2007.08635

Many algorithms have been proposed in the last ten years for the discovery of dynamic communities. However, these methods are seldom compared between themselves. In this article, we propose a generator of dynamic graphs with planted evolving community structure, as a benchmark to compare and evaluate such algorithms. Unlike previously proposed benchmarks, it is able to specify any desired evolving community structure through a descriptive language, and then to generate the corresponding progressively evolving network. We empirically evaluate six existing algorithms for dynamic community detection in terms of instantaneous and longitudinal similarity with the planted ground truth, smoothness of dynamic partitions, and scalability. We notably observe different types of weaknesses depending on their approach to ensure smoothness, namely Glitches, Oversimplification and Identity loss. Although no method arises as a clear winner, we observe clear differences between methods, and we identified the fastest, those yielding the most smoothed or the most accurate solutions at each step.

Evaluating Community Detection Algorithms for Progressively Evolving Graphs

2007.08523

We study and SI-type model, with the possibility of vaccination, where the population is partitioned between pro-vaxxers and anti-vaxxers. We show that, during the outbreak of a disease, segregating people that are against vaccination from the rest of the population decreases the speed of recovery and may increase the number of cases. Then, we include endogenous choices based on the tradeoff between the cost of vaccinating and the risk of getting infected. We show that the results remain valid under endogenous choices, unless people are too flexible in determining their identity towards vaccination.

Is segregating anti-vaxxers a good idea?

Less than three weeks after reopening its borders to international visitors, the Bahamas on Sunday announced that it is closing all of its airports and seaports to tourists from the United States, effective Wednesday. Bahamasair, the country’s national carrier, will cease all outgoing flights to the United States immediately, Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said in a national address Sunday. Outgoing commercial flights will still be permitted to accommodate visitors scheduled to leave the Bahamas after Wednesday, he said. Visitors from Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union will still be permitted to visit as long as they can show proof of a negative COVID-19 RT PCR test from an accredited laboratory taken within 10 days of their arrival. Also allowed under the new order: private international flights and charters and pleasure crafts.

Bahamas closes borders to U.S. tourists after COVID-19 cases spike; others still welcome

Scott Galloway is a bestselling author and professor of marketing at NYU Stern.The following is his recent blog post, republished with permission. It originally ran on his blog, "No Mercy / No Malice."He says that universities planning to reopen for in-person classes in the fall are swept up in a "tsunami of denial" about the dangers of the pandemic because they're so dependent on student tuition to stay up and running.Instead of putting the lives of students and staff at risk, Galloway says colleges need to do what other for-profit businesses have had to do during the pandemic: cut down on expenses and seek relief funds from state and federal governments.

NYU professor Scott Galloway predicts hundreds of universities will shutter, possibly for good, if they reopen in the fall

Study of more than 900 U.S. metropolitan counties suggests that area size matters more than population density in spreading COVID-19

Urban density not linked to higher coronavirus infection rates

It's sort of interesting which COVID-19 studies get widespread media attention. Not very well correlated (in fact, perhaps negatively correlated) with the ones the subject-matter experts I follow seem to find compelling.

These three major threats to population and planetary health—communicable diseases, NCDs, and the climate and environmental emergencies—are too often treated as distinct problems, but they are intimately entwined in a global syndemic as reflected in the top global risks identified by the World Economic Forum in 2020.13World Economic ForumThe global risks report 2020.https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-global-risks-report-2020Date: 2020Date accessed: June 30, 2020Google Scholar They possess common underlying causes including unsustainable systems of agriculture, subsidies for harmful products, and overcrowded cities. The transmission of a novel coronavirus from bats to humans might be the dominant model of the genesis of the COVID-19 pandemic, but without urbanisation and global hypermobility it would have spread much more slowly and might have been contained; without high prevalence of NCDs14Caussy C Pattou F Wallet F et al.Prevalence of obesity among adult inpatients with COVID-19 in France.Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2020; 8: 562-564Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (1) Google Scholar and air pollution15Wu X Nethery RC Sabath BM Braun D Dominici F Exposure to air pollution and COVID-19 mortality in the United States: a nationwide cross-sectional study.medRxiv. 2020; (published online April 27.) (preprint)https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.05.20054502Google Scholar it would have exerted a much lower toll.Breaking the clinical, academic, and policy boundaries that promote separation of these threats demands new ways of understanding and tackling them in order to respond effectively to the combination of the worst pandemic for over a century with the largest economic downturn in modern history. Foregrounding this economic context will be essential for any credible attempt to address these threats.

10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31184-3

The Lancet–Chatham House Commission on improving population health post COVID-19

Simmering beneath the surface of France's centrally coordinated response to COVID-19 is a long-standing tension between two French public health traditions. The first tradition has been the foundation of the French state's historical engagement with global humanitarian health, which we have previously described as state humanitarian verticalism.1Atlani-Duault L Dozon JP Wilson A Delfraissy JF Moatti JP State humanitarian verticalism versus universal health coverage: a century of French international health assistance revisited.Lancet. 2016; 387: 2250-2262Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (8) Google Scholar Instituted first in the French former colonies, it was widely used in France's international health assistance, including during epidemics, and is still part of France's global health assistance in low-income countries.1Atlani-Duault L Dozon JP Wilson A Delfraissy JF Moatti JP State humanitarian verticalism versus universal health coverage: a century of French international health assistance revisited.Lancet. 2016; 387: 2250-2262Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (8) Google Scholar,  2Horton R France: a philosophy for health.Lancet. 2016; 38: 2174-2175Summary Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (4) Google Scholar,  3Hollande F Towards a global agenda on health security.Lancet. 2016; 387: 2173-2174Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar The second tradition underpins France's state-provided, universal, and free health coverage. This approach takes health and non-health infrastructure into account when designing interventions, links the health system with the social protection system, and seeks to improve health by reducing inequality.Historically the tension has been especially visible in francophone low-income countries. The Assistance Médicale Indigène, in place from 1899 to 1960, was intended to bring metropolitan France's universal and free public health care to French colonies. Instead, colonial public health efforts in the former colonies crystallised in state humanitarian verticalism to counter major diseases, starting with human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), a focus that survived beyond decolonisation.1Atlani-Duault L Dozon JP Wilson A Delfraissy JF Moatti JP State humanitarian verticalism versus universal health coverage: a century of French international health assistance revisited.Lancet. 2016; 387: 2250-2262Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (8) Google Scholar The tension was given a new spin both by the arrival of French “sans-frontièrisme” and the advent of the AIDS pandemic and epidemic-prone diseases like Ebola virus disease.• View related content for this articleIn France, the tension between these two traditions has flared intermittently. In confronting influenza A H3N2 in the late 1960s, the universalist French public health tradition decisively “won” the conflict between the two traditions, with the vertical humanitarianism approach—automatically used against epidemics overseas—virtually absent from the national response. By contrast, when influenza A H1N1 pdm09 became a threat in 2009, the French Government again chose an unbalanced strategy, but this time in favour of the other tradition. Centrally managed mass vaccination centres that bypassed primary care were opened all over the country. The threatened epidemic never arrived, but the government's response represented an inability to balance the two traditions and was subsequently considered a political failure.4Commission D'enquête sur la manière dont a été programmée, expliquée et gérée la campagne de vaccination contre la grippe A(H1N1). Rapport N° 2698 de L'Assemblée Nationale du 6 juillet 2010. de L'Assemblée Nationale, Paris2010Google ScholarToday, under the pitiless spotlight cast by the COVID-19 pandemic, the country's capacity to merge the two traditions is being tested. Moreover, this crisis is taking place in the context of France's health system that is heavily care oriented to the detriment of preventive approaches. This imbalance exacerbates the health system's fragility in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31599-3

France's COVID-19 response: balancing conflicting public health traditions

10.1101/2020.07.17.20155846

Background Many foods have an antioxidant activity, and nutrition may mitigate COVID-19. To test the potential role of vegetables in COVID-19 mortality in Europe, we performed an ecological study. Methods The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Comprehensive European Food Consumption Database was used to study the country consumption of Brassica vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, head cabbage (white, red and savoy cabbage), leafy brassica) and to compare them with spinach, cucumber, courgette, lettuce and tomato. The COVID-19 mortality per number of inhabitants was obtained from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. EuroStat data were used for potential confounders at the country level including Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (2019), population density (2018), percentage of people over 64 years (2019), unemployment rate (2019) and percentage of obesity (2014, to avoid missing values). Mortality counts were analyzed with quasi-Poisson regression models to model the death rate while accounting for over-dispersion. Results Of all the variables considered, including confounders, only head cabbage and cucumber reached statistical significance with the COVID-19 death rate per country. For each g/day increase in the average national consumption of some of the vegetables (head cabbage and cucumber), the mortality risk for COVID-19 decreased by a factor of 11, down to 13.6 %. Lettuce consumption increased COVID-19 mortality. The adjustment did not change the point estimate and the results were still significant. Discussion The negative ecological association between COVID-19 mortality and the consumption of cabbage and cucumber supports the a priori hypothesis previously reported. The hypothesis needs to be tested in individual studies performed in countries where the consumption of vegetables is common.

Association between consumption of vegetables and COVID-19 mortality at a country level in Europe

10.31234/osf.io/9nxth

Background: We investigated the risk factors associated with the psychological impact of each healthcare worker group, to help optimize psychological interventions for healthcare workers in countries affected by COVID-19. Methods: Participants for this study comprised 1,783 healthcare workers drawn from two hospitals inKorea. We adopted a cross-sectional online survey design and used an anonymous questionnaire from 20-30 April 2020, with information on demographics, psychiatric history, Stress and Anxiety to Viral Epidemics - 9 (SAVE-9), Patient Health Questionnaire - 9 (PHQ-9), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7) scale. Results: Among the 1,783 healthcare workers, compared to other healthcare workers, nursing professionals had significantly higher levels of depression, general anxiety, and virus-related anxiety symptoms (p < 0.01). In the nursing professionals group, single workers reported more severe depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 ≥ 10) than married workers (20.3% vs 14.1%; p < 0.01), and junior (< 40 years old) workers reported more anxiety about the viral epidemic (p < 0.01). Logistic regression analysis adjusted with age, sex, and work duration identified three factors as significantly associated with healthcare worker's depression (PHQ-9 ≥ 10): being a nursing professional (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.44, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05 – 1.98), single (adjusted OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.01 – 1.83), and higher stress and anxiety to the viral infection (high SAVE-9 score, adjusted OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.15 – 1.22). Conclusions: Psychological support and interventions for healthcare workers, especially nursing professionals, single, and high SAVE-9 level should be considered.

High Work-related Stress and Anxiety Response to COVID-19 among Healthcare Workers in South Korea: SAVE study

How many people have COVID-19 antibodies? What does having antibodies mean? Rosanna Peeling explains the latest, and we're joined by Ashley McMullen from the Nocturnists podcast to chat about her experiences and her new series, Black Voices in Healthcare.

Seroprevalence and Black voices in healthcare

US televised news networks offer strikingly different coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, the exposure risks, and the benefits of social distancing measures recommended by health experts. This column devises an empirical strategy to test for a causal effect of news viewership on compliance with social distancing. It finds a large effect of local Fox News viewership on local compliance, with a persuasion rate of up to 26%. These findings reinforce concerns about the media’s role in sowing distrust in scientific evidence in the determination of public policies.  

News media and distrust in scientific experts

Importance  Efforts to track the severity and public health impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the United States have been hampered by state-level differences in diagnostic test availability, differing strategies for prioritization of individuals for testing, and delays between testing and reporting. Evaluating unexplained increases in deaths due to all causes or attributed to nonspecific outcomes, such as pneumonia and influenza, can provide a more complete picture of the burden of COVID-19.Objective  To estimate the burden of all deaths related to COVID-19 in the United States from March to May 2020.Design, Setting, and Population  This observational study evaluated the numbers of US deaths from any cause and deaths from pneumonia, influenza, and/or COVID-19 from March 1 through May 30, 2020, using public data of the entire US population from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). These numbers were compared with those from the same period of previous years. All data analyzed were accessed on June 12, 2020.Main Outcomes and Measures  Increases in weekly deaths due to any cause or deaths due to pneumonia/influenza/COVID-19 above a baseline, which was adjusted for time of year, influenza activity, and reporting delays. These estimates were compared with reported deaths attributed to COVID-19 and with testing data.Results  There were approximately 781 000 total deaths in the United States from March 1 to May 30, 2020, representing 122 300 (95% prediction interval, 116 800-127 000) more deaths than would typically be expected at that time of year. There were 95 235 reported deaths officially attributed to COVID-19 from March 1 to May 30, 2020. The number of excess all-cause deaths was 28% higher than the official tally of COVID-19–reported deaths during that period. In several states, these deaths occurred before increases in the availability of COVID-19 diagnostic tests and were not counted in official COVID-19 death records. There was substantial variability between states in the difference between official COVID-19 deaths and the estimated burden of excess deaths.Conclusions and Relevance  Excess deaths provide an estimate of the full COVID-19 burden and indicate that official tallies likely undercount deaths due to the virus. The mortality burden and the completeness of the tallies vary markedly between states.

10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.3391

Estimation of Excess Deaths Associated With the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States, March to May 2020

Summary Background Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a global pandemic of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, microbial composition of the respiratory tract and other infected tissues, as well as their possible pathogenic contributions to varying degrees of disease severity in COVID-19 patients remain unclear. Method Between January 27 and February 26, 2020, serial clinical specimens (sputum, nasal and throat swab, anal swab and feces) were collected from a cohort of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, including 8 mildly and 15 severely ill patients (requiring ICU admission and mechanical ventilation), in the Guangdong province, China. Total RNA was extracted and ultra-deep metatranscriptomic sequencing was performed in combination with laboratory diagnostic assays. Co-infection rates, the prevalence and abundance of microbial communities in these COVID-19 patients were determined. Findings Notably, respiratory microbial co-infections were exclusively found in 84.6% of severely ill patients (11/13), among which viral and bacterial co-infections were detected by sequencing in 30.8% (4/13) and 69.2% (9/13) of the patients, respectively. In addition, for 23.1% (3/13) of the patients, bacterial co-infections with Burkholderia cepacia complex (BCC) and Staphylococcus epidermidis were also confirmed by bacterial culture. Further, a time-dependent, secondary infection of B. cenocepacia with expressions of multiple virulence genes in one severely ill patient was demonstrated, which might be the primary cause of his disease deterioration and death one month after ICU admission. Interpretation Our findings identified distinct patterns of co-infections with SARS-CoV-2 and various respiratory pathogenic microbes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients in relation to disease severity. Detection and tracking of BCC-associated nosocomial infections are recommended to improve the pre-emptive treatment regimen and reduce fatal outcomes of hospitalized patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. Funding National Science and Technology Major Project of China, National Major Project for Control and Prevention of Infectious Disease in China, the emergency grants for prevention and control of SARS-CoV-2 of Ministry of Science and Technology and Guangdong province, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Genome Read and Write, Guangdong Provincial Academician Workstation of BGI Synthetic Genomics, and Shenzhen Engineering Laboratory for Innovative Molecular Diagnostics.

10.1101/2020.07.02.20143032

Characterization of Microbial Co-infections in the Respiratory Tract of hospitalized COVID-19 patients

The SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein variant D614G supplanted the ancestral virus worldwide in a matter of months. Here we show that D614G was more infectious than the ancestral form on human lung cells, colon cells, and cells rendered permissive by ectopic expression of various mammalian ACE2 orthologs. Nonetheless, D614G affinity for ACE2 was reduced due to a faster dissociation rate. Assessment of the S protein trimer by cryo-electron microscopy showed that D614G disrupts a critical interprotomer contact and that this dramatically shifts the S protein trimer conformation toward an ACE2-binding and fusion-competent state. Consistent with the more open conformation, neutralization potency of antibodies targeting the S protein receptor-binding domain was not attenuated. These results indicate that D614G adopts conformations that make virion membrane fusion with the target cell membrane more probable but that D614G retains susceptibility to therapies that disrupt interaction of the SARS-CoV-2 S protein with the ACE2 receptor.

10.1101/2020.07.04.187757

Structural and Functional Analysis of the D614G SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Variant

Point of care diagnostics for COVID-19 detection are vital to assess infection quickly and at the source so appropriate measures can be taken. The loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay has proven to be a reliable and simple protocol that can detect small amounts of viral RNA in patient samples (<10 genomes per μL) (Nagamine, Hase, and Notomi 2002) Recently, Rabe and Cepko at Harvard published a sensitive and simple protocol for COVID-19 RNA detection in saliva using an optimized LAMP assay (Rabe and Cepko, 2020). This LAMP protocol has the benefits of being simple, requiring no specialized equipment; rapid, requiring less than an hour from sample collection to readout; and cheap, costing around $1 per reaction using commercial reagents. The pH based colorimetric readout also leaves little ambiguity and is intuitive. However, a shortfall in many nucleic acid-based methods for detection in saliva samples has been the variability in output due to the presence of inhibitory substances in saliva. Centrifugation to separate the reaction inhibitors from inactivated sample was shown to be an effective way to ensure reliable LAMP amplification. However, a centrifuge capable of safely achieving the necessary speeds of 2000 RPM for several minutes often costs hundreds of dollars and requires a power supply. We present here an open hardware solution- Handyfuge - that can be assembled with readily available components for the cost of <5 dollars a unit and could be used together with the LAMP assay for point of care detection of COVID-19 RNA from saliva. The device is then validated using the LAMP protocol from Rabe and Cepko. With the use of insulated coolers for reagent supply chain and delivery, the assay presented can be completed without the need for electricity or any laboratory scale infrastructure.

10.1101/2020.06.30.20143255

Handyfuge-LAMP: low-cost and electricity-free centrifugation for isothermal SARS-CoV-2 detection in saliva.

An experimental Covid-19 vaccine being developed by the drug giant Pfizer and the biotech firm BioNTech spurred immune responses in healthy patients, but also caused fever and other side effects, especially at higher doses.The first clinical data on the vaccine were disclosed Wednesday in a paper released on MedRXiv, a preprint server, meaning it has not yet been peer-reviewed or published in a journal. 

Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech shows positive results

10.1101/2020.06.30.20142570

Abstract In March 2020, the WHO declared a pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). With >8.8 million cases and >450,000 deaths reported globally, a vaccine is urgently needed. We report the available safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity data from an ongoing placebo-controlled, observer-blinded dose escalation study among healthy adults, 18-55 years of age, randomized to receive 2 doses, separated by 21 days, of 10 μg, 30 μg, or 100 μg of BNT162b1, a lipid nanoparticle-formulated, nucleoside-modified, mRNA vaccine that encodes trimerized SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein RBD. Local reactions and systemic events were dose-dependent, generally mild to moderate, and transient. RBD-binding IgG concentrations and SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing titers in sera increased with dose level and after a second dose. Geometric mean neutralizing titers reached 1.8- to 2.8-fold that of a panel of COVID-19 convalescent human sera. These results support further evaluation of this mRNA vaccine candidate.

Phase 1/2 Study to Describe the Safety and Immunogenicity of a COVID-19 RNA Vaccine Candidate (BNT162b1) in Adults 18 to 55 Years of Age: Interim Report

In The Lancet Global Health, a pioneering study by Pedro Baqui and colleagues1Baqui P Bica I Marra V Ercole A van der Schaar M Ethnic and regional variations in hospital mortality from COVID-19 in Brazil: a cross-sectional observational study.Lancet Glob Health. 2020; (published online July 2.)https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30285-0Google Scholar confirms in Brazil findings observed in other countries hit hard by COVID-19: that mortality rates from the pandemic differ by geographical region and ethnicity, with disproportionate impact for Black populations and other ethnic minorities.2Ravi K Ethnic disparities in COVID-19 mortality: are co-morbidities to blame?.Lancet. 2020; (published online June 19.)https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31423-9Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (0) Google Scholar,  3Haywood EGP Burton J Fort D Seone L Hospitalization and mortality among Black patients and White patients with COVID-19.N Engl J Med. 2020; 382: 2534-2543Crossref PubMed Google Scholar We can discuss these findings in the context of the social protests occurring in the past few months against structural racism and to the slogan “Black lives matter”. However, in this Comment, we go beyond ethnicity, focusing on social and environmental determinants of health for about 50% of Brazilians.

10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30314-4

In the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, do brown lives matter?

BackgroundBrazil ranks second worldwide in total number of COVID-19 cases and deaths. Understanding the possible socioeconomic and ethnic health inequities is particularly important given the diverse population and fragile political and economic situation. We aimed to characterise the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil and assess variations in mortality according to region, ethnicity, comorbidities, and symptoms.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional observational study of COVID-19 hospital mortality using data from the SIVEP-Gripe (Sistema de Informação de Vigilância Epidemiológica da Gripe) dataset to characterise the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. In the study, we included hospitalised patients who had a positive RT-PCR test for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and who had ethnicity information in the dataset. Ethnicity of participants was classified according to the five categories used by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics: Branco (White), Preto (Black), Amarelo (East Asian), Indígeno (Indigenous), or Pardo (mixed ethnicity). We assessed regional variations in patients with COVID-19 admitted to hospital by state and by two socioeconomically grouped regions (north and central-south). We used mixed-effects Cox regression survival analysis to estimate the effects of ethnicity and comorbidity at an individual level in the context of regional variation.FindingsOf 99 557 patients in the SIVEP-Gripe dataset, we included 11 321 patients in our study. 9278 (82·0%) of these patients were from the central-south region, and 2043 (18·0%) were from the north region. Compared with White Brazilians, Pardo and Black Brazilians with COVID-19 who were admitted to hospital had significantly higher risk of mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 1·45, 95% CI 1·33–1·58 for Pardo Brazilians; 1·32, 1·15–1·52 for Black Brazilians). Pardo ethnicity was the second most important risk factor (after age) for death. Comorbidities were more common in Brazilians admitted to hospital in the north region than in the central-south, with similar proportions between the various ethnic groups. States in the north had higher HRs compared with those of the central-south, except for Rio de Janeiro, which had a much higher HR than that of the other central-south states.InterpretationWe found evidence of two distinct but associated effects: increased mortality in the north region (regional effect) and in the Pardo and Black populations (ethnicity effect). We speculate that the regional effect is driven by increasing comorbidity burden in regions with lower levels of socioeconomic development. The ethnicity effect might be related to differences in susceptibility to COVID-19 and access to health care (including intensive care) across ethnicities. Our analysis supports an urgent effort on the part of Brazilian authorities to consider how the national response to COVID-19 can better protect Pardo and Black Brazilians, as well as the population of poorer states, from their higher risk of dying of COVID-19.

10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30285-0

Ethnic and regional variations in hospital mortality from COVID-19 in Brazil: a cross-sectional observational study

It’s all about weighing the risks.

Socializing During Coronavirus: What to Know and How to Reduce Risks

Evidence is growing that a mutated coronavirus strain, the main one circulating in the Houston area, is more contagious than the original virus in China. Two new research papers show that the newer strain is more transmissible, a possibility first suggested by a team of scientists in May. At the time, that suggestion was considered highly speculative by many scientists, including some in Houston.

Evidence growing that Houston's main coronavirus strain is more contagious than original

The World Health Organization (WHO) has downplayed airborne transmission of COVID-19 since the pandemic began but now more than 200 scientists are making a plea for action, warning people they aren't as protected as they may think.The WHO's view has so far been that COVID-19 is spread predominantly through large respiratory droplets — the ones that come flying out of our mouths when we cough, sneeze and speak but then quickly fall to the ground.The risk of airborne transmission has not been recognised by the WHO, except in some health care settings.

Coronavirus spreads through the air as aerosol, 230 scientists write in open letter to World Health Organization

Human behavior research will be profoundly impacted beyond the stagnation resulting from the closure of laboratories during government-mandated lockdowns. In this viewpoint article, we argue that disruption provides an important opportunity for accelerating structural reforms already underway to reduce waste in planning, conducting, and reporting research (Cristea and Naudet, 2019). We discuss three aspects relevant to human behavior research: (1) unavoidable, extensive changes in data collection and ensuing untoward consequences; (2) the possibility of shifting research priorities to aspects relevant to the pandemic; (3) recommendations to enhance adaptation to the disruption caused by the pandemic.

This dashboard was designed to collect COVID-19 dashboards in a single location. Below is a listing of all dashboards included. Navigate in the side bar to the 'Search dashboards' tab to search all dashboards by keyword as well as up/downvote dashboards. Navigate to the 'Add to the database' tab to add missing dashboards.

COVID-19 Meta Dashboard

COVID Risk Chart

Researchers have estimated the infection fatality rate – the proportion of infected people who die – at between 0.6 and 1 per cent. So far though, there are no estimates of how this is changing over time. (4/4)

Does that mean the virus is getting less deadly? It’s unclear, reports @mjflepage. It could be the result of better treatments, earlier detection, or younger people getting infected. (3/4)

However, the number of deaths in the US reported as being due to covid-19 has fallen from more than 3000 a day in mid-April to well under 1000. (2/4)

Thread on #covid19 trends in the US: Coronavirus infections have surged since the start of June from around 20,000 new cases a day to over 60,000. (1/4)

Coronavirus deaths are falling in the US even as cases skyrocket. In the UK, a lower proportion of people hospitalised with covid‑19 are dying. This has led to suggestions that the risk of dying if you are infected with the virus is falling, but the truth may be more complicated. “At this point, I don’t think we have conclusive evidence that the death rate is going down,” says Tessa Bold at Stockholm University in Sweden. Having plateaued at around 20,000 in May, the number of daily confirmed cases in the US began rising in June and has now exceeded 60,000. However, the number of deaths in the US reported as being due to covid-19 has fallen from more than 3000 a day in mid-April to well under 1000.

Why are US coronavirus deaths going down as covid-19 cases soar?

This is a kind reminder that most issues with data (e.g. measurement error, incomplete data, confounding, selection) do *not* disappear just because you have N = ginormous

More than 200 scientists this week wrote a letter to the World Health Organization (WHO), reporting there’s a good chance that COVID-19 can be spread through the air. While the WHO has previously said most transmission happens from direct contact with droplets from an infected person’s cough or sneeze, these experts say the virus can actually stay suspended in the air. If this is true, it’s bad news for people who gather in crowded, poorly ventilated spaces. A lot of questions remain, however, about if this is accurate.  Joining Ira to talk about this story, and more is Nsikan Akpan, a science editor at National Geographic, based in Washington, D.C.

Can COVID-19 Spread Through The Air?

COVID-19 has been described as a once-in-a-century pandemic, with New York City as the iconic early epicenter for the United States. Now, as coronavirus surges across the country, many places are moving toward a New York-style crisis—and not only in urban areas. Hotspots are flaring everywhere, from Washington State to Kansas to Florida, with many of these regions matching the concentration of cases witnessed at the peak of New York City’s outbreak.

How the new coronavirus surges compare to New York City’s peak

Our journalists are documenting virus hot spots around the world.

Coronavirus Dispatches

In a city forged by challenges, musicians, chefs, and performers have found new ways to persevere.

'It’s in the genes': New Orleans culture marches on despite the pandemic

Many of the roughly 5,000 people in this tight-knit community are homeless. With the first COVID-19 cases now reported, is the city ready for what may come?

Residents of L.A.’s ‘Skid Row’ seek hope as coronavirus worsens

Segregation is at the root of much of Chicago's inequality—and COVID-19 has made it worse.

In the Midwest's coronavirus capital, cases highlight a historic racial divide

You could be forgiven for wondering how a disease as fast-moving and deadly as COVID-19 could just appear naturally, out of nowhere, seemingly overnight. President Trump expressed doubt, saying that “a lot of people” were looking at the possibility that a Chinese lab was responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier that week, Fox News ran a story in which unnamed sources suggested that the COVID-19 outbreak originated in a Wuhan laboratory — the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which studies coronaviruses with a number of international collaborators. The New York Times reported that spy agencies are being pressured to find evidence blaming the lab, and at the end of April, the National Institutes of Health withdrew funding from a research consortium that had collaborated with the lab. As recently as this weekend, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, despite saying there was no reason to disbelieve the intelligence community’s assessment that the virus was neither manmade nor genetically modified, claimed there was “enormous evidence” connecting the virus to the WIV.

Why Scientists Think The Novel Coronavirus Developed Naturally — Not In A Chinese Lab

In an exclusive interview, the face of America’s COVID-19 response cautions against the rush for states to reopen, and offers his tips for handling the pandemic's information deluge.

Fauci: No scientific evidence the coronavirus was made in a Chinese lab

Changes in the pathogen help scientists follow cases without widespread testing—and show the virus isn't a bioweapon.

How coronavirus mutations can track its spread—and disprove conspiracies

National Geographic contacted engineers, physicists, psychologists, and fashion designers to find out the best tips for building better masks.

How to make masks that everyone will want to wear

High-speed photography shows a sneeze can blast saliva and mucus well beyond current social distancing guidelines, and tiny droplets can remain in the air longer than thought.

See how a sneeze can launch germs much farther than 6 feet