More than 40 school principals in the South Bay were told to quarantine after being exposed to COVID-19 two weeks ago.
The exposure happened at an in-person meeting called by the Santa Clara Unified School District. An attendee who didn't have any symptoms at the meeting testing positive for the virus just days later.
Now many are asking why the district would have even called an in-person meeting at all.
I'm mad, Im disappointed, Im concerned," said parent Bonnie Lieberman.
She has mixed emotions after dozens of school principals were exposed to COVID-19 at a face-to-face school district leadership meeting two weeks ago.
"There were over forty people in the room, said Lieberman. It doesnt give me or any other parents much confidence that the district can make appropriate decisions about safety.
Last week, the district superintendent confirmed the exposure during an online meeting with the school board, but says the district didnt do anything wrong.
Given the complexities of our reopening, some of our staff meetings are taking place in person, said Stella Kemp, SCUSD superintendent. Of course those meetings are being conducted under the strict guidelines provided to us by the Santa Clara County Public Health Department.
And she says its a sign of the times. This is exactly the dilemma that every district is facing now. Were trying to figure out how best to keep our students and staff safe in an environment where the vast majority of things around us are out of our control.
But some on the board seem unconvinced, especially since county guidance says indoor meetings should be 10 or fewer.
I cant imagine being a person at that meeting and being exposed as well, said trustee Vickie Fairchild. Can you imagine if you had health conditions as well?
Kemp said everyone exposed was tested and quarantined. She says to her knowledge no one else who was at the meeting tested positive.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) After testing positive for COVID-19, Sadie Swier quarantined for 14 days. Her case was mild, but she struggled with something else, her mental health.
Swier lives in Sioux Falls and is the Community Outreach Coordinator forDowntown Sioux Falls Inc. as well as the Social Media Manager for Lost&Found.
Lost&Found is a nonprofit organization that is aimed for people ages 14 through 35 to provide resources for them to combat suicide and mental health issues. While talking to her peers about her battle with COVID-19, the discussion about the mentality behind the virus came up as well.
Lost&Found holds a weekly series called Voices of Resilience. Swier is this weeks speaker and says its important to talk about the mental challenges around having the new coronavirus.
You never really understand exactly how its going to affect your mental health unless you go through it, unless youre the one who has COVID-19. Of course, I knew of people who had it, and I didnt really think anything of it, but personally I had a mild case physically of COVID-19. But, the mental and emotional challenge was more difficult for me than actually having COVID-19. So, I think its important because there seems to be an attitude or stereotype that its never going to be me because thats what I thought. And so, when people are walking around and think its not that big of a deal its important to link COVID-19 with mental health as well as physical health, Swier said.
The discussion with Swier happened at 2:00 p.m. via Facebook Live on the Lost&Founds page. Many topics were touched on as far as dealing with mental health challenges when it comes to COVID-19, work and relationships.
In terms of COVID-19 and how I handled it, I think, in my mind I internalized so much of it and I was thinking a lot of self protection and just thinking about myself in hindsights 2020. But, I know I made mistakes in how I handled it in terms of talking to the people that I was with or handling it afterwards, Swier said.
Swier said going through two weeks of isolation was extraordinarily hard for her because shes an extroverted person. However, she said she took this as a time to do some reflecting.
Ive been doing a lot of self work and Ill be open about this as well, through this experience, Ive always thought about doing this, but this last month help me realize I need some help, so I actually scheduled my first therapy appointment, Swier said.
She said mental help and health is something that more people should be talking about.
And hopefully we get to a point where it is something that is a more normal conversation or something that isnt as stigmatized, Swier said.
Through this experience, Swier said she took the opportunity of being alone as a time of growth.
Growing by myself and being able to rely on myself and really learning to like myself again was something that I became more resilient in and thats what I become better from this experience as and thats what Im still learning about, Swier said.
You can see more videos about mental health in Lost&Founds series Voices of Resilience. This Facebook Live event happens every Thursday in the early to mid-afternoon.
(KTIV) -- There were 676 new, confirmed COVID-19 cases from 10 a.m. Wednesday to 10 a.m. Thursday,according to the state's dashboard,which brings the state's total number of cases to 29,966.
No additional deaths were reported within this time frame, leaving the state's death toll at 717 as of Thursday morning.
There were also 310 more recoveries reported for a total of 23,757.
As of Wednesday, the total number of hospitalizations in Iowa is 145, which is four less more than Tuesday. Of those hospitalizations, 36 were in the ICU and 18 were on ventilators.
In Iowa, 7,721 new tests were given for a total of more than 316,379 people that have been tested for COVID-19.
An immigration officer administers the oath of allegiance at a drive-through naturalization ceremony in El Cajon, Calif. Max Rivlin-Nadler/KPBS hide caption
An immigration officer administers the oath of allegiance at a drive-through naturalization ceremony in El Cajon, Calif.
In El Cajon, Calif., a procession of cars carrying 600 soon-to-be U.S. citizens from 68 countries passed through a series of stations behind a local community center earlier this week, where they were asked a series of final questions: "Any coronavirus symptoms? Have you been arrested since your interview? No tickets, nothing like that?"
After that, they were asked to surrender their green card and given a small U.S. flag. Driving a little farther forward, an immigration officer wearing a face cover administered the oath of allegiance 6 feet from the car's window. And in a matter of minutes, years of uncertainty were over hundreds of people became U.S. citizens over the course of the day.
When the coronavirus pandemic put a hold on naturalization ceremonies in March, it left a backlog of thousands of people who had qualified to become citizens but hadn't been able to officially swear an oath of allegiance the final step in the often years-long process.
To try to clear the backlog as quickly and safely as possible, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services put together a series of naturalization drive-throughs, where prospective citizens could take the final step toward citizenship without leaving their cars.
Prior to the shutdown, the greater San Diego area held its monthly naturalization ceremonies at Golden Hall, a giant venue in downtown San Diego that fits thousands of people. During the coronavirus pandemic, it has been converted to a homeless shelter.
"Whoo-whoo!" Belinda Rodriguez shouted from a parking spot, just moments after becoming a citizen.
Rodriguez had been working toward naturalization for 20 years. She brought her sister and niece along with her for the drive-through ceremony. She was relieved to finally be able to take her final step toward citizenship before she had to renew her residency permit.
"I was thinking my card was going to expire," Rodriguez said. "I was going to have to do it again and maybe have a longer time than this, pay more money, more fees."
Immigration officers in El Cajon held drive-through ceremonies every weekday since early June to play catch-up for the three months that there were no ceremonies in Golden Hall.
"Golden Hall is a great ceremony, but this makes it a lot more personal almost," said Madeline Kristoff, the USCIS field officer for San Diego. "The officers get to participate in ways they normally don't get to in Golden Hall. And it's really fun to talk to people who are driving through and get to hear a little of their stories."
Instead of greeting an auditorium full of faces, immigration officers administering the oath are often doing so for just one or two people at a time.
"I wish we could get a cheeseburger or like a milkshake for you guys too," said one immigration officer, making conversation with driver Niru Reinier.
Reinier, from India, was naturalized 10 years ago. On Monday, she chauffeured her mother, who was becoming a citizen.
"I called my sister and I said, 'I feel like this is so SoCal.' Everything happens quickly," she said.
Ready to vote
Many of the new citizens said what they were looking forward to most was voting in elections this November.
"We got our interview right before the shutdown, and I didn't know if I was going to be able to vote, which ultimately is an important part of why I want to become a citizen," said Raphael Declercq, who was born in France. He appreciated that the drive-through was able to make that happen. "I'm glad they're making those efforts."
Outside of a regular naturalization ceremony, voter registration tables greet people as they exit. At the drive-through, there were no booths to be found. But, along with their small U.S. flags, new citizens were given packets that included instructions on how to register to vote.
USCIS, currently facing a massive budget shortfall due to a reduction of visa applications, is looking to transition back to larger naturalization events later this summer.
"All right, congratulations to you, give her a big round of applause. You are now our newest United States citizens," said an immigration officer after administering the oath for the third consecutive hour.
The new citizen responded with a short honk of her car horn.
RICHMOND, Va. -- In an effort to provide accurate, easy-to-read information on the on-going COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on our community, WTVR.com will update this post with the day's local coronavirus headlines and statistics.
COVID-19 IN VIRGINIA (Scroll to bottom for U.S. stats)
Positive COVID-19 Cases: 63,735 (+532 from Wednesday)People Hospitalized: 6,333 (+71 from Wednesday)COVID-19-Linked Deaths: 1,816 (+30 from Wednesday)Total Tests: 744,480 (+18,328 from Wednesday)
*NOTE: This data is provided from the Virginia Department of Health daily at 9 a.m. Officials said their cutoff for data is 5 p.m. the previous day. So your local health department may have issued an alert about a case before it is added to the statewide tally released the following day. Get the latest charts and updated numbers from VDH here.
Depend on CBS 6 News and WTVR.com for complete coverage of this important developing story.
COVID-19 LOCAL HEADLINES
Virginia will maintain restrictions on bar seating under Phase 3As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in some states, Governor Ralph Northam has decided bar seating will remain prohibited in restaurants when Phase Three begins Wednesday, July 1. Read more.
Safety and health board drafting temporary COVID-19 standardsAs the Commonwealth prepares to begin phase three of the reopening process on Wednesday, a state board continued its work on Monday to craft a set of emergency temporary standards for Virginia's workplaces aimed to stop the spread of COVID-19. Read more.
Doctors support in-class learning as schools debate plansThe American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is strongly advocating students to be physically present in school as much as possible when school resumes in August and September. Read more.
Red Cross urging blood donations, testing for antibodiesThe Red Cross is urging Central Virginians to donate blood during the COVID-19 crisis and will test blood, platelet, and plasma donations for COVID-19 antibodies for a limited time. Read more.
Fauci warns that US may not reach herd immunity levels even with a vaccineDr. Anthony Fauci warned Sunday that even if a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available, it still may not yield herd immunity. Read more.
More COVID-19 patients discharged from Virginia hospitalsMore than 35 additional COVID-19 patients have been discharged from Virginia hospitals in the last 24 hours, according to data from the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association (VHHA). Read more.
New COVID-19 outbreak reported Sundayoutbreaks at long-term care facilities with a total of 6,776 COVID-19 cases and 1,059 deaths. That is up 33 cases and 5 additional deaths from the previous day's report. Read more.
What to expect when Richmond moves into Phase 3 of reopening on July 1Gov. Ralph Northam's face covering requirement in indoor public spaces will remain in place, but guidelines for social gatherings, businesses, venues, entertainment, and recreation centers have changed to allow for greater capacity. Read more.
Child tests positive for COVID-19 after possible exposure at Chesterfield daycareA child has tested positive for COVID-19 after a possible exposure at a Chesterfield County daycare earlier this month. Read more.
Virginia is one of more than a dozen US states now requiring masks to be worn in publicWith coronavirus cases ramping up in a number of US states, more than a dozen US governors have issued mandates to wear masks while in public settings. Read more.
About 40,000 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in the US on Thursday, a new record U.S. experienced its largest single-day increase in new COVID-19 cases on Thursday according to figures from Johns Hopkins University. Read more.
COVID-19 cases are surging among young peopleCoronavirus infections are climbing rapidly among young Americans in a number of states where bars, stores, and restaurants have reopened. Read more.
Northam: Virginia will enter Phase 3 on July 1Phase Three of the reopening process will begin in Virginia on Wednesday, July 1, Governor Ralph Northam announced Tuesday. Northam said the decision comes as statewide numbers continue to trend in a positive direction. Read more.
$50m in CARES Act funding to help families with rent, mortgage paymentsVirginia Ralph Northam is calling on Chief Circuit Court judges around the state to extend an eviction moratorium as appropriate in their locality. Read more.
US virus cases surge to highest level in 2 monthsNew coronavirus cases in the U.S. have surged to their highest level in two months and are now back to where they were at the peak of the outbreak. Read more.
Virginia hits lowest COVID-19 positivity rate milestoneGovernor Ralph Northam seems to be pleased with Virginia's COVID-19 numbers. Read more.
State health officials tipped off to hundreds of COVID-19 mask violationsThe Virginia Department of Health COVID-19 hotline has received 755 complaints related to COVID-19 mask violations since May 29. Roughly one-third of those complaints, according to VDH spokesperson, involve food and beverage establishments not following mask rules. Read more.
Richmond, Chesterfield address disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Hispanic, Latino communitiesRichmond City and Chesterfield Health Districts are collaborating to expand outreach and services to Hispanic and Latino communities who may be disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Read more.
Henrico grab-and-go meal distribution moving to summer scheduleHenrico County Public Schools grab-and-go meals distribution service will move to a summer schedule Monday, as will its mobile technology hubs and an information hotline designed to help families during the coronavirus pandemic. Read more.
Northam announces phased approach for school reopeningGovernor Ralph Northam unveiled a phased reopening approach for preK-12 schools in Virginia.We know parents want to know what to expect this summer and in the fall, to be clear, all Virginia schools will open for students next year, but the school experience will look very different, said Northam at a Tuesday press conference. Read more here.
Richmond, Henrico Health Departments release safety recommendations for protestersThe Richmond and Henrico Health Departments have released safety recommendations for those partaking in protests during the COVID-19 pandemic.More here.
How to find work during COVID-19 pandemic: 'People are still hiring'some employers are still hiring during the global health pandemic. Here are some tips for finding works from experts. More here.
Virginia Together Fund: Help families impacted by COVID-19CBS 6 is announcing the creation of The Virginia Together Fund -- a partnership with Feed More and Mission From the Heart.More here.
Dad teaches science lessons by making dinosaurs flyDinosaurs are soaring through the air once again! At least, they are at 5-year-old Finn Thomass house. More here.
'Virginia Graduates Together' will salute class of 2020 with musical performances, speechesGovernor Ralph Northam and First Lady Pamela Northam will celebrate the commonwealths graduating seniors during a statewide virtual celebration. More here.
'Role model' high schoolers start innovative online education program for younger studentsLife is anything but normal for school kids across Virginia. Many have struggled to keep up with distance learning, but four Maggie Walker honors students are helping through Project EngageRVA. More here.
Deep Run robotics team creates PPEDeep Run High Schools Team 1086 Blue Cheese Robotics team had its winning 2020 season cut short because of the coronavirus. However, the group quickly pivoted and found a way to re-channel efforts to help the community. More here.
Free science kits help Richmond students learn at homeAn educational nonprofit called Blue Sky Fund is distributing 1,500 free home science learning kits for students at Richmond Public Schools. Those kits are being handed out at Richmond Public Schools' meal distribution sites. More here.
Virginia woman hands out scholarships to high school seniors: 'Theyre going to make it'"Its just my way of giving back to the community and helping young people because they need some encouragement. They need motivation," said Tracey McMillon. More here.
Virginia State Parks opening more beaches for recreation activitiesVirginia State Parks tidal beaches are now open for recreation activities while inland lakefront beaches remain closed. More here.
Inside the Facebook Group guiding thousands of Richmond dinersIn these uncertain times, people can take comfort in advice and guidance from others. That includes ideas on where to eat. More here.
New Richmond restaurant owner asks for help: 'We used our life savings'A new Richmond restaurant is asking for help. Subconscious Cafe, located in the Fan, was forced to close days before its planned Grand Opening. More here.
Virginia Beach reopens, but it will be far from a normal day at the beachIf youre hoping to use the Memorial Day weekend to swim, surf, sunbathe, or fish, youre in luck. The Virginia Beach Oceanfront was set to open -- with restrictions -- on Friday. More here.
COMPLETE COVERAGE: COVID-19 HEADLINES (App users, click here for complete list.)
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Experts are hopeful that a vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 virus will become available sooner rather than later.
NewCoronavirus cases are on the rise in 45 states across the US. This has prompted at least 19 state governments topause or roll back their reopening plans in an effort to curb the emergence of asecond wave of the virus. Many experts say the only way to bring an end to the pandemic is through an effective vaccine. For people in the US who've grown weary oflockdowns, social distancingand the polarizing issue of face masks, it can't come soon enough.
So, how close are we to a vaccine for COVID-19? Possibly closer than you think.
Keep track of the coronavirus pandemic.
Vaccines typically take years -- sometimes decades -- to develop, approve, manufacture anddistribute globally. However, there have never been so many doctors and scientists working this hard and fast at it. Just half a year since SARS-CoV-2 was first discovered,17 vaccine candidates are already in human trials, with dozens more still being developed. Here's what's happening now.
This article updates frequently and is intended to be a general overview, not a source of medical advice. If you're seeking more information about coronavirus testing,here's how to find a testing sitenear you. Here'show to know if you qualify for a testandhow to get an at-home coronavirus test.
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An effective coronavirus vaccine might be the only way to bring a stop to preventative measures, like social distancing and face masks.
Operation Warp Speedis a sort of coronavirus vaccine task force that has identified14 vaccine projectsto focus on fast-tracking. The Warp Speed project has a stated goal of readying300 million doses of vaccineto be available by January 2021, which coincides with Fauci's estimation.
Talking to JAMA editor in chief Howard Bauchner in June, Fauci said Operation Warp Speed is financially backing efforts to start manufacturing doses while clinical trials are still ongoing. That means, if and when those vaccines do get approved, there will already be a store of doses ready to distribute nationally.
Thanks to theOperation Warp Speedvaccine acceleration program, Fauci said he expects the US will have "hundreds of millions of doses" of the vaccine ready to deploy by early 2021. However, if a significant percentage of Americans refuse a coronavirus vaccine, the US might not reach the critical level ofherd immunityneeded to end the pandemic, he said during aninterview posted on YouTube on June 28.
Experts say recent surges in coronavirus cases aren't merely the result of the US doing more testing, as a higher percentage of those tested are coming up positive compared to earlier stages of the pandemic.
Modernahas been making headlines for its coronavirus vaccine development -- both positive and negative. Early reports that Moderna's first trialsshowed promise for immunitycaused itsstock to soar. Soon after, however, scientistscast doubt on the company's data, causing thesame stocks to falter.
Moderna is a beneficiary of the USFood and Drug Administration's program to fast-track vaccines. Thefast-track processexpedites approval by allowing select labs to submit their review process in phases, rather than submitting all sections of the application at once, which is the usual way. The company ranPhase 1 clinical trialsand reportedpreliminary data that it says supports the moveto a larger Phase 2 trial, which is currently ongoing. Phase 3 is reportedly slated for July. You can learn more about Moderna's vaccine candidate,mRNA-1273.
Another vaccine is under development atOxford Universityin the UK. Scientists there say that vaccinecould be ready by the fall of 2020. Oxford is working with pharmaceutical giantAstraZeneca. Its vaccine candidate was slated to beginsimultaneous Phase 2 and Phase 3 trialsin June.
Scientists say in a paper thatthe results from Oxford's trialson mice and rhesus monkeys aremixed, however, speculating that humans who eventually take the vaccinemight still be able to spreadthe virus. You can read more about this effort, calledChAdOx1 nCoV-19, at AstraZeneca's website.
We won't know for a long time, but Fauci co-authored apaper about vaccines published May 11 in the journal Sciencethat suggests it might takeseveral different vaccinesmade and distributed by different labs in order to effectively eradicate COVID-19 from the planet.
A vaccine is a medical treatment that protects you against a disease like the coronavirus or smallpox. For a deeper dive into how vaccines work, check outthis in-depth coronavirus treatment explainer by CNET's Science Editor Jackson Ryan. The short and sweet of it is that a vaccine tricks your body into thinking it's already had the disease, so your body's natural defense -- the immune system --builds antibodies against it. Then, if you were to become infected, your body would call upon the antibodies to fight the virus before you feel sick.
Vaccines typically take about10 to 15 years to develop. That's in part because any new medical treatment needs to be thoroughly tested for safety before it can be distributed to millions or billions of people. Themumps vaccine took four years, which is widely considered the fastest vaccine approval in the history of infectious disease. Even if one or more of the vaccines now in the works turns out to be effective,the FDA approval processtypically takes a year or longer.
Read more:Need a pulse oximeter? These models are in stock starting at $24
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Most health experts predict that the virus won't stop spreading until 60% to 70% of the world'spopulation is immune, and they say the only way to reach that level of immunity without amonumental death toll is through vaccines. Such is the opinion ofCarl T. Bergstrom, a biology professor at the University of Washington andNatalie Dean, an assistant professor of biostatistics at the University of Florida, in a joint editorialpublished in the New York Times.
Statistically, only about 6% of vaccine candidates ever make it through to market, according to a Reuters special report, and not just because they don't work. There's a whole litany of problems that could cancel even a promising candidate.
Take, for example, what happened when scientists tried to develop a vaccine for SARS --it backfired and actually made people more susceptible to the disease. The same thing happened with avaccine for Dengue fever. To make matters worse, coronaviruses are a large class of viruses andso far there are no vaccines for any of them.
However, this particular coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has some unique traits that may help researchers working on a vaccine. For example, some viruses, like the flu, mutate quickly and often, which is why there's a new flu vaccine every year. Early evidencesuggests that the coronavirus doesn't appear to do that. Althoughsome researchers have hypothesized that a more contagious strain has developed, others aren't so sure.
Either way, it's thought that the virus has not yet mutated significantly enough to disrupt vaccine development, nor is it expected to, though it's too soon to say for certain, and there are still many unknowns about the virus' behavior.
Rules and regulations vary by country, but, generally speaking, most industrialized nations have similar protocols for approving a vaccine. The following path is how vaccines are approved in the US under the FDA:
Until there's a vaccine, expect safety precautions like face masks and social distancing to be a part of everyday life.
The longer we go without a vaccine, the more likely focus will shift toward treatments, such as theexperimental antiviral drug remdesivir, which has reportedly shown promising results. With effective therapeutic treatments, many viruses that used to be fatal are no longer death sentences. Patients with HIV, for example, can now expect to enjoythe same life expectancyas non-HIV-positive individuals, thanks to tremendous advances in treatment.
Without a coronavirus vaccine, the road back to "normal life" may be harder and longer, but not necessarily impossible.Coronavirus testing, includingantibody testing, andcontact-tracingefforts would need to intensify, experts say.
Lockdown measures are alreadylifting throughout the world, although with a potential second wave of coronavirus infections, cities could bring back certain quarantine measures, including requiringface masksandsocial distancing. Eventually, the global population may reach the 60% to 70% rate required forherd immunityto protect those who aren't immune.
A World Health Organizationled global trial of treatments for COVID-19 was slow to enroll coronavirus-infected people, like this one in a Spanish intensive care unit,whereas a large trial in the United Kingdom quickly produced results for threetreatments.
By Kai KupferschmidtJul. 2, 2020 , 5:30 PM
Sciences COVID-19 reporting is supported by the Pulitzer Center.
On 29 June, University of Oxford clinical scientists Martin Landray and Peter Horby changed how physicians around the world consider treating COVID-19for the third time in little more than 3 weeks. The principal investigators of a U.K. megatrial called Recovery, which has been testing existing drugs as therapies for the new infection, the pair had just finished reviewing data from 1596 patients who had received a combination of lopinavir and ritonavir, two antivirals known to curb HIV, and 3376 patients who had received only standard care. In a press release, they and their Recovery colleagues announced there had been no significant difference in the death rate between the two groups. This could have worked. And it was a bust, says Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute. It was really important to clarify that.
Earlier the same month, and again through press releases, Recovery (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 therapy) delivered widely accepted verdicts on two other treatments. It revealed that dexamethasone, a cheap steroid, reduced deaths by one-third in patients on a ventilator and showed that hydroxychloroquine, the antimalarial drug controversially touted for COVID-19, did not benefit hospitalized patients. A run on dexamethasone ensued as physicians in the United Kingdom and elsewhere quickly made it part of their standard of care for the sickest patients, whereas many other studies of hydroxychloroquine now looked futile and were halted.
Its very, very rare that you announce results at lunchtime, and it becomes policy and practice by tea time, and probably starts to save lives by the weekend, Landray told Science at the time of the steroid result.
Large, randomized trials are the gold standard to test a drugs efficacy. But they have been scarce so far in the COVID-19 pandemic. Everybody has the first part about randomized, but they omitted the large part, says Ana-Maria Henao Restrepo, a medical officer at the World Health Organizations (WHOs) Emergencies Programme. Every clinician, every researcher wants to help and then they end up having a trial with 300 or 400 patients that cannot come up with conclusive evidence. In a sea of small, single institution studies, Recovery, with 12,000 patients and hundreds of participating hospitals, stands outand offers lessons for the few other megatrials, organized by WHO and other bodies, which have been slow off the mark. I think the three Recovery trials are the best trials that have been performed to date, Topol says.
One reason Recovery has done so well is that it was backed by the United Kingdoms centralized National Health Service (NHS), involving 176 of its hospitals. In the United States, where the health care system is fragmented, the National Institutes of Health has only begun a few large trials so far and completed just one, a trial of Gilead Sciencess antiviral compound remdesivir that showed those given the drug recovered from COVID-19 faster. The dearth of results from a country that has seen more cases of COVID-19 than any other is surprising and a bit disappointing, says John-Arne Rttingen, who heads the steering committee of Solidarity, WHOs attempt to evaluate repurposed drugs as possible COVID-19 therapies.
In contrast, the United Kingdoms own bungled public health response to the new virus, which has led to Europes largest outbreak, has been taken advantage of by Recovery. They have been able to recruit well, because they have had a lot of hospitalized patients, Rttingen says. (The United Kingdom has had more than 43,000 deaths, surpassed only by the United States and Brazil, far more populous countries.)
In a letter to all NHS hospitals, the United Kingdoms five most senior doctors urged health care workers to enroll patients in Recovery and two other important trials. Use of treatments outside of a trial, where participation was possible, is a wasted opportunity to create information that will benefit others, the doctors, including Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, wrote. Because of that coordination, One in every six COVID-19 patients that come into the U.K. hospitals go into the trial, Landray says.
Organizers also kept Recovery simple, allowing any NHS hospital to participate. Inspired by trials that his Oxford colleague Richard Peto and others did in the 1980s on treating heart attacks, Landray says they radically cut down on the data health care workers need to collect, with only a few questions asked at enrolment and at only one more data collection point: when the patient dies, is discharged, or 28 days after enrollment. Clinical trials have become excessively cumbersome in recent years, he argues. Its actually quite hard to make them really simple.
WHOs Solidarity trial has a similarly straightforward design, but its more international nature has proved a challenge. The trial, designed to test four treatmentshydroxychloroquine, lopinavir/ritonavir, interferon beta plus lopinvir/ritonavir, and remdesivirwas announced on 20 March and enrolled its first patient in Norway 1 week later. But rolling out the trial in dozens of countries has meant getting approval from dozens of regulatory agencies and ethics boards as well. That has taken a surprisingly long time in many jurisdictions, including in Europe, Rttingen says, and recruitment in Europe slowed over time as the epidemic subsided. When countries were ready to sort of start, the epidemic was under control in many ways, he notes.
A European trial called Discovery, coordinated by the French research institute INSERM and partnered with Solidarity in testing the same drugs, also fell short. The goal was to enroll 3200 patients across the continent, but although the study almost met its goal of 800 participants in France, it barely managed to recruit patients elsewhere. Though France funded its part of the trial, it expected partner countries to pick up the tab for their own trials. One of the issues was that not all the countries had funding, says Yazdan Yazdanpanah, head of infectious diseases at INSERM.
Meanwhile dozens of small trials competed for patients in many countries, most of them focusing on the same drugs, such as hydroxychloroquine. I dont understand why everyone was looking at the same thing, Yazdanapanah says. I think we can do better. Susanne Herold, an expert on pulmonary infections at the University of Giessen, agrees. There needs to be more coordination both within countries and across borders, she says.
Another problem has been the widespread use of treatments outside of randomized trials. Landray notes that tens of thousands of COVID-19 patients in the United States have been given convalescent plasma, for instance, but not alongside a control population receiving a placebo. We'll know what happened to those patients, but we won't know whether they would have been better off actually, if they hadnt got the convalescent plasma. Partly it is about convincing clinicians that there is still an open question, Henao Restrepo says. I have talked to about 2000 clinicians all over the world in the process of establishing Solidarity, and some of them are convinced they know which drugs work.
Henao Restrepo still has high expectations for the Solidarity trial. The preparatory work is paying off, she says. Its recruitment pace has picked up as more countries have joined, many with surging cases, including Iran and countries in Latin America. So far, 31 countries have joined and 60 more are in the process. One of the advantages of such a global trial is that you can follow the pandemic as it evolves, Rttingen says.
With recruitment running at about 500 patients per week now, Solidaritys three remaining treatment armsit stopped the hydroxychloroquine oneare likely to yield answers soon, raising the question of what drugs to test afterward. Some repurposed drugs such as camostat mesylate or favipiravir are still being discussed, but increasingly the attention is turning to monoclonal antibodies, designed to target the virus.
Henao Restrepo thinks the international nature of the effort makes its results more generalizable. The feeling that all kinds of patients and hospitals participated is an important part of accepting the findings, she says. And the global effort gives the people all over the world, clinicians all over the world the possibility to contribute.
Herold adds that the Discovery trial will also contribute, because it is designed to gather more detailed data than Recovery and Solidarity. Started in an effort to supplement Solidarity, it collects not only basic data on mortality, but also information on viral levels and certain blood parameters. Those data can indicate not just which drugs are effective, but also how they work and at what stage of the disease, Herold says, crucial to informing follow-up research or trials.
Work on the Recovery trial continues, with Landray, Horby, and the rest of their team scrambling to publish full results. Some researchers have criticized its practice of releasing important results as press releases; so far, it has given details for only one of the three headline findings, on dexamethasone, in a preprint posted 6 days after the release. The researchers are also continuing to collect data on the antibiotic azithromycin, an antibody called tocilizumab, and the antibody-rich plasma collected from recovered patients.
Results on those therapies are likely months away, Landray says. But he cautions he has been wrong before. On the morning of 4 June, he had predicted the first results from Recovery would likely come in early July. A few hours later, the chairperson of the trials data monitoring committee called him to say there was enough patient data to declare a verdict on hydroxychloroquine.
A research institute run by Chinas military received approval to conduct human clinical trials of a new Covid-19 vaccine developed using advanced genetics technology, in a notable breakthrough for Chinas quickly developing pharmaceutical industry.
The approval comes as other Chinese drugmakers move to expand testing of more traditional coronavirus vaccines outside China.
The...
But my family, as a social and economic unit, cannot operate forever in the framework authorities envision for the fall. There are so many ways that the situation weve been thrust into, in which businesses are planning to reopen without any conversation about the repercussions on families with school-age children, is even more untenable for others.
Updated June 30, 2020
Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.
A commentary published this month on the website of the British Journal of Sports Medicine points out that covering your face during exercise comes with issues of potential breathing restriction and discomfort and requires balancing benefits versus possible adverse events. Masks do alter exercise, says Cedric X. Bryant, the president and chief science officer of the American Council on Exercise, a nonprofit organization that funds exercise research and certifies fitness professionals. In my personal experience, he says, heart rates are higher at the same relative intensity when you wear a mask. Some people also could experience lightheadedness during familiar workouts while masked, says Len Kravitz, a professor of exercise science at the University of New Mexico.
The steroid, dexamethasone, is the first treatment shown to reduce mortality in severely ill patients, according to scientists in Britain. The drug appears to reduce inflammation caused by the immune system, protecting the tissues. In the study, dexamethasone reduced deaths of patients on ventilators by one-third, and deaths of patients on oxygen by one-fifth.
The coronavirus emergency relief package gives many American workers paid leave if they need to take time off because of the virus. It gives qualified workers two weeks of paid sick leave if they are ill, quarantined or seeking diagnosis or preventive care for coronavirus, or if they are caring for sick family members. It gives 12 weeks of paid leave to people caring for children whose schools are closed or whose child care provider is unavailable because of the coronavirus. It is the first time the United States has had widespread federally mandated paid leave, and includes people who dont typically get such benefits, like part-time and gig economy workers. But the measure excludes at least half of private-sector workers, including those at the countrys largest employers, and gives small employers significant leeway to deny leave.
So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was very rare, but she later walked back that statement.
Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus whether its surface transmission or close human contact is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.
A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.
The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nations job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.
If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)
If youve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.
Under the best of circumstances, the impact on children will still be significant. Students will lose most of a year of learning as parents their new untrained teachers cannot supervise in any meaningful way while Zooming into the office. At best, the kids will be crabby and stir-crazy as they dont get enough physical activity because theyre now tethered to their parents work spaces all day, running around the living room in lieu of fresh air. Without social interactions with other children, they constantly seek parental attention in bad ways, further straining the mood at home. And these are ideal scenarios.
But what about kids who cannot learn remotely? What about kids who need services that are tied to schools? Or those who are at higher risk for complications if they get the virus and might not be able to go back even one week out of the three?
When learning plans for children with special needs could not be followed appropriately this year, academic gains for many students were quickly wiped out. Remote learning has already widened racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps because of disparities in access to technology tutors. As parents are crushed by the Covid economy, so are the children who need the most support. Its no wonder the American Academy of Pediatrics released a statement this weekend urging that students be physically present in school as much as possible this fall.
The long-term losses for professional adults will be incalculable, too, and will disproportionately affect mothers. Working mothers all over the country feel that theyre being pushed out of the labor force or into part-time jobs as their responsibilities at home have increased tenfold.
Even those who found a short-term solution because they had the luxury to hit the pause button on their projects and careers this spring to manage the effects of the pandemic predicated on the assumption that the fall would bring a return to school and child care may now have no choice but to leave the work force. A friend just applied for a job and tells me she cannot even imagine how she would be able to take it if her children arent truly back in school. Theres an idea that people can walk away from careers and just pick them up where they left off, even though we know that women who drop out of the work force to take care of children often have trouble getting back in.
And lest you think its everyone vs. teachers, I cannot imagine a group this situation is less fair to. Teachers are supposed to teach in the classroom full-time but simultaneously manage remote learning? Even in non-pandemic times, teachers would tell you that they already work unpaid overtime on nights and weekends, just planning and grading. Where, exactly, will the extra hours come from? For teachers with their own school-age children, the situation isnt just untenable, its impossible.
TheWest Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR)reports as of 10:00 a.m., on July 1, 2020, there have been 173,251 totalconfirmatory laboratory results receivedfor COVID-19, with 2,932 total cases and 93 deaths.
In alignment with updated definitions fromthe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the dashboard includes probablecases which are individuals that have symptoms and either serologic (antibody)or epidemiologic (e.g., a link to a confirmed case) evidence of disease, but noconfirmatory test.
CASES PER COUNTY (Case confirmed by lab test/Probable case):Barbour (15/0), Berkeley (440/18), Boone(22/0), Braxton (3/0), Brooke (8/1), Cabell (120/4), Calhoun (2/0), Clay(10/0), Fayette (66/0), Gilmer (13/0), Grant (15/1), Greenbrier (58/0),Hampshire (42/0), Hancock (20/3), Hardy (43/1), Harrison (61/0), Jackson(143/0), Jefferson (226/5), Kanawha (314/9), Lewis (18/1), Lincoln (8/0), Logan(24/0), Marion (56/3), Marshall (40/1), Mason (18/0), McDowell (6/0), Mercer(40/0), Mineral (54/2), Mingo (17/3), Monongalia (161/14), Monroe (11/1),Morgan (19/1), Nicholas (9/1), Ohio (95/0), Pendleton (12/1), Pleasants (4/1),Pocahontas (24/1), Preston (64/15), Putnam (54/1), Raleigh (51/1), Randolph(157/1), Ritchie (2/0), Roane (11/0), Summers (2/0), Taylor (15/1), Tucker(6/0), Tyler (4/0), Upshur (18/1), Wayne (110/1), Webster (1/0), Wetzel (10/0),Wirt (4/0), Wood (78/8), Wyoming (7/0).
As case surveillance continues at thelocal health department level, it may reveal that those tested in a certaincounty may not be a resident of that county, or even the state as an individualin question may have crossed the state border to be tested.
Please visit thedashboard at www.coronavirus.wv.gov for more information.
