170,000 deaths. When you release a vaccine, you don't know everythingyou never know everything, says Paul Offit, M.D., the director of the Center for Vaccine Research at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia. The question is always, When do you know enough?
Lets say a vaccine been tested on 20,000 people [with 10,000 additional people receiving a placebo] and the efficacy was 75% at preventing moderate to severe disease without any serious side effects, and its been shown to be effective for six to eight months and probably longer, says Dr. Offit. With 1,000 people dying every day in this country and many more getting sick, would you get that vaccine? I think most people would.
Dr. Offit also points out that even though different phases in some of the drug trials are being done concurrently instead of over a longer period of years, that is because the government, through Operation Warp Speed, is taking on the financial risk of building manufacturing facilities for vaccines that may not ultimately be approved (typically its the pharmaceutical companies that take this financial gamble, which is why they make sure the results of each phase are encouraging before spending tens or hundreds of millions on the next phase). But Dr. Offit points out that the same safety protocols are still in place: If the Phase III trials that are currently being done show that the vaccine has a safety problem, or its less effective than one would hope, then they will throw away those vaccines, he explains.
Another point to keep in mind is that we are not starting from square one with many of the vaccines and treatments, says Marsha B. Henderson, the former associate commissioner for womens health at the FDA, who is on the board of directors of HealthyWomen. We have had other coronaviruses before COVID-19, and there are products that have been identified that could be repurposed and be very helpful. Henderson says consumers should also find it encouraging that the FDA has already reviewed one much-talked-about treatment and taken it off the emergency use list when it was found to have no evidence of efficacy, and that with new computer modeling, data from drug trials can be crunched much more quickly and efficiently that in the past. You can do a lot with data from 30,000 people in a trialthey will be reviewing it and cutting it in every possible way, she says.
I am very confident in the research going on right now. Once a vaccine is approved, it will save so many lives.
Making the decision to line up to get the vaccine still comes down to each person. People want to make sure that the vaccine has gone through all the bells and whistles that it should go through, and that every other approved vaccine has gone through, says Beth Battaglino, R.N., the CEO of HealthyWomen. Were seeing a lot of conflicting news from different sources, but I am very confident in the research that is going on right now, and once the vaccine is approved and has gone through the appropriate channels, it will save so many lives. Battaglino urges those who have concerns about vaccine safety to trust in science, not in internet memes. Go to reliable sources for your information, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Kaiser Health, rather than reading whatever you find on Google, she says.
As the saying goes, vaccines dont stop disease, vaccinations do. So its not enough to have an FDA-approved vaccine: In order to stop the spread of COVID-19, a large enough percentage of Americans need to be vaccinated so that the virus cant find new hosts to infect, a concept known as herd immunity. There is a complex formula for this based on the efficacy of the vaccine and the number of people each infected person typically passes the virus to. For COVID-19, that number is between 2 and 3. To put it in perspective, thats more contagious than a seasonal flu (1.3) but far less contagious than measles (12 to 18).
If the vaccine is 75% effective at preventing shedding [when an infected person releases the virus into the environment, infecting others], then you would need to vaccinate about two thirds of the population to stop the spread, explains Dr. Offit. And though a segment of the population has already been exposed and developed antibodies, Dr. Offit explains those numbers wont likely come into play when vaccines are distributed. So many people have had mild cases or were asymptomatic and were never tested, so I think it would be too difficult to screen people that way. It is also unclear how long immunity lasts for those who have been infected.
So lets jump to the (hopefully near) future, when a vaccine has gone through all the testing protocols, and has been found to be safe and effective. Once it is approved, there will be a priority list of who receives it first. The CDCs Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is working with the National Academy of Medicine to develop that strategy right now, says Dr. Offit. We can assume it will go to frontline medical personnel first, he says. The first wave of immunizations will likely also include essential workers such as those in mass transit and nursing homes, as well as the elderly and other high-risk populations. That first group will include about 120 million people, and since the vaccine will likely require two doses [given one month apart], we will need about 240 million doses, he says. But even after the vaccine is approved and produced, there will be a major challenge rolling it out, Dr. Offit says. At least as of today, the government hasn't made it clear exactly how they're planning to do that.
One thing Henderson and other public health experts are adamant about, however, is that no one should have to pay for the COVID-19 vaccine once its approved. The public has already paid for the vaccineour taxes have supported the development of these vaccines, and we have poured out billions into the manufacturing as taxpayers. There should be no reason why any U.S. taxpayer should have to pay for that vaccine, Henderson says. The administration has so far only stated that the vaccine will be provided free to those who are vulnerable and can't afford itfor others, it will be up to insurance companies whether they will require a copay.
Javier Zayas PhotographyGetty Images
Because Black, Latino, and Native American communities have been dying from COVID-19 at higher rates than the general population, Dr. Offit points out that its crucial that the clinical trials include as diverse a group of subjects as possible. We need to make sure that groups who are most at risk are adequately represented in these trials, he says. So then we can say, look, this vaccine worksif youre African American, or over 65, or you have co-morbidities, the vaccine is this percentage effective.
In the Prevention/HealthyWomen/GCI survey, only 34% of Black women said they would get the vaccine right away, Lund points out, which speaks to a sense of distrust over whether enough safety precautions are in place. Dr. James Hildreth, an immunologist and the president of the historically Black medical school Meharry Medical College in Nashville, recently told reporter Soledad O'Brien that he has volunteered to take part in vaccine trials so he can encourage other African Americans to get the vaccine without fear.
However, in what will surely be disappointing news to parents, Dr. Offit points out that there is one group that is not currently being included in vaccine trials: children. The initial studies are all being done on people who are over 18, he says, pointing out that studies on children will likely not come along for a few months or years after the adult studies.
All the experts we spoke to are confident that once the COVID-19 vaccine is approved and Americans see front-line workers (and trusted experts such as Dr. Fauci) get vaccinated without any significant side effects, doubts will fade away and enough people will become vaccinated to create herd immunity. But while we wait for the COVID-19 vaccine, there is another vaccine that everyone should get, says infectious diseases expert Morgan Katz, M.D., an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins Medicine. We absolutely need everyone to get vaccinated for the flu, she says. This is the only protection we have now from what is preparing to be very hard winter and fall, and we need to use the tools that we already have.
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I would have no problem with it, even with limited trials, said Barrett, who was born and raised in Chicago but now lives in the Chesterton, Indiana, area. Weve got way more to gain at our age than to not try it. Its crazy not to. Hopefully if everyone gets it, life can go back to normal.
The COVID-19 symptom of loss of smell, or anosmia, is unusual in the way that it differs from that of the common cold or flu.
With these ailments, a blocked nose is usually the culprit, caused by inflammation swelling of the area. However, for some people that have COVID-19, anosmia is their only symptom but it is much more profound than with regular flu.
The reason for this could lie in the mechanism by which the virus infects our cells, new research suggests.
Read the latest coronavirus news:
The entry point for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is thought to be a protein found on the surface of some human cells. These are cells found in the heart, lungs, gut, throat and the nose.
The protein, a type of enzyme called the angiotensin converting enzyme II (ACE-2), has a particular shape that is designed for its job to take the hormone angiotensin, and convert it into angiotensin II, which is used around the body for things like regulating blood pressure. While ACE-2s shape fits nicely with angiotensin, it also binds with the spiky outer proteins of the coronavirus.
By looking at tissue samples from patients noses, a team of scientists from John Hopkins University School of Medicine hoped to quantify how many ACE-2 proteins were found on each type of cell. They found that the levels of the protein on the olfactory epithelium, the tissue at the back of the nose which is used to detect smell, were strikingly high, between 200 and 700 times higher than in other areas of the nose.
Its thought that this finding could indicate potential avenues for treating the infection directly through the nose.
These olfactory supporting cells are necessary to protect and maintain the delicate neurons in the nose that detect odours and signal that information to the brain, said author of the study Dr Andrew P Lane.
Generally speaking, when cells are infected with a virus, they undergo a process called pyroptosis essentially hitting the self-destruct button to foil the virus. So, most likely, olfactory supporting cells destroy themselves, leading in turn to the death of sensory neurons and loss of the sense of smell.
Read more about the symptoms of COVID-19:
Further studies looking at recovery of COVID-19 patients have found these neurons to return over time, though the long-lasting effects are still unknown.
Some COVID-19 patients are reporting distorted smell parosmia persisting for months after their sense of smell has returned, said Lane. This long-lasting smell disturbance with COVID-19 is unusual and warrants further study.
It is possible that this altered smell function may be permanent, but it is too soon to know. We are optimistic that this eventually goes away as the brain re-learns to interpret signals from the regenerated olfactory lining.
Viral load is simply the amount of virus in the body. This varies in different parts of the body, and can change over time. Recent studies have shown, for example, that the viral load in the lungs of COVID-19 patients is greater than that in the nose.
A patients viral load increases as the virus replicates and disease symptoms get worse, and then decreases as the patient recovers. So monitoring the viral load can give us a useful indication of how a patients infection is progressing.
The amount of virus that youre exposed to at the beginning of an infection is something different, and this is called the infectious dose. Studies on other viruses such as the flu and SARS have shown that the higher the infectious dose (the more virus you breathe in), the greater your chances of having more severe symptoms.
With one small exposure, your immune system may be able to fight off the virus before you get sick, but with repeated small exposures (such as touching your face throughout the day) or one large exposure (an infected person coughing in your face), the virus may grow faster than your body can control.
We dont yet know if this link between infectious dose and disease severity holds for COVID-19, but it may do, and thats why its so important to maintain physical distancing and keep the initial exposure as low as possible.
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But a number of University Park students living off campus have not been tested, vice president and provost Nick Jones said, outlining some steps the university is taking to help students get their coronavirus tests. The school will begin discipline processes for those who do not begin making arrangements for testing by 8 a.m. Monday, said the email, which was obtained by The Inquirer.
After months of theater closures and no new big Hollywood movies, cinemas are finally starting to return to business in the U.S. But whether patrons come back will depend on one key question: Do they feel safe?
The major cinema chains made their best case Friday that the beleaguered exhibition industry is doing what it can to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as they desperately work to get back on their feet. The National Assn. of Theatre Owners (NATO), the trade group that represents cinemas, unveiled its new nationwide health and safety standards for sanitation, mask-wearing and other measures, which it has dubbed CinemaSafe.
The Washington-based lobbying organization said more than 300 companies, including about 2,600 individual theaters and 30,000 screens in the U.S., have signed on to the voluntary protocols ahead of the release of new movies such the Russell Crowe-starring Unhinged and Christopher Nolans Tenet.
The rules include mandatory masks for employees and customers, unless theyre actively eating or drinking in the auditorium. The theaters that signed on have also committed to enhanced cleaning measures and reduced capacity in auditoriums to encourage social distancing. The protocols also call on theaters to make sure their HVAC systems are all working properly, with increased ventilation whenever possible.
Most theater companies have already set out their own more detailed procedures for making sure people arent sitting too closely together while watching a movie, with online ticketing and blocked-out seats, for example. However, with distancing standards varying widely from state to state, the theaters are pushing hard the argument that moviegoing is safe more broadly, or at least as safe as going to a restaurant, flying on an airplane or worshiping in a church.
NATO made its pitch in an hourlong Zoom news conference that also included executives from AMC Theatres, Regal, Cinemark, Imax and Marcus Theatres, along with two health experts.
It was super-clear that a nationwide program that brought the industry together ... was really the thing that consumers were looking for to say, I feel safe, and I feel comfortable coming back to the cinema, Imax Entertainment President Megan Colligan said during the conference. How we do this, and how we keep our customers safe, matters to literally everyone all over the world.
Indeed, whether customers feel comfortable going back is an existential issue for theater owners, whose cinemas have been largely shut down since mid-March. AMC, which has remained closed throughout the bulk of the pandemic, lost $561 million in its most recent quarter as revenue dropped almost 100%. Leawood, Kan.-based exhibitor AMC, the worlds largest theater company, also restructured its debt to stay afloat.
Theaters have slowly started to open their doors, with about 1,500 locations open in the U.S. and Canada (about a quarter of the total) as of this weekend, according to Comscore.
But business has been slow due to a lack of new movies, and theaters have focused mainly on legacy titles including Jaws and Jurassic Park. In a quirk of the COVID era, 2001s Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone this week crossed the $1-billion box office milestone because of its release in reopened Chinese theaters. Unhinged opens this weekend, followed by Disneys The New Mutants (Aug. 28) and Tenet (Labor Day weekend).
Its still not clear when theaters will be allowed to reopen in major markets such as Los Angeles and New York. A judge in New Jersey this week rejected NATOs bid for a preliminary injunction to allow theaters to reopen in the state. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo hasnt given a specific date for when movie houses can return. And California Gov. Gavin Newsom last month ordered indoor theaters to close again amid a rise in cases.
Still, theaters are pushing ahead with marketing campaigns to get people back in their seats. AMC reopened some theaters with a one-day promotion offering 15-cent tickets on Thursday. Theaters chains such as Cinemark have released videos on social media showcasing cleaning measures. Austin, Texas-based Alamo Drafthouse says its chain will be safer than a supermarket.
In an interview this week, Mooky Greidinger, CEO of Regals British parent company Cineworld, said special expert teams have been visiting the companys locations twice weekly to make sure safety measures are up to snuff.
We put a lot of effort, first and foremost, into the safety issues because the priority to us is the safety of our customers and our team, he said.
Still, he acknowledged that it could be a long time before the theatrical industry returns to full strength. Analysts dont expect moviegoing to make a total recovery, at least until a coronavirus vaccine is widely available.
There is no doubt we cannot perform at the numbers we used to have at this stage, Greidinger said. But safety is the priority.
Questions remain about whether and how theaters will enforce mask-wearing policies during a two-hour-plus film such as Tenet.
AMC created a massive blow-back when it earlier announced it would only strongly encourage masks across its circuit, but quickly changed course when the company was hammered on social media. AMC has said about two-thirds of its 630 U.S. theaters will be open by the end of the month.
AMC Entertainment Chief Executive Adam Aron, during the Zoom conference, called masks a subject near and dear to our heart, adding that it would be easy to enforce this policy, because this is what moviegoers want. We will not let them into our theaters if theyre not wearing masks, and we will not let them stay if they do not keep their masks on.
Cinemas that commit to the protocols will be able to display a CinemaSafe badge on their websites and at their theater locations to promote their efforts, NATO said.
As theaters tout safety, studios are also launching marketing campaigns to help bring customers back to theaters for their new movies.
For Solstice Studios first offering, the R-rated road rage thriller Unhinged, Crowe made a video that at first appears to be a heartfelt PSA about the return of the cinema. But after some highfalutin remarks, Crowe makes a hard turn to a profane, confrontational rant pitching his movie about a homicidal maniac.
They say there is a catalyst at the heart of the cinema experience, Crowe wistfully intones in the video. But who are they? Some conceited, pretentious ... who try to ... in your pocket and tell you its raining? ... Ive got a movie coming out. Its called Unhinged.
Solstice Studios marketing head Vinny Bruzzese said figuring out how to sell the dark thriller Unhinged during a global health crisis want easy.
Its not just about getting people aware and getting people excited about Unhinged, he said. Its about getting people back into the habit of going to the movies, period.
NATO said its protocols were designed based on the guidelines set out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, Occupational Safety and Health Administration and other health experts.
During the conference, Dr. Joyce Sanchez, an infectious disease specialist at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and Dr. David F. Goldsmith, an occupational and environmental epidemiologist at George Washington University, broadly supported the associations assertion that its protocols would help mitigate the risk.
However, Sanchez cautioned that no public activities are without risk, and that she would encourage people to keep their popcorn and soda consumption to a minimum while in a theater. Patrons should take into account the trajectory of the virus in their local communities before venturing to their hometown multiplex, she added.
This is not risk-free, and its important for the public to understand that, Sanchez said.
AUSTIN (KXAN) Mental health issues are rising among adults during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
The Journal of the American Medicine says that the latest available data (2018) shows that suicide rates have been rising in the U.S. over the last two decades and that the most recent numbers show the highest age-adjusted suicide rate since 1941.
People who are facing a suicidal crisis or emotional distress can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-8255. More than 100 local crisis centers are a part of a national network working on this lifeline and are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
While safety measures like social distancing are proven to reduce spread, the CDC says the potential for adverse outcomes on suicide risk is high.
From June 24 to 30, the CDC reports that U.S. adults reported mental health conditions in higher numbers due to COVID-19.
The CDC report shows that 40.9% of adults say theyve had at least one mental health effect, including symptoms of anxiety or depression (30.9%), symptoms of trauma or stressor-related disorder (26.3%), and starting or increasing substance use to cope (13.3%).
Certain populations are more at risk for potential suicidal thoughts, the New England Journal of Medicine says.
These include people who have contracted COVID-19, those with preexisting conditions/immuno-compromised individuals, and those with histories of substances abuse.
Younger people, Latinx and Black populations are the most vulnerable right now, data shows.
The rates of those reported having seriously considered suicide in the 30 days before the June CDC survey are higher among those between ages 18-24 (25.5%), essential workers (21.7%), and minority racial/ethnic groups (18.6% Hispanic, 15.1% non-Hispanic Black).
Another population of concern are the elderly, many of whom find themselves in nursing homes or assisted-living facilities, nation and statewide.
That may not be so easy to pinpoint.
There are concerns around the fact that even before the pandemic, there was a surge in cases across the country, said Karen Ranus, Executive Director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. So while we dont have concrete data yet, were fairly confident that with all the added stress job loss, anxiety were likely to see that [increase].
Locally, Integral Care answers calls made to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline within Travis County. Calls are routed to their 24/7 Crisis Helpline. You can also find more information at Texas Suicide Prevention.
Ranus explained that suicide numbers are often delayed, making actual numbers hard to tack down for some time. In fact, the most recent complete numbers for the state of Texas are also from 2018.
As of 2018, Texas ranked 38th in suicide death rates, according to AFSP. On average, one person was reported as having died by suicide every two hours.
According to Health and Human Services in 2019, suicide is the second-leading cause of death for Texans ages 15 to 34 and is also the fourth-leading cause of death for Texans ages 35 to 44.
An April study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Suicide Mortality and Coronavirus Disease 2019 A Perfect Storm? echoed Ranus statements about suicide rates being on the rise.
The studys authors, several psychiatric doctors, explain that many of the measures we currently use to protect ourselves from COVID-19 infection can easily contribute to an increase in depression and suicidal thoughts.
These factors include:
In Georgetown, Capt. Roland Waits says that while he cant say that there has been a surge in suicide calls specifically, there does seem to be surge in mental health calls overall.
It certainly feels theres an increase in mental health calls across the board, said Waits. Id be leery to call them suicide calls, but we do seem to be fielding more mental health ones.
Texas Suicide Prevention says knowing the signs can be the first step in saving someones life.
According to TSP, these are the 10 Warning Signs of Suicide:
Additionally, Texas Suicide Prevention says asking a friend or family directly if theyve ever thought of suicide lets them know you take their situation seriously and want to help.
If someone tells you they have contemplated suicide, you should evaluate the level of risk based on various circumstances, for instance whether theyve planned doing it, if theyve made previous attempts, availability of means of suicide, substance abuse history, and more.
If it seems likely that someone could act on their suicidal thoughts, you should stay with them and try to get them to agree to get help immediately. If danger is imminent, you should call 911 for a mental health deputy.
While only future data will be able to explain the correlation between the pandemic and possible suicide spikes, its clear that COVID-19 has adversely affected mental health for many worldwide. If you are facing a suicidal crisis or emotional distress, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-8255.
Find all of the most important pandemic education news on Educating N.J., a special resource guide created for parents, students and educators.
Students at Voorhees High School will be starting the school year with 100% virtual learning after mold was discovered in the buildings cafeteria, school officials said.
The district was working with an environmental testing company and a mold remediation contractor and was told that it would take a few weeks to fix the issue, Principal Ron Peterson posted on the schools website.
The mold was discovered as our custodial staff were disinfecting and making preparations to the building for reopening, Peterson said. The mandatory closure of the building for several months left small areas with limited ventilation and coupled with the hot summer seem to have been the cause of the mold growth."
The principal added that a full inspection of the building was underway to make sure the mold did not spread to other areas.
The plan as of Wednesday was to have allow students and staff back into the building on or around Sept. 14, Peterson said.
Peterson outlined schedule changes in his notice to parents and students.
The school was set to open Aug. 27 with students being given the option for a hybrid schedule which included virtual learning and in-person classes or the choice for 100% virtual instruction.
Across the state, more than 115 districts have now confirmed they have submitted plans for all-remote learning to the state Department of Education because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com.
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The projection by the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation comes with a silver lining: About 70,000 of those lives would be saved if many more Americans wore masks, the institute's leader said.
"It really depends on what our leaders do, (both) as individuals, and what governments do," the IHME's chief, Dr. Chris Murray, told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Friday night.
IHME projected that if nothing about the nation's approach to prevention changed, death rates would dip in September but rise later in the fall, and the total would reach about 310,000 by December 1.
But changes in behavior would affect the projection, he said:
If governments ease current social distancing restrictions and mask mandates, daily death rates could reach 6,000 daily by December, up from his current prediction of 2,000 daily, Murray said.
On the other hand, if significantly more people wore masks, the projection of total deaths from now to December would drop by almost 70,000, he said. About 95% of the US population would have to wear masks for that to happen, he said.
Coronavirus case rates have been dropping for weeks in parts of the US, but death rates have been relatively elevated.
Daily US cases over the past week averaged about 44,100 as of Friday, down from a peak average of 67,317 on July 22, John Hopkins data show.
Preventing another wave
"We don't need to have a third wave in the heartland right now," Redfield said Thursday. "We need to prevent that."
On Friday, the top health official for Seattle and King County in Washington warned the state was seeing an increased number of cases linked to social gatherings.
"We expect Covid-19 to get worse in the fall and winter and people to spend more time indoors," said health officer Dr. Jeffrey Duchin.
To help prevent widespread infections, Murray said governors need to put mask mandates in place -- mandates "with teeth" -- that would allow local authorities to fine residents without a face covering.
"It will take a concerted effort but the impact is extraordinary, it's really quite extraordinary what it could achieve," Murray said.
6-year-old is Florida's youngest Covid-19 victim
Florida has reported more than 593,000 infections since the start of the pandemic, second only to California, which has recorded 660,000 positive results.
The girl's death comes as schools across the US have begun reopening. Some have adjusted plans after hundreds of students and staff were asked to quarantine in response to coronavirus cases.
More than two dozen cases linked to motorcycle rally
Minnesota reported 15 cases of the virus among people who attended the rally in South Dakota earlier this month, said Kris Ehresmann, infectious disease director at the Minnesota Department of Health.
Among those cases, one person was hospitalized. Officials say they expect more cases over the next few days.
In Nebraska's Panhandle region, at least seven cases were tied to the rally, according to Kim Engel, director of the Panhandle Public Health District.
Universities continue to struggle with reopening
In Florida, university officials are already identifying Covid-19 cases as students move into dorms, according to data from Florida universities.
Florida State University in Tallahassee has now created "a rapid COVID-19 test laboratory that turns around results in 24 hours" and its own contact assessment team, FSU spokeswoman Amy Farnum Patronis told CNN.
At Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, students began moving into campus dorms on a staggered schedule with designated hours to promote social distancing.
Mark and Kari Thronson from San Antonio, Texas, helped their freshman son, Tyler, move into his dorm on Friday. Kari Thronson told CNN's Natasha Chen she felt comforted by the university's protocols in place for their safety.
"I think it's everywhere. I don't think there's any hiding from it. I think just protecting yourself is the best thing you can do," Kari Thronson said.
Evania Lauscar, a freshman at Florida Atlantic who hopes to become a doctor one day, said she debated in July whether she would actually come to campus.
"I was thinking what if I do move in, and probably a week later or two, they tell us to go home? But I told myself I really want to be here and I kind of want to see this experience, so, so far it has been good, but it's still a thought in the back of my mind," Lauscar said.
Both Tyler Thronson and Lauscar said they have one course for which they need to attend in person, while the rest of the classes will be held remotely.
In other schools where students have moved in, university officials are working on limiting large group gatherings.
New students who say they plan to either host or attend parties will have their offers of admission rescinded, according to the letter from Madeleine Estabrook, the university's senior vice chancellor for student affairs. Current students can expect to be removed from university community, including the immediate loss of university housing, the letter said.
The university said it learned earlier this week that several students expressed on social media their intent to gather in large groups and to engage in parties.
Other colleges have already reversed plans for in-person classes and returned to remote learning after coronaviruses cases were detected on campus, leading to quarantines.
CNN's Melissa Alonso, Natasha Chen, Shelby Lin Erdman, Jennifer Henderson, Kay Jones, Jamiel Lynch, Janine Mack and Andy Rose contributed to this report.
A Mainer has died as 32 new coronavirus cases are reported in Maine, health officials said Saturday.
Saturdays report brings the total coronavirus cases in Maine to 4,317. Of those, 3,872 have been confirmed positive, while 445 were classified as probable cases, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
New cases were reported in Androscoggin (4), Cumberland (4), Penobscot (5), York (13), Hancock (1), Kennebec (3), Sagadahoc (1) and Waldo (1) counties state data show.
The death toll now stands at 130. Nearly all deaths have been in Mainers over age 60. The death announced on Saturday was a man in his 70s from Cumberland County.
So far, 408 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Of those, four people are currently hospitalized, with one in critical care and one on a ventilator.
Meanwhile, 20 more people have recovered from the coronavirus, bringing total recoveries to 3,718. That means there are 469 active and probable cases in the state, which is up from 458 on Friday.
Heres the latest on the coronavirus and Maine.
An Aug. 7 wedding and reception in Millinocket that led to a coronavirus outbreak is now linked to 53 cases of the virus along with one previously reported death, the state said Saturday. Lynne Fort, BDN
This spring, motorists began honking as they passed Bayview Manor on Route 1 in Searsport to show support for the facilitys older residents during the coronavirus pandemic. More than four months later, the honking hasnt stopped. Abigail Curtis, BDN
The coronavirus pandemic shut down in-person learning last spring, but 40 students in the University of Southern Maines accelerated nursing program still received their diplomas on Friday. They picked up their degrees and were pinned in a drive-thru ceremony on campus, in front of the Costello Sports Complex. Troy R. Bennett, BDN
Monthly visits to Acadia National Park more than doubled from June to July but still lagged well behind visit totals from 2019, a decline directly attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bill Trotter, BDN
The Class C and D boys and girls soccer state championship games scheduled for Nov. 9 at the Dr. Gehrig T. Johnson Athletic Complex in Presque Isle if they are played at all have been relocated due to the uncertainty related to COVID-19. Ernie Clark, BDN
The Piscataquis Community Ice Arena and the Piscataquis Regional YMCA, both in Dover-Foxcroft, reopened this week after shutting down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Larry Mahoney, BDN
As of Saturday afternoon, the coronavirus has sickened 5,645,697 people in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as caused 175,817 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.
