The Tech That Could Be Our Best Hope for Fighting COVID-19—and Future Outbreaks (Time) Battling a pandemic as serious as COVID-19 requires drastic responses, and political leaders and public-health officials have turned to some of the most radical strategies available.

WHO to launch multinational trial to jumpstart search for coronavirus drugs (STAT) The World Health Organization said Wednesday that it would launch a multiarm, multicountry clinical trial for potential coronavirus therapies, part of an aggressive effort to jumpstart the global search for drugs to treat Covid-19.

Mass testing, school closings, lockdowns: Countries pick tactics in ‘war’ against coronavirus(Science) The United States and Europe have stopped hitting the snooze button. After 2 months of mostly waiting and seeing while the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) alarm sounded ever more loudly, many countries have suddenly implemented strict measures to slow the spread of the disease, which the World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared a pandemic on 13 March.

Its Coronavirus Cases Dwindling, China Turns Focus Outward (The New York Times) China’s leader, Xi Jinping, pledged to send more medical experts to Italy this week, on the same day Beijing sent 2,000 rapid diagnostic tests to the Philippines. Serbia’s president pleaded for assistance not from the country’s neighbors in Europe, which restricted the export of needed medical equipment, but from China.

Esper confirms Navy hospital ships won’t treat coronavirus patients and will take weeks to deploy (CNN) Defense Secretary Mark Esper made clear to CNN that two Navy hospital ships being deployed to help respond to the coronavirus outbreak will not treat patients suffering from the virus and will take weeks to deploy.

US Air Force Flew Half a Million Coronavirus Test Swabs From Italy to Tennessee (Defense One) The U.S. Air Force quietly flew 500,000 swabs for COVID-19 testing kits from Italy to Memphis, Tennessee, on Monday, Defense One has learned.

COVID-19: Knowns, Unknowns, and Questions (mSphere) The recent emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from the Hubei province in China in late 2019 demonstrates the epidemic potential of coronaviruses. The rapid spread of this virus across the world in only 2 months highlights the transmissibility of this family of viruses and the significant morbidity and mortality that they can cause. We highlight the current state of knowledge of coronavirus biology while answering questions concerning the current outbreak of SARS-CoV-2.

Senate passes House coronavirus relief package with no changes (Axios) The Senate passed the House coronavirus relief bill 90-8 without changes Wednesday, freeing up Congress to focus more energy on passing subsequent legislation that will likely amount to one of the largest emergency spending packages in modern history.

We need more ventilators. Here’s what it will take to get them. (MIT Technology Review) As a Stanford postdoc a decade ago, Matt Callaghan created the designs for a streamlined, low-cost ventilator that hospitals could stockpile, to prepare for the possibility of a global pandemic.

See Also: GM, Ford studying how to make ventilators to fight COVID-19 (Detroit News) At least two of Detroit’s three automakers are studying the feasibility of producing vital medical equipment, such as ventilators, as the nation tries to combat the coronavirus pandemic, echoing the industry’s conversion to building tanks, trucks and planes during World War II.

Pence announces regulation on doctors practicing across state lines (CNN) Vice President Mike Pence announced Wednesday that the Department of Health and Human Services is issuing a regulation to permit doctors to practice across state lines.

Estimating clinical severity of COVID-19 from the transmission dynamics in Wuhan, China(Nature Medicine) As of 29 February 2020 there were 79,394 confirmed cases and 2,838 deaths from COVID-19 in mainland China. Of these, 48,557 cases and 2,169 deaths occurred in the epicenter, Wuhan. A key public health priority during the emergence of a novel pathogen is estimating clinical severity, which requires properly adjusting for the case ascertainment rate and the delay between symptoms onset and death.

Facing Covid-19 in Italy — Ethics, Logistics, and Therapeutics on the Epidemic’s Front Line(New England Journal of Medicine) Few weeks ago, Dr. D., a middle-aged chief of cardiology at one of the biggest hospitals in northern Italy, developed a fever. Fearing he might have Covid-19, he sought confirmatory testing but was told there weren’t enough tests available for those who hadn’t had demonstrated exposure to an infected person.

A Trial of Lopinavir–Ritonavir in Adults Hospitalized with Severe Covid-19 (New England Journal of Medicine) No therapeutics have yet been proven effective for the treatment of severe illness caused by SARS-CoV-2.

The First U.S. Company Has Announced an Upcoming Home COVID-19 Test (Time) Everlywell, a home testing company that offers dozens of lab tests to consumers, is adding a COVID-19 test beginning on March 23.

Severe Outcomes Among Patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) — United States, February 12–March 16, 2020 (MMWR) Globally, approximately 170,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the 2019 novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) have been reported, including an estimated 7,000 deaths in approximately 150 countries. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic.

Anticipating ‘shelter-in-place’ orders across the country, trade groups push for exceptions for biopharma employees (STAT) As more regional governments consider ordering residents to largely stay inside their homes to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus, drug industry trade groups are pushing to ensure such orders make exceptions to allow the employees of biotech and pharma companies to travel to and from work.

‘A Socioeconomic Tsunami’: How The World Is Dealing With Pandemic (NPR: Goats and Soda) President Trump says the U.S. has reached an agreement with Canada to limit nonessential travel across their mutual border, as governments and people around the world grapple with the growing novel coronavirus pandemic that has upended daily life and sent shockwaves through the global economy.

A serological assay to detect SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion in humans (medRxiv) SARS-Cov-2 (severe acute respiratory disease coronavirus 2), which causes Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID19) was first detected in China in late 2019 and has since then caused a global pandemic.

Science & Technology

Exploring the Current Landscape of Consumer Genomics: Proceedings of a Workshop (National Academies of the Sciences) Consumer genomics, encompassing both direct-to-consumer applications (i.e., genetic testing that is accessed by a consumer directly from a commercial company apart from a health care provider) and consumer-driven genetic testing (i.e., genetic testing ordered by a health care provider in response to an informed patient request), has evolved considerably over the past decade, moving from more personal utility-focused applications outside of traditional health care to interfacing with clinical care in nontraditional ways.

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