Covid-19 has made fundamental and long-lasting changes to the way we live our lives, not just in the UK, but across the world.
As we continue with social-distancing measures and deal with the most immediate issue of reducing the number of cases to protect the NHS and save lives, and keeping R, which is the average infection rate per person, below one, we also need to progress ways to tackle the disease in the longer term.
Ultimately the way out will likely include vaccines, new medicines or both. An effective vaccine would both prevent people getting Covid-19 and curb transmission.
The vaccines taskforce will be working in lockstep with the public and private sector
Ideally, we would have one ready to take off the shelf and roll out yesterday. One that could be delivered at scale. But this is a new disease that didnt exist before December and we have a lot to learn about the virus and how the body responds to it.
All new vaccines that come into development are long shots; only some end up being successful, and the whole process requires experimentation. Coronavirus will be no different and presents new challenges for vaccine development. This will take time, and we should be clear it is not a certainty.
But there is cause for optimism. With more than 80 vaccine projects across the world, there is an effort the like of which has never been seen before.
A vaccine has to work, but it also has to be safe. If a vaccine is to be given to billions of people, many of whom may be at a low risk from Covid-19, it must have a good safety profile.
Even when a vaccine has been shown to produce an immune response there will still be clinical testing and trials to be done. With Covid-19 we need to understand more about the immune response and how that will alter the response to the disease. This presents new challenges for making an effective and safe vaccine.
Simultaneously, if we are to respond at the right pace, work must and will be taking place to build the manufacturing capacity needed to take any vaccine from lab to jab; producing the millions or potentially billions of doses that will be needed if an effective vaccine is found. This sort of scaling of a vaccine can be done but is not a trivial task.
The UK is home to world-leading scientists, researchers and companies who are at the forefront of vaccine development and manufacturing. The progress in vaccine developments from our academic institutions here in the UK is impressive. And as the announcement from GSK and Sanofi shows, companies are collaborating to work together to tackle this threat.
Helping get a vaccine is rightly one of the governments biggest priorities, which is why we have brought together scientists, industry leaders and the government under a single taskforce. This will ensure vaccine discovery is funded, clinical trials can be done quickly, regulators help speed the path to a safe and effective vaccine, and we develop manufacturing capabilities to ensure that we can make and access large quantities of vaccine.
Co-operation between the UK and international efforts has to be at the heart of this, and the UK is funding vaccines development through partnership across the world.
The more vaccine development projects there are, the greater the odds that a vaccine will be available in 12-18 months. But it is not certain.
In the UK there is already a lot of work, with pre-clinical studies underway at the University of Oxford and Imperial College London to name but two. And the UK is a major international donor to the programme to develop a coronavirus vaccine under the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, pledging 250m.
The vaccines taskforce will be working in lockstep with the public and private sector, supporting leading academics and identifying ways to fast-track clinical trials.
The UK has a proud history in vaccinology. It was an Englishman, Edward Jenner, who pioneered the field over 200 years ago. Two centuries on, the scientific community will work tirelessly to find a medicine or vaccine against Covid-19, and we need to back them every step of the way.
Patrick Vallance is the UK government chief scientific adviser
As COVID-19 continues to spread throughout the country and the world, EpiVax, a biotechnology company based in Providence, is currently leading collaborative efforts to design a vaccine against the virus.
EpiVax has been dedicated to applying (their) tools to re-engineering therapeutic proteins and to designing new vaccines, according to their website. They are partnering with researchers from four organizations to work on the COVID-19 vaccine: Generex Biotechnology, the University of Georgia, Immunomic Therapeutics and an organization based in Belgium. Other researchers have reached out to the company to aid in collaborative efforts as well.
Bringing Potential Benefits
The candidate vaccines being developed by EpiVax are T-cell-based. Unlike other COVID-19 vaccines in the works that are B-cell-based, the T-cell vaccines do not stimulate antibodies, which are molecules created by the immune system to protect against infection. Some studies have proposed that in the case of COVID-19, antibody stimulation may exacerbate respiratory symptoms, said Katie Porter, EpiVaxs business development manager.
From studies on other coronaviruses, we have learned that often the antibodies are not long-lived, so they do not hold up their defense against invading viruses for extended periods of time as the virus evolves, said Lalit Beura, assistant professor of molecular microbiology and immunology, whose research involves T-cells. Having another arm of the immune system in the form of a T-cell-focused vaccine is helpful.
EpiVax: Starting with Sequencing
There are people who are concerned that were working with the actual virus in Providence, but that is not the case, Porter said. Rather, EpiVax is using a digital representation. After determining the viruss genome, the researchers selected the amino acid sequences that form the COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 proteins that T-cells recognize and used a computer-based technology they developed to determine the regions of these proteins that instigate the greatest immune system response. The researchers will use these short protein segments to design vaccine candidates.
EpiVax has created three designs for the collaborators to use for their distinct, biological methods of delivering the vaccine. These designs include a set of distinct, short peptides, a string of connected peptides and a modified protein. Peptides are composed of the same molecules as proteins but are shorter. We are working with various collaborators on a daily basis to provide them with the best design options for their platform technology, Porter said. For instance, the Generex collaborators are using a set of peptides while the University of Georgia collaborators will be using the modified protein model consisting of the full viral protein.
While each of these organizations is working on their own projects, they all share a common goal of developing a vaccine. EpiVax has begun delivering its protein designs to its collaborators and optimizing the strains for their mechanism. For the company, sharing their sequencing and initial design work with collaborators who can help create an eventual vaccine is important because we have the ink, and we need to give it to someone with the pen so that together we can write, Porter said.
University of Georgia: Modifying the Protein Model
Ted Ross, director of the Center for Vaccines and Immunology, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar and professor of infectious diseases at the University of Georgia, and two other investigators at the university will engineer the modified protein sequences that EpiVax is designing. Then they will run trials in animal models mice and ferrets by infecting them with the altered peptides to determine whether they produce a better immune response than the wild type viruss proteins do. If this is the case, the researchers plan to expose these animals to SARS-CoV-2 to ensure that this potential vaccination is effective. The groups expectation is to have this data ready by the middle of this summer.
Ross and his group have also been working on developing a universal flu vaccine, a vaccine that could potentially be used for all influenza viruses without requiring constant changes. Perhaps we could use those (same) techniques to eventually create a universal coronavirus vaccine, Ross said.
Generex Biotechnology: Modifying the Peptide Model
Generex Biotechnology, another therapeutics company, is modifying the peptides provided by EpiVax. They are first synthesizing the peptides predicted by EpiVaxs analysis using their Ii-Key technology. An li-Key facilitates the attachment of a four-amino-acid-long peptide to a part of the COVID-19 virus. This technology serves as a sort of flag on the virus, providing a way to artificially activate the T-cells more quickly than would happen in a typical immune response.
The researchers plan on conducting their studies by testing the modified peptides, determined by EpiVax and optimized by Generex, using blood cells from COVID-19-recovered patients. They hope to complete these studies in three to four months prior to testing the potential vaccine in live animals and people.
It is a two-fold process, said Eric von Hofe, chief scientific officer of NuGenerex Immuno-Oncology, a subsidiary of Generex. The team will be looking for a T-cell response to these peptides, as well as the generation of antibodies. After starting and completing trials in animal models, Generex hopes to begin clinical trials with about 200 volunteers that will receive the peptide-based vaccine to determine whether this produces the desired immune response and to ensure the safety of the vaccine.
The biggest advantage is that peptides represent the minimal unit required to produce an immune response while reducing safety concerns associated with other proposed COVID-19 vaccines that are RNA- and DNA-based and have the potential to insert into a persons DNA, von Hofe said. But none of these types of vaccines have been approved yet for the treatment of infectious diseases, he added.
Fundamentals of Funding
Despite the preliminary successes the companies have seen thus far, funding remains a critical part of the picture. Funding often pushes back the timeline, or worse, cancels hopes of a trial continuing. EpiVaxs and Generexs earlier research on vaccine candidates for the H1N1 and SARS pandemics were halted largely due to funding limitations.
Still, the companies believe that this time around, it will not be as much of a barrier. If our trials are successful, Im sure that there will be opportunities to take a vaccine candidate even further, Porter said. There is government and other funding available, but there are many people trying to get it. We have many collaborations in place to move a COVID vaccine forward, so chances for success are very good.
Von Hofe highlighted the importance of reaching out to government officials, as well as voting for political candidates who will support vaccine research. Public interest is acute in the midst of a pandemic and then fades away, von Hofe said. But with the last 20 years having brought a handful of pandemics, now it is pretty clear that the regular emergence of pandemic or potentially pandemic viruses will not be going away, he added. Whatever happens with COVID-19, we will have learned a lot that will be applicable to whatever potential pandemic may come next; it is clear that we need to be better prepared.
While the timeline for this COVID-19 vaccines development remains indefinite, according to EpiVaxs website, were in the race to have the vaccines in clinical trials by the fall, Porter said.
News Release
Friday, April 17, 2020
Health agencies, leading pharmaceutical companies to join forces to accelerate pandemic response.
The National Institutes of Health and the Foundation for the NIH (FNIH) are bringing together more than a dozen leading biopharmaceutical companies, the Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Food and Drug Administrationand the European Medicines Agency to develop an international strategy for a coordinated research response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The planned Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) partnership will develop a collaborative framework for prioritizing vaccine and drug candidates, streamlining clinical trials, coordinating regulatory processesand/or leveraging assets among all partners to rapidly respond to the COVID-19 and future pandemics. This is part of the whole-of-government, whole-of-America response the Administration has led to beat COVID-19.
We need to bring the full power of the biomedical research enterprise to bear on this crisis, said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. Now is the time to come together with unassailable objectivity to swiftly advance the development of the most promising vaccine and therapeutic candidates that can help end the COVID-19 global pandemic.
Coordinated by the FNIH, ACTIV government and industry partners will provide infrastructure, subject matter expertise and/or funding (both new and in-kind) to identify, prioritize and facilitate the entry of some of the most promising candidates into clinical trials. Industry partners also will make available certain prioritized compounds, some of which have already cleared various phases of development, and associated data to support research related to COVID-19. The partnership is being developed with input from a steering committee managed by the FNIH which includes leaders from NIH, FDA and the research and development organizations of the companies.
COVID-19 is the most significant global health challenge of our lifetime, and it will take all of us working together as a global community to put an end to this pandemic, said Paul Stoffels, M.D., Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee and Chief Scientific Officer, Johnson & Johnson. We will need to harness the best ideas from multiple stakeholders, including governments, regulatory authorities, academia, NGOs and industry to stop COVID-19. At Johnson & Johnson, we are committed to working closely with FNIH, IMI and are part of other important consortia to speed solutions to stop this pandemic.
Battling the COVID-19 pandemic is far too great a challenge for any one company or institution to solve alone, said Mikael Dolsten, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer and President, Worldwide Research, Development and Medical, Pfizer.We are seeing an unprecedented level of collaboration across the innovation ecosystem to address this global health crisis, and this potentially powerful NIH initiative may allow us to further accelerate the delivery of much needed therapies to patients around the world.
The research community is currently striving to sift through more than 100 potential preventives and therapeutics for COVID-19. ACTIV will aim to provide guidance which can be used to prioritize the plethora of vaccine and therapeutic candidates in development and connect clinical trial networks to test new and repurposed candidates quickly and efficiently.
Using the most advanced clinical trial methods to rapidly test multiple interventions will help get the answers we need as soon as possible to expedite potential prevention and treatment approaches to fight COVID-19, said FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn, M.D. Collaboration is a critical ingredient for success and the FDA will continue to use every tool possible under our Coronavirus Treatment Acceleration Program to speed the development of safe and effective medical countermeasures.
ACTIV will have four fast-track focus areas, each of which will be led by a highly motivated working group of senior scientists representing government, industry and academia:
This powerful public-private partnership will focus and expedite R&D activities required to combat COVID-19, says Maria C. Freire, Ph.D., President and Executive Director, FNIH. Working in lock-step, the public and private sectors will maximize the chances of success and provide a roadmap to pre-emptively manage future threats.
About the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health: The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health creates and manages alliances with public and private institutions in support of the mission of the NIH, the worlds premier medical research agency. The Foundation, also known as the FNIH, works with its partners to accelerate biomedical research and strategies against diseases and health concerns in the United States and across the globe. The FNIH organizes and administers research projects; supports education and training of new researchers; organizes educational events and symposia; and administers a series of funds supporting a wide range of health issues. Established by Congress in 1990, the FNIH is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. For additional information about the FNIH, please visit fnih.org.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH):NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
NIHTurning Discovery Into Health
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Novak Djokovic says his opposition to vaccinations may get in the way of his return to competitive tennis.
Personally I am opposed to vaccination and I wouldnt want to be forced by someone to take a vaccine in order to be able to travel, the world No 1 said in a live Facebook chat with several fellow Serbian athletes on Sunday. But if it becomes compulsory, what will happen? I will have to make a decision. I have my own thoughts about the matter and whether those thoughts will change at some point, I dont know.
Hypothetically, if the season was to resume in July, August or September, though unlikely, I understand that a vaccine will become a requirement straight after we are out of strict quarantine and there is no vaccine yet.
Last month, former world No1 Amelie Mauresmo said the rest of the 2020 tennis season may be wiped out. She added that action should not resume until a vaccine is available for Covid-19, something that most scientists believe is at least a year away.
International circuit = players of all nationalities plus management, spectators and people from the 4 corners of the world who bring these events to life. No vaccine = no tennis, the two-time grand slam winner said in a widely shared tweet.
This years Wimbledon championships have been cancelled for the first time since the second world war, while the French Open, originally due to start on 24 May, was rescheduled for the end of September, shortly after the end of the US Open.
Djokovic made a flying start to the 2020 season, winning the Australian Open in January for his 17th grand slam title and stretched his winning run to 18 matches before the pandemic brought sports events across the world to a halt.
So far the governing bodies of tennis have suspended all tournaments until 13 July. In addition, the womens Rogers Cup in Montreal, which had been due to be held in August, will not take place this year.
HOUSTON We are continuing to track the latest headlines and updates regarding the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Bad weather caused Houston and Harris County's testing sites to close Sunday. Also Congress is close to agreeing on another financial relief bill. Get today's top headlines and latest updates in the live blog below.
Stimulus payment tracker & FAQ | How you can get tested for COVID-19| Local COVID-19 cases | Coronavirus symptoms | COVID-19 FAQ
Here are the latest updates from around the Houston area and the world(alltimes are Central/Houston time):
APRIL 19 5:07 p.m. A man and woman, both between ages 61-70 and suffering from pre-existing medical conditions, have died from coronavirus. the Galveston County Health District said both passed away April 18.
So far, 455 coronavirus cases have been reported in the county. Seventeen people have died from COVID-19 and 193 people have recovered.
APRIL 19 2:08 p.m. TheHouston Health Department is reporting 130 new coronavirus cases, bringing the city total to 2,821.
Sadly, three more people all with underlying health problemshave also died from the virus. These individuals are a man in his 70s, one in his 90s and another man, also in his 70s.
These men all passed away on the same day, April 16, the health department said. The death toll for the city of Houston is now 34.
APRIL 19 11:29 a.m. Democrats close to reaching deal with GOP on coronavirus response bill | Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday his party is close to coming to an agreement with Republicans regarding a new coronavirus response bill. Schumer said Sunday on CNN that the Democrats have made "very good progress," and the Senate leader said that he is hopeful they can "come to an agreement tonight or early tomorrow morning. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Sunday the GOP is close to reaching a deal with the Democrats. The bill would expand on the Small Business Administrations loan program. Read more national/world updates here.
APRIL 19 10:15 a.m. All Harris County and City of Houston public testing sites are closed today due to poor weather conditions. Those with codes/appointments for today should use them tomorrow, Monday, April 20
Related: View latest weather alerts & forecast
City of Houston statement: "Houston's two community based testing sites are closed today (Sunday, April 19) due to inclement weather. People with authorization codes for today should use them on Monday, April 20."
Harris County statement: "URGENT: All of our #COVID19 testing sites are closed today due to the weather. We plan on opening back up Monday. If you had an appointment for today, please come back tomorrow."
APRIL 19 10 a.m. The European Center for Disease Control says the continent now has more than 1 million confirmed cases and almost 100,000 deaths from the new coronavirus. According to a tally posted on the ECDC website Sunday, Spain had the most cases in the region with 191,726, followed by Italy, Germany, Britain and France. It listed Italy as having the most deaths in Europe, with 23,227, followed by Spain, France, Britain and Belgium. According to the tally, Europe accounts for almost half the global case load and more than half the total deaths. (AP) Read more national/world updates here.
APRIL 19 9:50 a.m. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence says 150,000 coronavirus tests are now being conducted daily in the U.S. but suggested that governors and not the federal government were to blame for numbers not being higher. Pence tells NBCs Meet the Press that, if states around the country will activate all of the laboratories that are available in their states, we could more than double that overnight." He said the nation has sufficient testing today for states to begin reopening their economies as part of the initial phases of guidelines the White House released this week. Governors from both parties have said that while they do have more labs that could increase testing in many areas, they often are unable to do so because of federal delays. (AP) Read more national/world updates here.
APRIL 19 9 a.m. The latest numbers from Johns Hopkins University show the world has reached more than 604,000 recoveries. There have been 162,000 deaths worldwide with 2.36 million confirmed cases reported.
Here's a look at the confirmed case numbers in the Houston area as of this morning:
Southeast Texas COVID-19 cases as of Sunday morning, April 19, 2020
KHOU 111
APRIL 19 6:50 a.m. World news:The Italian coast guard is transferring 34 migrants from the Spanish rescue ship Aita Mari off the coast of the Sicilian capital Palermo onto a naval ship for quarantine. The new arrivals will join 146 migrants from the German-run rescue ship Alan Kurdi, who were transferred on Friday to the Rubattino. The Italian naval ship will remain a mile off the coast for the duration of the quarantine, which is being overseen by the Italian Red Cross. (AP) Read more national/world updates here.
APRIL 19 5 a.m. World news: Over a thousand virus cases on French ship | Figures from France's military leadership show more than half the sailors aboard the country's flagship aircraft carrier contracted the new virus as the ship traveled through the Mediterranean Sea, the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. A navy official says 1,046 of the 1,760 people aboard the Charles de Gaulle tested positive for the virus. Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Christophe Prazuck attributed the quick spread to the great population density aboard the ship. Read more national/world updates here.
APRIL 19 12 a.m. Sad news from the entertainment world over the weekend: Broadway star Nick Cordero faces leg amputation due to complications while battling coronavirus | Cordero entered the intensive case unit at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in LA on March 31 and has been on a ventilator and unconscious after contracting COVID-19. Read more here.
APRIL 19 12 a.m. World news: Spain has reported its lowest daily death total for confirmed coronavirus victims in nearly a month as the country contains a savage outbreak that has killed more than 20,000 people there. Spanish health officials said Sunday another 410 people have died in the last 24 hours. That is the lowest daily death toll since March 22. It takes the total to 20,453 virus-related deaths since the start of the pandemic. Spain also reported 4,218 confirmed new cases, pushing the total to 195,944 second only to the United States. Top health official Fernando Simn said the latest data gives Spain hope, adding that it shows "the rate of contagion has fallen and that we are on the correct path. (AP) Read more national/world updates here.
APRIL 19 12 a.m. World news: Japan passes 10,000 cases of COVID-19 | Japanese health ministry said Sunday that 568 new cases of the coronavirus were reported the day before, bringing a domestic total to 10,361. A combined total including 712 others from a cruise ship quarantined near Tokyo earlier this year came to 11,073, with 174 deaths. The number of cases is still relatively small compared to the U.S. and Europe, but thats only as many as Japans limited testing has detected and actual infections are believed to be far more widespread. Read more national/world updates here.
APRIL 18 10:25 p.m. After their wedding was postponed, family surprises couple with car parade | Their day began with brunch and then some photos of the couple. But the biggest surprise was waiting just around the corner. Read more here.
APRIL 18 9:59 p.m. Great news from Houston police chief Art Acevedo! The chief said detective Ramon "Ray" Cervantes, who's been hospitalized with COVID-19 in intensive care, opened his eyes today.
He "was able to follow stimuli and doctor's instructions," Acevedo said in a tweet. "We are so hopeful. Thank you for all your prayers and the ones yet to come."
APRIL 18 9:14 p.m. Tito's Vodka donated 130 cases of handsanitizer to the city of Houston's essential workers. "Thank you for your geenrosity and shifting your production to help during #COVID19!" Mayor Sylvester Turner said in a Facebook postSaturday.
APRIL 18 8:39 p.m. Dallas County health officials reported the largest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in one day. County health officials confirmed Saturday afternoon an additional 134 people have tested positive, bringing the county's total case count to 2,324. Five more people have also died from the virus. All the victims had been critically ill at local hospitals, officials say.
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The symptoms of coronavirus can be similar to the flu or a bad cold. Symptoms include a fever, cough and shortness of breath, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Some patients also have nausea, body aches, headaches and stomach issues. Losing your sense of taste and/or smell can also be an early warning sign.
Most healthy people will have mild symptoms. A study of more than 72,000 patients by the Centers for Disease Control in China showed 80 percent of the cases there were mild.
But infections can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death, according to the World Health Organization. Older people with underlying health conditions are most at risk for becoming seriously ill. However, U.S. experts are seeing a significant number of younger people being hospitalized, including some in ICU.
The CDC believes symptoms may appear anywhere from two to 14 days after being exposed.
Get complete coverage of the coronavirus by texting 'FACTS' to 713-526-1111.
An EMT wearing protective equipment moves a patient into Elmhurst Hospital Center in the Queens borough of New York. Preliminary data suggest COVID-19 is having a disproportionate impact on communities of color. Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
An EMT wearing protective equipment moves a patient into Elmhurst Hospital Center in the Queens borough of New York. Preliminary data suggest COVID-19 is having a disproportionate impact on communities of color.
As data emerges on the spectrum of symptoms caused by COVID-19, it's clear that people with chronic health conditions are being hit harder.
While many people experience mild illness, 89% of people with COVID-19 who were sick enough to be hospitalized had at least one chronic condition. About half had high blood pressure and obesity, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And about a third had diabetes and a third had cardiovascular disease. So, what explains this?
"Obesity is a marker for a number of other problems," explains Dr. Aaron Carroll, a public health researcher at the Indiana University School of Medicine. It's increasingly common for those who develop obesity to develop diabetes and other conditions, as well. So, one reason COVID-19 is taking its toll on people who have obesity is that their overall health is often compromised.
But does obesity specifically affect the immune system? Perhaps.
Prior research has shown that people with obesity are less protected by the flu vaccine. They tend to get sicker from the respiratory disease even if they've been immunized. In fact, researchers have found that as people gain excess weight, their metabolism changes and this shift can make the immune system less effective at fighting off viruses.
"What we see with obesity is that these [immune] cells don't function as well,' says Melinda Beck, a health researcher at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Basically, she explains, obesity throws off the fuel sources that immune cells need to function. "The [immune cells] are not using the right kinds of fuels," Beck says. And, as a result, the condition of obesity seems to "impair that critical immune response [needed] to deal with either the virus infection or [the ability] to make a robust response to a vaccine."
So this is one explanation as to why people with obesity seem more vulnerable to serious infection. But, there are many more questions about why some people are hit harder, including whether race is a factor.
The CDC found that 33% of people who've been hospitalized with COVID-19 are African American, yet only 13% of the U.S. population is African American. Some local communities have found a similar pattern in their data. Among the many (26) states reporting racial data on COVID-19, blacks account for 34% of COVID deaths, according to research from Johns Hopkins University.
This disproportionate toll can be partially explained by the fact that there's a higher prevalence of obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes among African Americans compared with whites.
And as Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health said last week at a White House coronavirus task force briefing, this crisis "is shining a bright light on how unacceptable that is, because yet again, when you have a situation like the coronavirus, [African Americans] are suffering disproportionately."
There are several factors, including some genetic ones, that may make African Americans more vulnerable to COVID-19. "There have been a few studies that have pointed to African Americans potentially having genetic risk factors that make them more salt-sensitive," says Ren Robinson, a professor of chemistry who researches chronic disease at Vanderbilt University. This may increase the likelihood of high blood pressure, which, in turn, is linked to more serious forms of COVID-19. "It could be a contributing factor," she says, but there are likely multiple causes at play.
Another issue to consider, she says, may be high stress levels. She says when a person experiences racial discrimination, it can contribute to chronic stress. She points to several studies that link discrimination and stress to higher levels of inflammation among black adults. "And chronic stress can make one more vulnerable to infection because it can lower your body's ability to fight off an infection," she says.
Chronic stress is linked to poverty so this could be a risk factor for low-income communities. In fact, research has shown that people who report higher levels of stress are more likely to catch a cold, when exposed to a virus, compared with people who are not stressed.
According to a new survey from Pew Research Center, health concerns about COVID-19 are much higher among Hispanics and blacks in the U.S. While 18% of white adults say they're "very concerned" that they will get COVID-19 and require hospitalization, 43% of Hispanic respondents and 31% of black adults say they're "very concerned" about that happening.
And other aspects of structural racism could contribute to the elevated risk for black Americans.
"Every major crisis or catastrophe hits the most vulnerable communities the hardest," say Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League. And he points to several factors that help to explain the racial divide.
"Black workers are more likely to hold the kinds of jobs that cannot be done from home," Morial says. So, they may be more likely to be exposed to the virus, if they are working in places where it's difficult to maintain social distancing. In addition, he points to longstanding inequities in access to quality care.
"There also is bias among health care workers, institutions and systems that results in black patients ... receiving fewer medical procedures and poorer-quality medical care than white individuals," he says. He says an expansion of Medicaid into those states that still haven't expanded would be one effective policy to address these inequities.
The characteristics of the communities where people live could affect risk, too especially for those who live in low-income neighborhoods. The roots of chronic illness stem from the way people live and the choices that may or may not be available to them. People who develop the chronic illnesses that put them at higher risk of COVID-19 often lack access to affordable and healthy foods or live in neighborhoods where it's not safe to play or exercise outside.
"Let's take a patient with diabetes for example. They are already at high risk for COVID-19 by having a chronic condition," says Joseph Valenti, a physician in Denton, Texas, who promotes awareness of the social determinants of health through his work with the Physicians Foundation.
"If they also live in a food desert, they have to put themselves in greater risk if they want access to healthy food. They may need to take a bus, with people that have COVID-19 but aren't showing symptoms, to get access to nutritious food or even their insulin prescription," he says.
Poor nutrition, and the obesity linked to it, is a leading cause of premature death around the globe. And, this pandemic brings into focus the vulnerability of the millions of people living with lifestyle-related, chronic disease.
"We're seeing the convergence of chronic disease with an infection," says UNC's Beck. And the data suggest that the combination of these two can lead to more serious illness. "We're seeing that obesity can have a great influence on infection," she says.
So, will this shine a spotlight on the need to address these issues? "Hopefully," Beck says. "I think paying attention to these chronic diseases like obesity is in everybody's best interest."
One of the biggest barriers to cooking frequently is that it takes practice and time to gain proficiency and ease. That initial training time has simply not been available to most Americans, as the pace of life has intensified over the decades. Nor has there been a perceived need to cook because prepared and fast foods were readily available.
The pandemic has put everything on pause, and almost every nonessential worker, employed or unemployed, is now enrolled in a de facto home economics course. Cooking is at the top of the curriculum. The course will be months or years long. Even if stay-at-home orders are lifted, cooking will be the most cost-effective way to eat during a deep recession.
An increase in the frequency of cooking does not necessarily mean we are getting healthier during the pandemic. Tragedy and fear are making us stress-eat, as we drown ourselves in tubs of ice cream or binge bake. Moreover, with gyms closed and movement restricted, many of us are now more sedentary than ever. But we are acquiring an ancient skill that has been shown to help people live better and longer. If we apply that skill with greater frequency over the long run, it could reduce our risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
A poor diet is the biggest underlying cause of mortality in America, and that poor diet is largely delivered by large food companies like Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Chick-fil-A and McDonalds. Just 10 dietary factors (such as high intake of processed meat and refined grains) are estimated to cause more than 1,000 deaths per day from heart disease, stroke and diabetes alone. More than 100 million Americans have diabetes or pre-diabetes and 122 million have cardiovascular disease.
Frequent cooking could make a difference in outcomes on average, people who frequently cook at home eat less fat and sugar than other people. Most restaurants and many large food companies, after all, use levels of salt, sugar and fat that would be inconceivable for home cooks.
Cooking as an element of good health is starting to catch on. A number of medical schools, such as George Washington University and Tulane University, now have culinary schools or culinary programs.
That need has never been higher, since the coronavirus has been most threatening to people with food-related chronic diseases. About 90 percent of those who become seriously ill due to the virus have an underlying condition hypertension and diabetes being the most common.
Once life rebounds, we may go back to our previous ways, but our palates will have experienced a reset and our hands would have acquired an artful skill. Family ties would have strengthened for many, as cooking is a group activity and is deeply fulfilling and nurturing. There will be many lessons from the coronavirus pandemic, but we would be wise not to forget this one. This newfound proficiency could be lifesaving.
Hans Taparia is a food entrepreneur and clinical associate professor at NYU Stern School of Business.
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SCHENECTADY Barely an hour after Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the state would conduct widespread antibody testing in an effort to trace the virus spread across the state, people lined up inside the Price Chopper/Market 32 on Eastern Parkway in Schenectady seeking to get tested.
City resident John Bergin parked his shopping cart and hopped in line as shoppers milled about, most of them wearing masks.
He said he experienced mild respiratory issues earlier this winter.
"I've been concerned," Bergin said.
While most people practiced social distancing, others clumped together in twos and threes without wearing masks, all attracted by a bright yellow sign that said, NYS DOH antibody screening. Find out if you have been exposed here!
By mid-afternoon, nearly two-dozen people waited in line, including several county legislators.
Deputy Chair Philip Fields works in the state Assembly, where at least three lawmakers have tested positive for the virus.
"I feel like I've been exposed to people who definitely had COVID and just wanted to make sure," said Fields, who likened the test to "just a prick."
State officials said finger-stick blood samples will be tested at Wadsworth, the state lab.
The abrupt operation which took over the supermarkets cafe caught the county by surprise.
Schenectady County was notified about random antibody testing being conducted at the Eastern Parkway Price Chopper site today by the [state] Department of Health after it had begun, said county Legislature Chairman Anthony Jasenski in a statement.
Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi shot back on Twitter: This is for a specific study, as we made clear today and they have our phone number. Dont be small.
The governor didn't indicate testing was scheduled to begin imminently during his daily press briefing on Sunday.
A statement released by his office following his remarks at a Long Island testing lab said the state aimed to take a survey of 3,000 people initially, a process that wasn't scheduled to begin until Monday.The state Department of Health told the Gazette that patrons at grocery stores in different regions across the state will be recruited as part of that effort.
"We're fortunate we've got a partner in Price Chopper/Market 32, an essential business, that worked with us so quickly to operationalize this effort today, which will go a long way in helping us reach a goal of 3,000 participants," a spokesperson told The Gazette on Sunday evening.
Price Chopper/Market32 said the testing at three stores, including their location in Malta, was a one-off and will not be repeated.
They have not made any other arrangements for our other stores," said Mona Golub, Price Chopper/Market 32's vice president of public relations and consumer services. There are no future dates or times at these stores or others of ours at this time."
Antibody testing is not the same traditional diagnostic testing, which indicates whether a person currently has the virus.
Testing antibodies reveals if the person has previously been infected or not.
For many, the virus presents mild symptoms and can often self-resolve without the person knowing they have been infected.
The Saratoga County Office of Emergency Services notified people of the Malta event, advising people to wear masks and practice social distancing if they went.
Some criticized the format.
The [state] DOH needs to move this outside, or do drive-up testing, wrote one commentator. Way too many people are standing way too close together for me. Until they figure a way to do this that doesn't involve packing people into the front of a grocery store, count me out.
Widespread testing and contact tracing is necessary to ease the states shutdown, said Cuomo, and would offer a true snapshot of the spread of coronavirus, which has killed nearly 14,000 New Yorkers.
We have not had hard data on where we are, Cuomo said.
Researchers said they aim to start with 10,000 antibody tests a day before ramping up.
The anticipation is well be able to do hundreds of thousands of tests, said Michael Dowling, president and CEO of Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, the lab spearheading the effort.
Dowling said on Sunday people will initially be selected through random sampling
While antibody testing is still relatively new and untested, its limited usage nationwide has yielded mixed results and raised concerns over its accuracy, the New York Times reported on Sunday.
Cases are subsiding in New York, and the hospitalization rates and deaths are at their lowest levels since early-April.
But infection rates could spike if the state reopens too fast and without the proper precautionary measures, Cuomo said, noting its difficult when the virus will peak upstate due to the lack of testing.
We have a very small margin of error here as we move forward, Cuomo said.
Jasenski said the county appreciates any and all testing opportunities" made available.
However, the continued lack of test kit availability in Schenectady County, a nation-wide problem, hampers our ability to take care of our residents, especially the most vulnerable among us, he said. Available widespread use of testing, random and otherwise, is crucial to identifying the steps necessary for us to move forward.
Antibody test cartridges used in diagnosing the coronavirus move along on a production line at Boditech Med in Chuncheon, South Korea. By Friday, authorities had identified 163 patients who tested positive again after a full recovery. Lee Jin-man/AP hide caption
Antibody test cartridges used in diagnosing the coronavirus move along on a production line at Boditech Med in Chuncheon, South Korea. By Friday, authorities had identified 163 patients who tested positive again after a full recovery.
A growing number of recovered COVID-19 patients are relapsing in South Korea, raising new questions and concerns among scientists and health authorities after the country successfully flattened the curve.
By Friday, Korean health authorities had identified 163 patients who tested positive again after a full recovery. The number more than doubled in about a week, up from 74 cases on April 9. Those patients just over 2% of the country's 7,829 recovered patients are now back in isolation.
According to Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data on Friday, the age and regional distribution of relapse cases are largely in line with that of the total infections.
To find out reasons for relapse, South Korean health authorities are running a range of tests and vetting various scenarios. The World Health Organization said last week that it is investigating the issue. While a fuller analysis will take at least a few weeks, early findings suggest there can be more than one cause.
Top KCDC officials said in recent briefings that the most likely possibility is reactivation of remaining viruses in patients' systems. If a patient had not developed sufficient immunity against the virus or if a patient's immune system weakens after recovery, the previously undetectable level of virus concentration could rebound. Or the novel coronavirus may be capable of staying dormant before reactivating.
Another possibility is that tests are picking up dead virus particles that are no longer infectious or transmissible. KCDC director-general Jeong Eun-kyeong said Friday that viruses collected from six relapse cases could not be cultivated in isolation, signifying that they are either dead or too small in number.
But some relapsed patients may have living viruses that make them sick. As of Friday, at least 61 developed symptoms, albeit mild.
A live virus is probably also transmissible, according to Jeong, but no secondary transmission by relapsed cases has been reported.
Reinfection through another virus carrier is a less probable scenario, considering that patients are retesting positive not long after they are released from treatment. Jeong said on Friday that relapse cases are detected an average of 13.5 days after recovery. The longest reported interval, however, is 35 days.
KCDC has also mentioned errors in testing or sample collecting as potential causes.
Short of definitive answers, authorities are for now advising recovered patients to stay home for an additional two weeks and to monitor for symptoms.
MADISON, Nebraska (KTIV)- On the evening of Thursday, April 16th, Elkhorn Logan Valley Public Health Department says they were made aware of two confirmed COVID-19 casesboth employees at Tyson in Madison, NE.
Officials say that at this time, there are a total of six confirmed cases stemming from employees of that Tyson plant.
An additional 30+ tests are pending at this time from Tyson employees or direct household contacts of Tyson employees.
On the prior evening of April 15th, ELVPHD says they were notified of the statewide initiative to increase COVID-19 testing in the area and were advised that a mass testing event was to be offered in the ELVPHD district for up to 100 patrons in coordination with DHHS, Nebraska Public Health Lab and military personnel.
After learning of the positive cases at Tyson in Madison, ELVPHD made the decision to designate the majority of the 100 tests for Tyson employees and/or household members of Tyson employees.
The department says that initially, support was achieved from both corporate and local Tyson leaders.
On Friday evening, April 17th, the department says they were notified in writing from Tyson Vice President in Arkansas that upon further reflection, Tyson was declining to provide names of any Tyson team membersas requested by their department.
Further, ELVPHD says, the notice stated that Tyson did not see that providing team member information to us was necessary, as they believed that the testing should be reserved for other groups stating that they had not identified the symptomatic Tyson team members who had not been tested.
ELVPHD says they made several recommendations to Tyson on Friday, April 17th, reiterating that utmost attention to stopping spread and exposures in the plant now could procure immense gain in outbreak control in the days and weeks ahead.
Tyson was asked to immediately begin the following:
