Re: Coronavirus: The Good News

Admin Fri 20 Mar 2020, 9:33 pm

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00154-w
NEWS 19 MARCH 2020
Coronavirus latest: China’s epicentre records zero new cases
Updates on the respiratory illness that has infected tens of thousands of people and killed several thousand.

A medical worker (R) embraces a member of a medical assistance team from Jiangsu province.
Medical teams from across China began leaving Wuhan this week after infections there have dropped.Credit: STR/AFP/Getty

Here’s the latest news on the outbreak.
19 March 20:00 GMT — Coronavirus hospitalisations occur at any age, says US CDC

COVID-19 can be severe enough to require hospitalisation in adults of any age, according to a report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The report, released on 18 March, analyses the severity of COVID-19 cases in the United States from 12 February–16 March by age group. Although the mortality rate is highest in adults over 65 — consistent with data reported from China, Italy and elsewhere — 20% of hospitalisations in the country occurred in people aged 20–44 years.

The CDC’s report excludes cases imported from Wuhan, China or Japan, including patients from cruise ships. In total, there were 2,449 cases for which age data were collected. Of them, 29% were adults under the age of 45.

That statistic is roughly consistent with numbers released by the Italian Higher Institute of Health, which reported on 15 March that 24% of cases in the country occurred in adults aged 19–50. These data do not include age-group breakdowns of severe cases, only fatalities. Italy surpassed China in the number of total COVID-19 deaths on 19 March.
The coronavirus pandemic in five powerful charts
Among COVID-19 patients aged 20–44 in the United States, the CDC’s report estimates that up to 21% required hospitalisation. But the percentage of cases requiring intensive care in that age bracket was only 2–4%, significantly lower than any other adult age group. And fatalities remain low among young adults, the report shows.

No data were collected regarding underlying conditions that have been shown to make people more susceptible to the disease, so it is unclear whether the young adults being hospitalised are those who are more vulnerable. Still, the report stresses, severe illness “can occur in adults of any age”.

19 March 11:00 GMT — No new confirmed cases in Hubei province

On 18 March, Hubei, the Chinese province at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak, recorded no new cases of COVID-19 for the first time since the beginning of the epidemic, according to the country’s National Health Commission. Eight deaths were reported in the province that day.

A month ago, Hubei was confronting several thousand new confirmed cases each day. Since December, it has recorded more than 67,000 people with COVID-19, and more than 3,000 deaths.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00758-2
Across China, there were 39 new cases recorded on 18 March, and 13 deaths.

Italy now faces the largest number of new cases per day, with 3,526 confirmed yesterday. New cases have also surged in the United States, Iran, Spain, France and Germany.

Admin Wed 18 Mar 2020, 12:29 am

Coronavirus: The Good News
Photo by CDC/Unsplash
By Tré Goins-Phillips
Editor
March 16, 2020
Have I washed my hands enough today? Am I carrying the coronavirus right now and I just don’t know it? Have I crossed paths with someone who’s infected? What about my job? How bad will the economy get? Life in the middle of a pandemic can be a little jarring — especially with all the negative news and uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus.
While there is now — and always will be — plenty to be concerned about, I’ve quickly found out it’s really important, perhaps now more than ever, to find and savor the things worth celebrating. As it turns out, not all of the news is bad news.

So here’s a list of 13 good news stories relating to the novel coronavirus:

1. Wuhan, which was the epicenter of the COVID-19 epidemic, has closed the last of its 16 temporary coronavirus hospitals because there aren’t enough patients to keep them open.

2. Dutch researchers have discovered a human antibody they believe “offers potential for prevention and treatment of COVID-19.” The lead researcher, Berend-Jan Bosch, made clear, though, it is “still too soon” to know when it might be workable on people.

3. A 103-year-old woman in Wuhan has become the oldest person to beat the novel coronavirus. She recovered only six days after being admitted to the hospital.

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4. All the Apple stores in China have reopened after being closed for one month amid the height of the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

5. The Cleveland Clinic has developed a drive-through coronavirus test that can give patients results in one day.

6. South Korea is finally seeing a decline in the number of new cases of the novel coronavirus, though it should be noted they have seen an emerging cluster in Seoul.

7. Experts observing the heartbreaking situation in Italy are surmising that the catastrophic number of critical cases is due, at least in part, to the country’s aging population.

8. Israeli researchers are close to announcing the development of a coronavirus vaccine. However, a lengthy process of pre-clinical and clinical trials will have to come before it’s available to the public.

9. Over the weekend, the governor of Maryland announced the first three people in the state to have confirmed cases of coronavirus have recovered.

10. A group of scientists in Canada have successfully isolated and grown copies of the coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. Isolating the virus, researchers said, will help in developing vaccines and treatment regimens.

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11. A biotech company in San Diego says it has identified a vaccine for the novel coronavirus. Arcturus Therapeutics is working with Duke University and the National University of Singapore to develop the vaccination.

12. The health department in Oklahoma has said the first identified patient in Tulsa, a man who had traveled to Italy, has recovered from the coronavirus. The patient has had two negative tests, indicating a total recovery.

13. Scientists are finding it may be possible to use the plasma from recently recovered coronavirus patients to treat those who have become severely ill as a result of COVID-19 infections.

I hope these stories have been as encouraging to you as they have been to me. We will get through this pandemic. That’s not to discount the suffering that will — and already has — come. But in the midst of such a scary and uncertain time, it’s important to cling to the good stuff.

In the meantime, please continue to pray for our leaders, our medical personnel, those who are suffering from COVID-19 around the world, and remember to extend grace to one another, because we’re all learning about this at the same time.
(H/T: Erin Rose)
https://www.faithwire.com/2020/03/16/coronavirus-the-good-news/?utm_source=FWNL