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Antibodies in the blood of COVID-19 survivors know how to beat coronavirus – and researchers are already testing new treatments that harness them

Antibodies in the blood of COVID-19 survivors know how to beat coronavirus – and researchers are already testing new treatments that harness them

A person who has recovered from COVID-19 donates plasma in Shandong, China. STR/AFP via Getty Images By Ann Sheehy, College of the Holy Cross Amid the chaos of an epidemic, those who survive a disease like COVID-19 carry within their bodies the secrets of an effective immune response. Virologists like me look to survivors for molecular clues that can provide a blueprint for the design of future treatments or even a vaccine. Researchers are launching trials now that involve the…

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COVID-19 will slow the global shift to renewable energy, but can’t stop it

COVID-19 will slow the global shift to renewable energy, but can’t stop it

Shutdown in Seattle to slow the spread of coronavirus empties the streets, March 26, 2020. Less economic activity means less revenue for utilities. AP Photo/Ted S. Warren By Peter Fox-Penner, Boston University The renewable energy industry, which until recently was projected to enjoy rapid growth, has run into stiff headwinds as a result of three era-defining events: the COVID-19 pandemic, the resulting global financial contraction and a collapse in oil prices. These are interrelated, mutually reinforcing events. It’s much too…

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Trump Organization seeks financial help as coronavirus takes toll

Trump Organization seeks financial help as coronavirus takes toll

The New York Times reports: All over the country, businesses large and small are seeking breathing room from their lenders, landlords and business partners as they face the financial fallout from the coronavirus crisis. President Trump’s family company is among those looking for help. With some of its golf courses and hotels closed amid the economic lockdown, the Trump Organization has been exploring whether it can delay payments on some of its loans and other financial obligations, according to people…

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The pro-Trump media’s coronavirus distortion

The pro-Trump media’s coronavirus distortion

The New York Times reports: On Feb. 27, two days after the first reported case of the coronavirus spreading inside a community in the United States, Candace Owens was underwhelmed. “Now we’re all going to die from Coronavirus,” she wrote sarcastically to her two million Twitter followers, blaming a “doomsday cult” of liberal paranoia for the growing anxiety over the outbreak. One month later, on the day the United States reached the grim milestone of having more documented coronavirus cases…

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Coronavirus and the sun: a lesson from the 1918 influenza pandemic

Coronavirus and the sun: a lesson from the 1918 influenza pandemic

Richard Hobday writes: When the influenza pandemic reached the East coast of the United States in 1918, the city of Boston was particularly badly hit. So the State Guard set up an emergency hospital. They took in the worst cases among sailors on ships in Boston harbour. The hospital’s medical officer had noticed the most seriously ill sailors had been in badly-ventilated spaces. So he gave them as much fresh air as possible by putting them in tents. And in…

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Bill Gates: Here’s how to make up for lost time on covid-19

Bill Gates: Here’s how to make up for lost time on covid-19

Bill Gates writes: There’s no question the United States missed the opportunity to get ahead of the novel coronavirus. But the window for making important decisions hasn’t closed. The choices we and our leaders make now will have an enormous impact on how soon case numbers start to go down, how long the economy remains shut down and how many Americans will have to bury a loved one because of covid-19. Through my work with the Gates Foundation, I’ve spoken…

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Coronavirus: A new type of vaccine using RNA could help defeat COVID-19

Coronavirus: A new type of vaccine using RNA could help defeat COVID-19

This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (round blue objects) emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab. NIAID-RML By Sanjay Mishra, Vanderbilt University and Robert Carnahan, Vanderbilt University A century ago, on July 26, 1916, a viral disease swept through New York. Within 24 hours, new cases of polio increased by more than 68%. The outbreak killed more than 2,000 people in New York City alone. Across the United States, polio took the lives of about 6,000…

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Understanding what works: How some countries are beating back the coronavirus

Understanding what works: How some countries are beating back the coronavirus

Stat reports: With Europe and the United States locked in deadly battle with the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, a number of countries that were hit early by the virus are doing a far better job of beating it back. China, which is now diagnosing more cases in returning travelers than in people infected at home, reported no new domestically acquired cases on Wednesday, for the first time in more than two months. South Korea, which had an explosive outbreak that…

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San Francisco is beating the coronavirus odds — so far. What can other places learn?

San Francisco is beating the coronavirus odds — so far. What can other places learn?

Dr. Robert M. Wachter writes: Like a wildfire spraying hot embers, the coronavirus pandemic is now flaring in communities around the country, with growth curves in New Orleans, Michigan and Illinois that resemble those of 10 days ago in New York City — which in turn mirror those of early 2020 in Italy and Wuhan, China. But California — and particularly San Francisco, where I live — appears to be following a different course, with relatively low rates of COVID-19…

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Coronavirus: Social distancing may be a rare chance to get our sleep patterns closer to what nature intended

Coronavirus: Social distancing may be a rare chance to get our sleep patterns closer to what nature intended

Spending more time in bed and letting your body’s natural rhythms take over could be good for your health. Stock-Asso/Shutterstock.com By Zlatan Krizan, Iowa State University The COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting daily routines around the world. Overwhelmed hospitals, desolate schools, ghostly towns and self-isolation echo a campy horror flick, but an all too real one. Companies are laying people off by the thousands, the service industry is teetering on the brink of collapse, and socialist ideas suddenly don’t sound so…

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The new coronavirus emerged from the global wildlife trade – and may be devastating enough to end it

The new coronavirus emerged from the global wildlife trade – and may be devastating enough to end it

Government officers seize civets in a wildlife market in Guangzhou, China to prevent the spread of SARS in 2004. Dustin Shum/South China Morning Post via Getty Images By George Wittemyer, Colorado State University COVID-19 is one of countless emerging infectious diseases that are zoonotic, meaning they originate in animals. About 75% of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic, accounting for billions of illnesses and millions of deaths annually across the globe. When these diseases spill over to humans, the cause frequently…

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How emotions connect your body and brain

How emotions connect your body and brain

Kevin Berger writes: Do you think you can read emotions like joy or anger in another person’s face and actions? Read them because joy and anger are universal emotions and we all know what they look and feel like? Well, if so, says neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett, you are winging it, guessing at best. Emotions like happiness and despair are not baked into our brains, waiting to be triggered by experiences in the world. Sure, we have a range of…

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As Wuhan reopens, the need to stop a second wave of infections takes precedence over the need to restart the economy

As Wuhan reopens, the need to stop a second wave of infections takes precedence over the need to restart the economy

The Washington Post reports: After 10 weeks confined to their apartments, unable to exercise, shop for groceries or walk their dogs, Wuhan residents are emerging into the daylight. The subway and intercity trains are running again. Shopping malls and even the Tesla store are reopening. State-owned companies and manufacturing businesses are turning on their lights, with others to follow. “I’ve been indoors for 70 days. Today is the first time that I came outside,” one woman who ventured into a…

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Bay Area doctors see flatter coronavirus curve after 2 weeks of social isolation

Bay Area doctors see flatter coronavirus curve after 2 weeks of social isolation

Politico reports: State leaders and doctors are cautiously optimistic that the Bay Area’s early moves to lock down residents two weeks ago have prevented surges of coronavirus patients from overwhelming the region’s health care capacity thus far. Six Bay Area counties were first in the country to adopt aggressive tactics with an enforceable March 16 order requiring residents to stay at home. Gov. Gavin Newsom quickly followed with a statewide order three days later restricting the state’s 40 million residents…

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