County-Level Estimates of Excess Mortality associated with COVID-19 in the United States -
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+The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the US has been largely monitored on the basis of death certificates containing reference to COVID-19. However, prior analyses reveal that a significant fraction of excess deaths associated with the pandemic were not directly assigned to COVID-19 on the death certificate. The percent of excess deaths not assigned to COVID-19 is also known to vary across US states. However, few studies to date provide information on patterns of excess mortality and excess deaths not assigned to COVID-19 for US counties, despite the importance of this information for health policy and planning. In the present study, we develop and validate a generalized linear model of expected mortality in 2020 based on historical trends in deaths by county of residence between 2011 and 2019. We use the results of the model to generate county estimates of excess mortality and excess deaths not assigned to COVID-19 for each county in the US along with bootstrapped prediction intervals. Overall, the proportion of excess deaths assigned to COVID-19 was 81%, meaning that 19% of excess deaths were not assigned to COVID-19. The proportion assigned to COVID-19 was lower in the South (76%) and West (75%) as compared to counties in the Midwest (81%) and Northeast (94%). Across US Census Divisions, the proportion was especially low in the East South Central Division (67%). Rural counties across all divisions (67%) reported lower proportions of excess deaths assigned to COVID-19 than urban areas (83%). For instance, in the Middle Atlantic and Pacific Divisions respectively, only 47% and 39% of excess deaths were assigned to COVID-19 in nonmetro areas. In contrast, the New England Census Division stood out as the only division where directly assigned COVID-19 deaths actually exceeded excess deaths, meaning there were 1.23 directly assigned COVID-19 deaths for every 1 excess death. However, this finding did not extend to nonmetro areas within New England where only 64% of excess deaths were assigned to COVID-19. The finding that metro areas in New England reported higher direct COVID-19 mortality than excess mortality suggests that reductions in mortality from other causes of death may have occurred in these areas, at least among some populations. Across individual counties, the percentage of excess deaths not assigned to COVID-19 varied substantially, with some counties9 direct COVID-19 tallies capturing only a small fraction of total excess deaths, whereas in other counties the direct COVID-19 death rate far exceeded the number of estimated excess deaths. Taken together, our results suggest that regional inequalities in the mortality burden associated with COVID-19 are not fully revealed by data at the state level and that consideration of excess deaths across US counties is critical for a full accounting of the disparate regional effects of the pandemic on US mortality.
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Monitoring global trends in Covid-19 vaccination intention and confidence: a social media-based deep learning study -
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+Abstract Background This study developed deep learning models to monitor global intention and confidence of Covid-19 vaccination in real time. Methods We collected 6.73 million English tweets regarding Covid-19 vaccination globally from January 2020 to February 2021. Fine-tuned Transformer-based deep learning models were used to classify tweets in real time as they relate to Covid-19 vaccination intention and confidence. Temporal and spatial trends were performed to map the global prevalence of Covid-19 vaccination intention and confidence, and public engagement on social media was analyzed. Findings Globally, the proportion of tweets indicating intent to accept Covid-19 vaccination declined from 64.49% on March to 39.54% on September 2020, and then began to recover, reaching 52.56% in early 2021. This recovery in vaccine acceptance was largely driven by the US and European region, whereas other regions experienced the declining trends in 2020. Intent to accept and confidence of Covid-19 vaccination were relatively high in South-East Asia, Eastern Mediterranean, and Western Pacific regions, but low in American, European, and African regions. 12.71% tweets expressed misinformation or rumors in South Korea, 14.04% expressed distrust in government in the US, and 16.16% expressed Covid-19 vaccine being unsafe in Greece, ranking first globally. Negative tweets, especially misinformation or rumors, were more engaged by twitters with fewer followers than positive tweets. Interpretation This global real-time surveillance study highlights the importance of deep learning based social media monitoring to detect emerging trends of Covid-19 vaccination intention and confidence to inform timely interventions. Funding National Natural Science Foundation of China.
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Small area variation in crime effects of COVID-19 policies in England and Wales -
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+It is well established that COVID-19 policies to restrict movement induced widespread falls in many crime types internationally. Much less is known about variation between areas in how these changes occurred. This study uses k-means clustering to examine local area variation in police notifiable offences across England and Wales. It finds that crime in most areas remained stable, a small proportion of areas accounting for disproportionate change. These were typically city centers with plentiful pre-pandemic crime opportunities, dominated by theft and shoplifting offences. We explore potential implications for policy, theory and further research.
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Developing an accuracy-prompt toolkit to reduce COVID-19 misinformation online -
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+Recent research suggests that shifting users’ attention to accuracy increases the quality of news they subsequently share online. Here we help develop this initial observation into a suite of deployable interventions for practitioners. We ask (i) how prior results generalize to other approaches for prompting users to consider accuracy, and (ii) for whom these prompts are more versus less effective. In a large survey experiment examining participants’ intentions to share true and false headlines about COVID-19, we identify a variety of different accuracy prompts that successfully increase sharing discernment across a wide range of demographic subgroups while maintaining user autonomy. Research questions • There is mounting evidence that inattention to accuracy plays an important role in the spread of misinformation online. Here we examine the utility of a suite of different accuracy prompts aimed at increasing the quality of news shared by social media users. • Which approaches to shifting attention towards accuracy are most effective? • Does the effectiveness of the accuracy prompts vary based on social media user characteristics? Assessing effectiveness across subgroups is practically important for examining the generalizability of the treatments, and is theoretically important for exploring the underlying mechanism. Essay summary • Using survey experiments with N=9,070 American social media users (quota-matched to the national distribution on age, gender, ethnicity, and geographic region), we compared the effect of different treatments designed to induce people to think about accuracy when deciding what news to share. Participants received one of the treatments (or were assigned to a control condition), and then indicated how likely they would be to share a series of true and false news posts about COVID-19. • We identified three lightweight, easily-implementable approaches that each increased sharing discernment (the quality of news shared, measured as the difference in sharing probability of true versus false headlines) by roughly 50%, and a slightly more lengthy approach that increased sharing discernment by close to 100%. We also found that another approach that seemed promising ex ante (descriptive norms) was ineffective. Further-more, gender, race, partisanship, and concern about COVID-19 did not moderate effectiveness, suggesting that the accuracy prompts will be effective for a wide range of demographic subgroups. Finally, helping to illuminate the mechanism behind the effect, the prompts were more effective for participants who were more attentive, reflective, engaged with COVID-related news, concerned about accuracy, college-educated, and middle-aged. • From a practical perspective, our results suggest a menu of accuracy prompts that are effective in our experimental setting and that technology companies could consider testing on their own services.
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Protection of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection is similar to that of BNT162b2 vaccine protection: A three-month nationwide experience from Israel -
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+Worldwide shortage of vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 infection while the pandemic is still uncontrolled leads many states to the dilemma whether or not to vaccinate previously infected persons. Understanding the level of protection of previous infection compared to that of vaccination is critical for policy making. We analyze an updated individual-level database of the entire population of Israel to assess the protection efficacy of both prior infection and vaccination in preventing subsequent SARS-CoV-2 infection, hospitalization with COVID-19, severe disease, and death due to COVID-19. Vaccination was highly effective with overall estimated efficacy for documented infection of 92.8% (CI: [92.6, 93.0]); hospitalization 94.2% (CI: [93.6, 94.7]); severe illness 94.4% (CI: [93.6, 95.0]); and death 93.7% (CI: [92.5, 94.7]). Similarly, the overall estimated level of protection from prior SARS-CoV-2 infection for documented infection is 94.8% (CI: [94.4, 95.1]); hospitalization 94.1% (CI: [91.9, 95.7]); and severe illness 96.4% (CI: [92.5, 98.3]). Our results question the need to vaccinate previously-infected individuals.
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Estimating the total morbidity burden of COVID-19 -
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+Background Calculations of disease burden of COVID-19 are used to allocate scarce resources and historically have focused on mortality, with little attention to morbidity such as postviral post-COVID, similar to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), which strikes 4 and 16% of male and female survivors. This paper quantifies post-COVID disability burden and combines it with case fatality to estimate total morbidity per COVID-19 case. Methods Healthy life years lost per COVID-19 case were computed as the sum of (incidencedisability weightremaining lifespan) for death and post-COVID (modeled as CFS) by sex and 10-year age category. In addition to death, the main model considered lifelong mild, moderate or severe CFS; Model 2, CFS which resolved in ten years; Model 3, no CFS but 10% risk of death 10 years later. Results In all models, acute mortality was only a small share of total morbidity. For lifelong moderate CFS symptoms, healthy years lost per COVID-19 case ranged from 0.92 (male in his 30s) to 5.71 (girl under 10) and were 3.5 and 3.6 for the oldest females and males. At higher symptom severities, young people and females bore larger shares of total morbidity; if symptoms were persistent or survivors had later increased mortality, young people of both sexes were at highest risk. Conclusions Compared to post-COVID, acute mortality contributes only a small share of total COVID-19 morbidity. Total burden falls heavily on the young, who are currently deprioritized for preventive interventions such as vaccines. To fairly allocate scarce resources, decisionmakers should consider all morbidity.
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Post-vaccination SARS-CoV-2 infections and incidence of the B.1.427/B.1.429 variant among healthcare personnel at a northern California academic medical center -
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+Background: Distribution of mRNA-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccines to healthcare personnel (HCP) in the United States began in December 2020, with efficacy >90%. However, breakthrough infections in fully vaccinated individuals have been reported. Meanwhile, multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern have emerged worldwide, including the B.1.427/B.1.429 variant first described in California. Little is known about the real-world effectiveness of the mRNA-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccines against novel variants including B.1.427/B.1.429. Methods: In this quality improvement project, post-vaccine SARS-CoV-2 cases (PVSCs) were defined as individuals with positive SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) after receiving at least one dose of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Chart extraction of demographic and clinical information was performed, and available specimens meeting cycle threshold value criteria were tested for L452R, N501Y and E484K mutations by RT-PCR. Results: From December 2020 to March 2021, 189 PVSCs were identified out of 22,729 healthcare personnel who received at least one dose of an mRNA-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Of these, 114 (60.3%) occurred within 14 days of first vaccine dose (early post-vaccination), 49 (25.9%) within 14 days of the second vaccine dose (partially vaccinated), and 26 (13.8%) ≥14 days after the second dose (fully vaccinated). Of 115 samples available for mutation testing, 42 were positive for L452R alone, presumptive of B.1.427/B.1.429; three had N501Y mutation alone and none were found with E484K mutation. Though on univariate analysis partially- and fully-vaccinated PVSCs were more likely than early post-vaccination PVSCs to be infected with presumptive B.1.427/B.1.429, when adjusted for community prevalence of B.1.427/B.1.429 at the time of infection, partially- and fully-vaccinated PVSC did not have statistically significantly elevated risk ratios for infection with this variant (RR 1.40, 95% CI 0.81-2.43 and RR 1.13, 95% CI 0.59-2.16, respectively). Conclusions: The great majority of PVSCs occurred prior to the expected onset of full, vaccine-derived immunity. Although the B.1.427/B.1.429 variant did not represent a significantly higher proportion of PVSCs than expected, numbers were small and there was a trend towards higher representation in the partially- and fully-vaccinated subset. Continued infection control measures in the workplace and in the community including social distancing and masking, particularly in the early days post-vaccination, as well as continued variant surveillance in PVSCs, is imperative in order to anticipate and control future surges of infection.
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COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy January-March 2021 among 18-64 year old US adults by employment and occupation -
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+Introduction: COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy increased among US adults April-December, 2020, and threatens efforts to end the pandemic. Among US adults 18-64 years, we report prevalence of and reasons for vaccine hesitancy, overall and by employment and occupation, during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Methods: The Delphi Group at Carnegie Mellon University conducted a COVID-19 survey administered by Facebook. In January, February and March 2021, 791,716, 710,529, and 732,308 Facebook users, respectively, reported age 18-64 years and answered a vaccine acceptance question. Weights matched the sample to the age, gender, and state profile of the US population. Percentages and risk ratios (RR) for vaccine hesitancy were estimated using a weighted Poisson regression; 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using robust standard errors. Results: Vaccine hesitancy decreased among adults 18-64 years from January (27.5% [95%CI, 27.3-27.6]) to March (22.1% [95%CI, 21.9-22.2]). Vaccine hesitancy varied widely by occupational category: 9.6%, (95%CI, 8.5-10.7) in life/physical/social sciences to 46.4% (95%CI, 45.1-47.7) in construction/extraction. Almost half (47.9%, 95%, 47.6-48.3) of hesitant participants indicated concern about side effects, and over a third did not believe they needed the vaccine, did not trust the government, were waiting to see if it was safe, and did not trust COVID-19 vaccines (versus 14.5% [95%CI, 14.3-14.8] who did not like vaccines in general). Conclusions: In this nationally representative survey of adults 18-64 years, vaccine hesitancy decreased to 22.1% by March, 2021. Still, hesitancy, which varies widely by occupation, remains a barrier to pandemic control. Reasons for hesitancy indicate messaging about safety and addressing trust are paramount.
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covid19.Explorer: A web application and R package to explore United States COVID-19 data -
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+Appearing at the end of 2019, a novel virus (later identified as SARS-CoV-2) was characterized in the city of Wuhan in Hubei Province, China. As of the time of writing, the disease caused by this virus (known as COVID-19) has already resulted in over 3 million deaths worldwide. SARS-CoV-2 infections and deaths, however, have been highly unevenly distributed among age groups, sexes, countries, and jurisdictions over the course of the pandemic. Herein, I present a tool (the covid19.Explorer R package and web application) that has been designed to explore and analyze publicly available United States COVID-19 infection and death data from the 2020/21 U.S. SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The analyses and visualizations that this R package and web application facilitate can help users better comprehend the geographic progress of the pandemic, the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions (such as lockdowns and other measures, which have varied widely among U.S. states), and the relative risks posed by COVID-19 to different age groups within the U.S. population. The end result is an interactive tool that will help its users develop an improved understanding of the temporal and geographic dynamics of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, accessible to lay people and scientists alike.
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NUTRITIONAL IMMUNITY, ZINC SUFFICIENCY AND COVID-19 MORTALITY IN SOCIALLY SIMILAR EUROPEAN POPULATIONS -
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+The impact of Zinc (Zn) sufficiency/supplementation on COVID–19 mortality and infections remains unknown. During an infection, the levels of free Zinc are reduced as a part of 9nutritional immunity9 to limit the growth and replication of pathogens and ensuing inflammatory damage. However, considering its key role in immune competence and the widespread deficiency in large sections of different populations (3–54%), prophylactic and therapeutic Zn supplementation has become part of routine prescription even without any evidence for its protective role in COVID–19. Expectedly, multiple trials are ascertaining the positive effect of Zn supplementation on COVID-19 when given in combination with standard of care treatments. However, the trials9 designs seem to lack the power to identify negative effects especially in the currently identified vulnerable groups, e.g., elderly, comorbid (contributing 9 out of 10 deaths; up to >8000–fold higher mortality). When we analyze the COVID–19 data from 23 socially similar European populations with supposedly comparable confounders (population: 522.47 million; experiencing up to >150 fold difference in death rates) and at the matching stage of the pandemic (12 March – 26 June 2020; 1st wave of infections), the populations′ Zn-sufficiency status is found consistently positively correlated with COVID-19 mortality (r(23): 0.7893–0.6849, p-value<0.0003) and infections [r(23):0.8084 – 0.5658; p-value<0.005]. The observed association is contrary to what would be expected if Zn sufficiency was being protective in COVID-19. Thus, controlled trials or retrospective analysis of the adverse event patients′ data seem warranted to correctly guide the practice of Zn supplementation in COVID-19.
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Addressing racial/ethnic disparities in the COVID-19 vaccination campaign -
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+Background As of April 19, all adults aged 16 years and older are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination. Unequal vaccination rates across racial/ethnic groups may compound existing disparities in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths among Black, Indigenous, and Hispanic communities. Methods From state websites, we extracted shares of people receiving ≥1 vaccine dose, stratified by age and separately by race/ethnicity, through March 31, 2021. Combining these data with demographic data from the American Community Survey, we estimated relative uptake rates by race/ethnicity within each state as the observed share of vaccinations for a racial/ethnic group, divided by the expected share if uptake across racial/ethnic groups within each age group were proportional to population size, an approach that allowed us to control for historical age-based eligibility. We modeled vaccination scale-up within each census tract in a state under three scenarios: 1) a scenario in which unequal uptake rates persist, 2) a scenario in which uptake rates are equalized across race/ethnicity groups over six weeks, and 3) a scenario in which uptake is equalized and states employ place-based allocation strategies that prioritizes disadvantaged census tracts. Results White adults received a disproportionate share of vaccinations compared to Black and Hispanic adults through March 31, 2021. Across states, relative uptake rates, adjusted for eligible population size, were a median 1.3 (IQR, 1.2-1.4) times higher for White compared to Black adults, and a median 1.4 (IQR, 1.2-1.8) times higher for White compared to Hispanic adults. Projecting vaccination coverage under persistence of current disparities in uptake, we found that Black and Hispanic populations would reach 75% coverage among adults almost one month later than White populations. In alternative scenarios, we found that interventions to equalize uptake rates across racial/ethnic groups could narrow but not erase these gaps, and that geographic targeting of vaccine doses to disadvantaged communities may be needed to produce a more equitable convergence of coverage by July. Discussion Interventions are urgently needed to eliminate disparities in COVID-19 vaccination rates. Eliminating access barriers and increasing vaccine confidence among marginalized populations can narrow gaps in coverage. Combining these interventions with place-based allocation strategies can accelerate vaccination in disadvantaged communities, who have borne a disproportionate burden from COVID-19.
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Convergent evolution of SARS-CoV-2 spike mutations, L452R, E484Q and P681R, in the second wave of COVID-19 in Maharashtra, India -
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+As the global severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic expands, genomic epidemiology and whole genome sequencing are being constantly used to investigate its transmissions and evolution. In the backdrop of the global emergence of variants of concern (VOCs) during December 2020 and an upsurge in a state in the western part of India since January 2021, whole genome sequencing and analysis of spike protein mutations using sequence and structural approaches was undertaken to identify possible new variants and gauge the fitness of current circulating strains. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the predominant clade in circulation was a distinct newly identified lineage B.1.617 possessing common signature mutations D111D, G142D, L452R, E484Q, D614G and P681R, in the spike protein including within the receptor binding domain (RBD). Of these, the mutations at residue positions 452, 484 and 681 have been reported in other globally circulating lineages. The structural analysis of RBD mutations L452R and E484Q along with P681R in the furin cleavage site, may possibly result in increased ACE2 binding and rate of S1-S2 cleavage resulting in better transmissibility. The same two RBD mutations indicated decreased binding to selected monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and may affect their neutralization potential. Experimental validation is warranted for accessing both ACE2 binding and the effectiveness of commonly elicited neutralizing mAbs for the strains of lineage B.1.617. The emergence of such local variants through the accumulation of convergent mutations during the COVID-19 second wave needs to be further investigated for their public health impact in the rest of the country and its possibility of becoming a VOC.
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Risk perception and optimism bias during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic -
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+Slowing the spread of COVID-19 requires people to actively change their lives by following protective practices, such as physical distancing and disinfecting their hands. Perceptions about the personal risk of COVID-19 may affect compliance with these practices. In this study, we assessed risk perception and optimism about COVID-19 in a multinational (UK, USA, Germany), longitudinal design during the early stages of the pandemic (16.03.2020; 01.04.2020; 20.05.2020). Our main findings are that 1) people showed a comparative optimism bias about getting infected and infecting others, but not for getting severe symptoms, 2) this optimism bias did not change over time, 3) optimism bias seemed to relate to perceived level of control over the action, 4) risk perception was linked to publicly available information about the disorder (e.g., older people are at a higher risk of getting severe symptoms), and 5) people reported adhering so closely to protective measures that these measures reached ceiling effects. Thus, there was not enough variance in protective measures to appropriately link risk perception and adherence to protective measures. We also collected additional cross-sectional samples, with which we are currently testing which of the findings reported in this preprint replicate. Our results provide detailed descriptions of risk perceptions and optimistic beliefs during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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+Highlighted manuscript Dapsone has been the treatment and preventive drug for mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Seizure, Stroke and Covid-19 ARDS. B.K.’s team at Hunt Regional Hospital reported a study that drastically reduced mortality by administering Dapsone to patients with Covid-19 ARDS in the intensive care unit. If Dapsone were used for early symptoms of cognitive impairment or stroke, the increase in deaths would have been prevented. J.H. also recommends it to the elderly living in this pandemic era. However, we must consult our doctor before taking it.
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A Multicenter Evaluation of Blood Purification with Seraph 100 Microbind Affinity Blood Filter for the Treatment of Severe COVID-19: A Preliminary Report -
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+Objective: The Seraph 100 Microbind Affinity Blood Filter (Seraph 100) is an extracorporeal medical countermeasure that can remove many pathogens from blood, including the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The aim of this study was to evaluate safety and efficacy of Seraph 100 treatment for severe coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19). Design: Multicenter retrospective observational cohort study. Setting: Intensive care units across four of thirteen participating sites who have completed data extraction. Patients: Critically ill COVID-19 patients treated with Seraph 100 under an Emergency Use Authorization (n=53) and historical control patients who met criteria for treatment (n=46). Intervention: Extracorporeal treatment with the Seraph 100 filter. Measurements and Main Results: At baseline, the median age was 61 years, 72.7% were male, and 59.6% required mechanical ventilation. The groups were matched in terms of sex, race/ethnicity, body mass index, APACHE II score, need for mechanical ventilation, and other COVID-19 treatments. However, patients in the Seraph 100 group were younger with a median age of 61 years (IQR 42-65) compared to controls who had a median age of 64 (IQR 56-68, p=0.036). The Seraph 100 group also had a lower median Charlson comorbidity index (2, IQR 0-3) compared to control patients (3, IQR 2-4, p=0.006). Mortality was lower in the Seraph 100 treated group compared to the historical controls (37.7% vs 67.4%, respectively, p=0.003). Multivariable logistic regression analysis yielded an odds ratio of 0.27 (95% confidence interval 0.09-0.79, p=0.016). Of the 53 patients treated with Seraph 100, only 1 patient experienced a serious adverse event (transient hypotension at the start of the treatment which required a brief period of vasopressor support). Conclusions: These data suggest that broad spectrum, pathogen agnostic, extracorporeal blood purification technologies can be safely deployed to meet new pathogen threats as an adjunct to standard treatments and can mitigate against poor outcomes while awaiting the development of directed pharmacologic therapies and/or vaccines.
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Oestrogen Treatment for COVID-19 Symptoms - Condition: COVID-19 Intervention: Drug: Transdermal estradiol gel Sponsors: Hamad Medical Corporation; Laboratoires Besins International Not yet recruiting
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Virgin Coconut Oil as Adjunctive Therapy for Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients - Condition: Covid19 Intervention: Drug: Virgin Coconut Oil Sponsors: University of the Philippines; Philippine Coconut Authority; Philippine Council for Health Research & Development Recruiting
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Study to Evaluate a Single Dose of LTX-109 in Subjects With COVID-19 Infection. - Condition: COVID-19 Interventions: Drug: LTX-109 gel, 3%; Drug: Placebo gel Sponsors: Pharma Holdings AS; Clinical Trial Consultants AB Not yet recruiting
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Clinical Study in the Treatment of Patients With Moderate Course of COVID-19 - Condition: COVID-19 Interventions: Drug: COVID-globulin; Drug: Placebo Sponsor: Microgen Recruiting
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A Clinical Study Evaluating Inhaled Aviptadil on COVID-19 - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Drug: Inhaled Aviptadil; Drug: Placebo Sponsors: Centurion Pharma; Klinar CRO Recruiting
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ACTIV-3b: Therapeutics for Severely Ill Inpatients With COVID-19 - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Biological: Remdesivir; Drug: Remdesivir Placebo; Biological: Aviptadil; Drug: Aviptadil Placebo; Drug: Corticosteroid Sponsors: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID); International Network for Strategic Initiatives in Global HIV Trials (INSIGHT); University of Copenhagen; Medical Research Council; Kirby Institute; Washington D.C. Veterans Affairs Medical Center; AIDS Clinical Trials Group; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI); US Department of Veterans Affairs; Prevention and Early Treatment of Acute Lung Injury (PETAL); Cardiothoracic Surgical Trials Network (CTSN); NeuroRx, Inc.; Gilead Sciences Recruiting
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The Effects of a Multi-factorial Rehabilitation Program for Healthcare Workers Suffering From Post-COVID-19 Fatigue Syndrome - Condition: COVID-19 Intervention: Other: Exercise Sponsor: Medical University of Vienna Recruiting
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COVID-19 Close Contact Self-Testing Study - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Behavioral: COVID-19 self-test; Behavioral: COVID-19 test referral Sponsor: University of Pennsylvania Not yet recruiting
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Safety and Immunogenicity of Demi-dose of Two Covid-19 mRNA Vaccines in Healthy Population - Condition: Covid19 Intervention: Diagnostic Test: immunogenicity after first and second dose Sponsors: Sciensano; Mensura EDPB; Institute of Tropical Medicine, Belgium; Erasme University Hospital Not yet recruiting
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Total-Body Parametric 18F-FDG PET of COVID-19 - Condition: Covid19 Intervention: Device: uEXPLORER/mCT Sponsor: University of California, Davis Recruiting
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Remdesivir Efficacy In Management Of COVID-19 Patients - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Drug: Remdesivir; Drug: Standard of care_1; Drug: Standard of care_2 Sponsor: Ain Shams University Completed
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SLV213 Treatment in COVID-19 Patients - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Drug: SLV213; Drug: Placebo Sponsors: Kenneth Krantz, MD, PhD; FHI Clinical, Inc. Not yet recruiting
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Assessment of Efficacy of KAN-JANG® in Mild COVID-19 - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Drug: Kan Jang capsules; Other: Placebo capsules Sponsors: Swedish Herbal Institute AB; Tbilisi State Medical University; Phytomed AB Not yet recruiting
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COVID-19 Supplemental Vaccine Boost to Enhance T Cell Protection in Those Who Have Already Received EUA S-Based Vaccines - Condition: Covid19 Intervention: Biological: hAd5-S-Fusion+N-ETSD vaccine Sponsor: ImmunityBio, Inc. Recruiting
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Efficacy of Mefloquine as Prophylaxis Against COVID-19: A Placebo-control, Randomized Clinical Trial - Condition: Covid19 Intervention: Drug: Mefloquine as a prophylaxis against SARS-Cov-2 infection in household contacts of COVID 19 confirmed cases Sponsors: Helwan University; Ain Shams University; Fayoum University; Assiut University; Tanta University; National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan Recruiting
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From PubMed
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Ergosterol peroxide suppresses porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV)-induced autophagy to inhibit virus replication via p38 signaling pathway - Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) is a swine enteropathogenic coronavirus (CoV) that continues to spread globally, placing strain on economic and public health. Currently, the pathogenic mechanism of PDCoV remains largely unclear, and effective strategies to prevent or treat PDCoV infection are still limited. In this study, the interaction between autophagy and PDCoV replication in LLC-PK1 cells was investigated. We demonstrated that PDCoV infection induced a complete autophagy process….
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Phenoxazine nucleoside derivatives with a multiple activity against RNA and DNA viruses - Emerging and re-emerging viruses periodically cause outbreaks and epidemics all over the world, eventually leading to global events such as the current pandemic of the novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection COVID-19. Therefore, an urgent need for novel antivirals is crystal clear. Here we present the synthesis and evaluation of an antiviral activity of phenoxazine-based nucleoside analogs divided into three groups: (1) 8-alkoxy-substituted, (2) acyclic, and (3) carbocyclic. The antiviral…
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COVID-19 and thrombotic microangiopathies - Severe COVID-19 can manifest as multiorgan dysfunction with pulmonary involvement being the most common and prominent. As more reports emerge in the literature, it appears that an exaggerated immune response in the form of unfettered complement activation and a cytokine storm may be a key driver of the widespread organ injury seen in this disease. In addition, these patients are also known to be hypercoagulable with a high rate of thrombosis and a higher-than-expected failure rate of…
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Sponge particulates for biomedical applications: Biofunctionalization, multi-drug shielding, and theranostic applications - Sponge particulates have attracted enormous attention in biomedical applications for superior properties, including large porosity, elastic deformation, capillary action, and three-dimensional (3D) reaction environment. Especially, the tiny porous structures make sponge particulates a promising platform for drug delivery, tissue engineering, anti-infection, and wound healing by providing abundant reservoirs of broad surface and internal network for cargo shielding and shuttling. To control the…
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Discovery of naturally occurring inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2 3CL(pro) from Ginkgo biloba leaves via large-scale screening - 3-Chymotrypsin-like protease (3CL^(pro)) is a virally encoded main proteinase that is pivotal for the viral replication across a broad spectrum of coronaviruses. This study aims to discover the naturally occurring SARS-CoV-2 3CL^(pro) inhibitors from herbal constituents, as well as to investigate the inhibitory mechanism of the newly identified efficacious SARS-CoV-2 3CL^(pro) inhibitors. Following screening of the inhibitory potentials of eighty herbal products against SARS-CoV-2 3CL^(pro),…
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A cell-based assay to discover inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 RNA dependent RNA polymerase - Antiviral therapeutics is one effective avenue to control and end this devastating COVID-19 pandemic. The viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of SARS-CoV-2 has been recognized as a valuable target of antivirals. However, the cell-free SARS-CoV-2 RdRp biochemical assay requires the conversion of nucleotide prodrugs into the active triphosphate forms, which regularly occurs in cells yet is a complicated multiple-step chemical process in vitro, and thus hinders the utility of this cell-free…
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Targeting RUNX1 prevents pulmonary fibrosis and reduces expression of SARS-CoV-2 host mediators - Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) can arise from unknown causes as in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), or as a consequence of infections including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Current treatments for PF slow, but do not stop disease progression. We report that treatment with a RUNX1 inhibitor (Ro24-7429), previously found to be safe, though ineffective, as a Tat inhibitor in patients with HIV, robustly ameliorates lung fibrosis and inflammation in the bleomycin-induced…
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Insight in the Current Progress in the Largest Clinical Trials for Covid-19 Drug Management (As of January 2021) - The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has generated the largest global health crisis of the 21st century, evolving into accelerating socioeconomic disruption. In spite of all rapidly and widely emerging scientific data on epidemiology, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of the COVID-19 disease, severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is continuing to propagate in lack of definitive and specific therapeutic agents. Current therapeutic strategies are mainly focused on viral inhibition…
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Computational Design and Modeling of Nanobodies toward SARS-CoV-2 Receptor Binding Domain - The ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) become a global health concern and pose a serious threat to humanity. There is an urgent need for developing therapeutic drugs and (or) biologics to prevent the spread of the virus. The life cycle of SARS-CoV-2 show that the virus enter host cells by first binding to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) through its spike protein receptor-binding domain (RBD)….
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Structure and function analysis of a potent human neutralizing antibody CA521(FALA) against SARS-CoV-2 - Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in more than two million deaths at 2021 February . There is currently no approved therapeutics for treating COVID-19. The SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein is considered a key therapeutic target by many researchers. Here we describe the identification of several monoclonal antibodies that target SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein. One human antibody, CA521^(FALA), demonstrated…
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In silico approach for identifying natural lead molecules against SARS-COV-2 - The life challenging COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has greatly impacted smooth survival worldwide since its discovery in December 2019. Currently, it is one of the major threats to humanity. Moreover, any specific drug or vaccine unavailability against COVID-19 forces to discover a new drug on an urgent basis. Viral cycle inhibition could be one possible way to prevent the further genesis of this viral disease, which can be contributed by drug repurposing techniques or…
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Expedited Approach toward the Rational Design of Noncovalent SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease Inhibitors - The main protease (M^(pro)) of SARS-CoV-2 is a validated antiviral drug target. Several M^(pro) inhibitors have been reported with potent enzymatic inhibition and cellular antiviral activity, including GC376, boceprevir, calpain inhibitors II, and XII, with each containing a reactive warhead that covalently modifies the catalytic Cys145. Coupling structure-based drug design with the one-pot Ugi four-component reaction, we discovered one of the most potent noncovalent inhibitors, 23R (Jun8-76-3A)…
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Structural Basis of Potential Inhibitors Targeting SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease - The Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic is still devastating the world causing significant social, economic, and political chaos. Corresponding to the absence of globally approved antiviral drugs for treatment and vaccines for controlling the pandemic, the number of cases and/or mortalities are still rising. Current patient management relies on supportive treatment and the use of repurposed drugs as an indispensable option. Of a crucial role in the viral life cycle, ongoing studies are…
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Prediction of Anti-COVID 19 Therapeutic Power of Medicinal Moroccan Plants Using Molecular Docking - The emerging pathogen SARS-CoV2 causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global public health challenge. To the present day, COVID-19 had affected more than 40 million people worldwide. The exploration and the development of new bioactive compounds with cost-effective and specific anti-COVID 19 therapeutic power is the prime focus of the current medical research. Thus, the exploitation of the molecular docking technique has become essential in the discovery and development of new drugs,…
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Nanoparticle composite TPNT1 is effective against SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses - A metal nanoparticle composite, namely TPNT1, which contains Au-NP (1 ppm), Ag-NP (5 ppm), ZnO-NP (60 ppm) and ClO(2) (42.5 ppm) in aqueous solution was prepared and characterized by spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering analysis and potentiometric titration. Based on the in vitro cell-based assay, TPNT1 inhibited six major clades of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) with effective concentration within the range to be used as food…
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From Patent Search
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Compositions and methods for the treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) infection - - link
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5-(4-TERT-BUTOXY PHENYL)-3-(4N-OCTYLOXYPHENYL)-4,5-DIHYDROISOXAZOLE MOLECULE (C-I): A PROMISING DRUG FOR SARS-COV-2 (TARGET I) AND BLOOD CANCER (TARGET II) - The present invention relates to a method ofmolecular docking of crystalline compound (C-I) with SARS-COV 2 proteins and its repurposing with proteins of blood cancer, comprising the steps of ; employing an algorithmto carry molecular docking calculations of the crystalized compound (C-I); studying the compound computationally to understand the effect of binding groups with the atoms of the amino acids on at least four target proteins of SARS-COV 2; downloading the structure of the proteins; removing water molecules, co enzymes and inhibitors attached to the enzymes; drawing the structure using Chem Sketch software; converting the mol file into a PDB file; using crystalized compound (C-I) for comparative and drug repurposing with two other mutated proteins; docking compound into the groove of the proteins; saving format of docked molecules retrieved; and filtering and docking the best docked results. - link
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AQUEOUS ZINC OXIDE NANOSPRAY COMPOSITIONS - Disclosed herein is aqueous zinc oxide nano spray compositions comprising zinc oxide nanoparticles and a synthetic surfactant for controlling the spread of Covid-19 virus. - link
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Bettverlängerungssystem -
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Bettverlängerungssystem (1) für in Bauchlage beatmungspflichtige Patienten in Gestalt mit zumindest einer Platte (16), dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Platte (16) im Kopflagerungsbereich einen Luftwegezugangsdurchbruch (8) mit einem den Luftwegezugangsdurchbruch (8) umgebenden Auflagerbereich für ein durchbrochenes Kopfauflagepolster (14) aufweist, durch den von der Bettunterseite her und durch das Kopfauflagepolster (14) hindurch die Ver- und Entsorgungsschläuche für eine orotracheale Intubation oder eine nasotracheale Intubation ventral an das Gesicht des Patienten herangeführt werden können, und dass die Platte (16) im Bereich ihrer dem Kopfende eines Bettrosts (15) zugeordneten Stirnseite (6) ein Fixierelement (2) zur Befestigung der Platte (16) am Bettrost (15) nach Art eines einseitig frei über das Kopfende des Bettrosts hinausragenden Kragträgers aufweist.
一种肝素类药物组合物、喷鼻剂及其制备方法及应用 - 本发明公开了一种肝素类药物组合物、喷鼻剂及其制备方法及应用。该肝素类药物组合物包括肝素钠和阿比朵尔。本发明中的肝素类药物组合物首次采用肝素钠和阿比朵尔联合使用，普通肝素钠联合1μM/L以上的阿比朵尔病毒抑制效率显著高于单独普通肝素钠或单独阿比多尔组（p<0.05）。 - link
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USING CLINICAL ONTOLOGIES TO BUILD KNOWLEDGE BASED CLINICAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR NOVEL CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) WITH THE ADOPTION OF TELECONFERENCING FOR THE PRIMARY HEALTH CENTRES/SATELLITE CLINICS OF ROYAL OMAN POLICE IN SULTANATE OF OMAN - - link
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抗SARS-COV-2中和抗体 - 本公开提供了针对SARS‑COV‑2的新颖中和抗体和其抗原结合片段。还提供了包括其的药物组合物和试剂盒以及其用途。 - link
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Peptides and their use in diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection - - link
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Luftdesinfektionssäule -
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Luftreinigungssäule (1) mit einer Luftaufnahme (2) und einer Luftausgabe (3), wobei zwischen der Luftaufnahme (2) und der Luftausgabe (3) ein luftleitender Bereich (4) mit einem Gebläse (7) und einer UV-Lichtdesinfektionseinrichtung (5) angeordnet ist, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass der luftleitende Bereich (4) photokathalysatorisch beschichtete Oberflächen (9) aufweist und/oder ein photokathalysatorisch beschichtetes Gitter (11) angeordnet ist, wobei photokathalysatorisch beschichtetes Gitter (11) und die photokathalysatorisch beschichtete Oberflächen (9) mit Titandioxid (TiO2) beschichtet sind, wobei die UV-Lichtdesinfektionseinrichtung (5) UV-A-LEDs (12), die UV-A-Strahlung im Wellenlängenbereich 380-315 nm ausstrahlt und UV-C-LEDs (8) die UV-Strahlung im Wellenlängenbereich UV-C 280-200 nm (8) ausstrahlen aufweist und wobei ein Akku (13) zur netzunabhängigen Stromversorgung angeordnet ist.
METHODS AND REAGENTS FOR DIAGNOSIS OF SARS-COV-2 INFECTION - The present invention relates to a method for diagnosing a SARS-CoV-2 infection comprising the step of detecting the presence or absence of an antibody to SEQ ID NO: 1, preferably IgA class antibody, in a sample from a subject, a method for the differential diagnosis of a coronavirus infection, a use of an antibody to SEQ ID NO: 1, preferably IgA class antibody for diagnosing a SARS-CoV-2 infection or for the differential diagnosis of a coronavirus infection, preferably for distinguishing between a SARS-CoV-2, MERS and NL63, 229E, OC43 and HKU1 infection, and a kit comprising a polypeptide comprising SEQ ID NO: 1 or a variant thereof, preferably coated to a diagnostically useful carrier and one or more, preferably all reagents from the group comprising an antibody to SEQ ID NO: 1, a washing buffer, a means for detecting the presence of an antibody, preferably IgA class antibody, preferably a secondary antibody binding specifically to IgA class antibodies, preferably comprising a detectable label, and a dilution buffer. - link
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+ 25 April, 2021
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+Daily-Dose
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The Significance of the Derek Chauvin Verdict - The New Yorker’s Jelani Cobb discusses the trial’s outcome. - link
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The Forgotten History of the Purging of Chinese from America - The surge in violence against Asian-Americans is a reminder that America’s present reality reflects its exclusionary past. - link
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How 1.5 Degrees Became the Key to Climate Progress - The number has dramatically reorganized global thinking around the climate. - link
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The Lessons of the Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Saga - There were complaints that the pause would undermine confidence in vaccines. But it would have been more disastrous for the F.D.A. to be seen as ignoring or covering up the issue. - link
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The Killing of Adam Toledo and the Colliding Cycles of Violence in Chicago - With shootings in the city on the rise, trust in the police has nearly bottomed out. - link
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From Vox
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A coronavirus surge is overwhelming India’s health care system -
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+A Covid-19 patient wearing a medical oxygen mask is carried on a stretcher into a hospital in Kolkata, India on April 24. | Sumit Sanyal/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
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+India set a pandemic record with almost 347,000 new cases in a day.
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+A horrific surge in coronavirus cases in India continued on Saturday, with new cases re-breaking a single-day world record as the country’s health care system struggled to keep up. But even as hospitals and crematories become overwhelmed and the country faces a significant vaccine shortage, mass public events continue unrestricted, and the Indian government is censoring tweets critical of its pandemic response.
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+The country reported almost 347,000 new cases over a 24-hour stretch, according to the New York Times, setting a new worldwide high for the third day in a row. Deaths also climbed, to a record 2,624 in a single day, and the rolling seven-day average of daily new cases in India is quickly approaching 300,000.
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+As a result, hospitals are starting to run out of beds and oxygen alike. In Delhi Saturday, one hospital network even announced that it was suspending admissions, according to Reuters, while elsewhere patients have been forced to share a hospital bed.
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+This is not a curve or a wave. It’s a rocket. A straight vertical line.
If this is a bad COVID variant causing this, it will be prudent for all countries to help India with vaccines and raw materials for vaccines.
+Shortages have grown so bad that hospitals have resorted to using Twitter to plead for more oxygen. At least 20 patients in a Delhi hospital died Friday, according to CNN, after additional oxygen supplies were delayed.
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+“The volume is humongous,” Jalil Parkar, a senior pulmonologist at the Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai, told CNN. “It’s just like a tsunami.”
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+The death toll has also begun to overwhelm crematories, raising concerns that, as bad as the official figures are, the true situation in India could be far worse. According to the New York Times, crematories are in some cases reporting more cremations in a day than the number of officially reported deaths.
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+And on Monday, the Washington Post reported that in Surat, a city in India’s western Gujarat state, crematories are dealing with up to five times as many dead as normal. In one case, the steel chimney pipes melted from overuse.
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+Despite the magnitude of the crisis, India has yet to impose a new national lockdown, as it did in March 2020. And while some cities and states are imposing their own lockdowns, almost-certain superspreader events — such as massive political rallies and a major Hindu religious festival — are continuing.
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+According to the BBC, millions of Hindus from around India have gathered for the Kumbh Mela festival in northern India, where attendees take a dip in the Ganges River.
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+And Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has kept up campaign events for his Bharatiya Janata Party in the state of West Bengal, declaring that “India had defeated Covid last year and India can do it again.”
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+At the same time, the Indian government has successfully petitioned Twitter to take down posts critical of its response to the crisis. According to BuzzFeed News, more than 50 critical tweets, from public officials, journalists, celebrities, and citizens, were taken down.
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+A US policy is contributing to India’s woes
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+As Vox’s Katelyn Burns reported last week, a vaccine shortage has also exacerbated the crisis — and international trade policy is contributing to that shortage.
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+Though India has substantial vaccine-manufacturing capacity, both the US and Europe have imposed limits on exporting crucial raw materials, hampering India’s vaccination effort. The country is home to almost 1.4 billion people, but only about 21.4 million people — or about 1.59 percent of the population — have been fully vaccinated, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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+It’s unclear, however, whether the US will revise its policy in response to the crisis in India. On Thursday, State Department spokesperson Ned Price deflected when asked about the policy at a press briefing.
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+Price said that the current policy was under the “purview” of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), the agency that oversees trade policy, but suggested that the Biden administration was prioritizing getting shots in American arms.
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+“What I will say broadly is that the United States first and foremost is engaged in an ambitious and effective and, so far, successful effort to vaccinate the American people,” Price said. ”That campaign is well underway.”
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+“United States first and foremost is engaged in an ambitious and effective and, so far, successful effort to vaccinate the American people”, US State Dept when asked about #COVID vaccine raw materials export to India pic.twitter.com/YvzhuaAv3n
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+The export limits, however, are by no means the sole cause of India’s vaccine woes, nor would lifting them be a panacea as the coronavirus crisis there deepens.
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+Among other problems, the current surge in cases could stall a vaccine rollout even if vaccine availability increased, as Vox’s Jen Kirby has reported:
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+It’s a lot harder to massively ramp up a vaccination campaign in a country that is already floundering because of a health crisis. The same nurses or technicians deployed to vaccinate people are often the same personnel who need to attend to Covid-19 patients or conduct testing and contract tracing.
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+That could intensify the coronavirus surge, which could further stall the vaccination campaign, creating a dangerous cycle.
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+There are other problems as well, including lockdown fatigue, government failures, and a new Covid-19 variant emerging in India.
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+“The public sentiment [in India] is of denial, fatigue, and fatalistic surrender,” University of Michigan biostatistician and epidemiologist Bhramar Mukherjee told Kirby this month. Not only are mass religious and political events going forward, but according to the Hindustan Times, mask-wearing and social distancing at those events have largely gone by the wayside.
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+That fatigue is only compounded by how economically devastating India’s first lockdown was for the country. Some 32 million people fell out of the country’s middle class, according to Pew Research Center, and the number of people living in poverty in India, defined as those living on $2 per day or less, increased by 75 million.
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+Adding to the crisis are concerns about a new virus variant spreading in India. The variant, a “double mutant,” with two identified mutations, may be more transmissible than other strains of the coronavirus.
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+Little about the variant is known for sure yet — according to Bloomberg, it’s still unclear whether, or to what extent, the new variant, B.1.617, is driving India’s catastrophic spike in cases and deaths — but the mutant is quickly becoming the dominant strain in parts of India.
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+Already, the variant made up about 70 percent of virus samples collected in late March — an increase of more than 50 percent from three weeks earlier, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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+“India had a double whammy,” T. Jacob John, a retired virology professor at India’s Christian Medical College, told the Journal. “We let our guard down when the variants were spreading. It was the worst time to do so.”
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Why Biden’s statement recognizing the Armenian genocide is a big deal -
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+President Joe Biden makes remarks at the White House on April 20. | Doug Mills/Getty Images
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+Biden is the first US president to recognize the Armenian genocide — and Turkey isn’t happy.
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+President Joe Biden became the first US president to formally refer to atrocities committed against Armenians as a “genocide” on Saturday, 106 years after the 1915 start of an eight-year-long campaign of ethnic cleansing carried out by the Ottoman Empire that left between 1 and 1.5 million Armenians dead.
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+Previous presidents have refrained from using the word “genocide” in connection with the mass atrocities committed against the Armenian people in the early 20th century, and Turkey categorically denies that a genocide took place. So Biden’s declaration marks a major break from precedent, and could signal an increase in tensions with Turkey, a longtime US and NATO ally.
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+“Each year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring,” Biden said in a statement Saturday. “And we remember so that we remain ever-vigilant against the corrosive influence of hate in all its forms.”
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+The move is the fulfillment of a campaign promise for Biden, who pledged on April 24 last year to recognize the genocide if elected. It also comes on a symbolic date: April 24 is Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, a holiday observed in Armenia and by members of the Armenian diaspora.
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+And it’s emblematic of the Biden administration’s desire to center human rights in its foreign policy agenda, even at the cost of worsening relations with Turkey.
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+Biden is the first US leader in decades to use the word “genocide” in connection with the events of 1915-1923. Previous presidents, including George W. Bush and Barack Obama, made similar campaign promises to recognize the Armenian genocide, but never followed through while in office, and Bush later called on Congress to reject such a designation. In 1981, Ronald Reagan made a passing reference to “the genocide of the Armenians” during a speech commemorating victims of the Holocaust.
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+The Trump administration, meanwhile, accidentally recognized the genocide last year when White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany made reference to an “Armenian Genocide Memorial” in Denver, Colorado — but rejected nonbinding resolutions by the House and Senate to declare it such.
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+Both the House and Senate measures, though not approved by Trump, passed overwhelmingly in 2019, paving the way for Biden’s action on Saturday.
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+With the addition of the US on Saturday, 30 countries — including France, Germany, and Russia — now recognize the genocide, according to a list maintained by the Armenian National Institute in Washington, DC.
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+Biden spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday ahead of the official US announcement. It was the first conversation between the two allied leaders since Biden took office more than three months ago, which some regional experts have taken as a sign of cooling relations between the countries. According to a readout of the call released by the White House, the leaders agreed to hold a bilateral meeting “on the margins of the NATO Summit in June.” And according to news reports — but not the readout — Biden told Erdogan of his intentions to recognize the genocide.
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+Saturday’s statement officially recognizing the genocide nonetheless elicited a harsh response from Turkey.
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+“We reject and denounce in the strongest terms the statement of the President of the US regarding the events of 1915 made under the pressure of radical Armenian circles and anti-Turkey groups on April 24,” Turkey’s foreign ministry said in a statement Saturday that called on Biden to “correct this grave mistake.”
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+“This statement of the US … will never be accepted in the conscience of the Turkish people, and will open a deep wound that undermines our mutual friendship and trust,” the foreign ministry said.
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+Prominent Armenians, however, including Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, welcomed the news on Saturday. Pashinyan tweeted a brief statement, and, in a letter to Biden, said that the president’s words both paid “tribute” to victims of the genocide and also would help to prevent “the recurrence of similar crimes against mankind.”
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+“I highly appreciate your principled position, which is a powerful step on the way to acknowledging the truth, historical justice, and an invaluable of support for the descendants of the victims of the Armenian Genocide,” he wrote.
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+American lawmakers also welcomed Biden’s decision. New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, celebrated the statement in a tweet Saturday.
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+“Thankful that @POTUS will align with congressional & scholarly consensus,” Menendez wrote from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Twitter account. “As I said in 2019 when our resolution to recognize & commemorate the genocide passed the Senate, to overlook human suffering is not who we are as a people. It is not what we stand for as a nation.”
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+Thankful that @POTUS will align with congressional & scholarly consensus. As I said in 2019 when our resolution to recognize & commemorate the genocide passed the Senate, to overlook human suffering is not who we are as a people. It is not what we stand for as a nation. pic.twitter.com/1UH8YvG3rE
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+— Senate Foreign Relations Committee (@SFRCdems) April 24, 2021
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+Former Sen. Bob Dole, who advocated for recognition of the Armenian genocide throughout his career, also tweeted his appreciation for Biden’s words — alongside documents showing his own attempts at gaining recognition of the genocide in Congress in the 1970s and ’80s.
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+Hurrah for @POTUS! I’m very pleased to hear that he has officially recognized the Armenian genocide. This is a proud and historically significant moment for the United States, for Armenia, and for Armenians around the globe. It’s been a long time coming. pic.twitter.com/UQJ39aPkDg
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+“This is a proud and historically significant moment for the United States, for Armenia, and for Armenians around the globe,” the 97-year-old former presidential candidate wrote. “It’s been a long time coming.”
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+Biden is taking a new approach to the US-Turkey relationship
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+The vehemence of Turkey’s response to the US recognition of the Armenian genocide isn’t particularly surprising, as the topic has long been a point of international contention for Turkey.
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+Specifically, allegations of genocide are viewed as “insulting Turkishness” by Turkey — an offense that has elicited criminal charges in the past — because they implicate people who helped found the modern state of Turkey after the Ottoman Empire collapsed in 1922.
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+Turkey’s aggressive efforts to push back on attempts to recognize atrocities committed against Armenians during World War I as genocide makes Biden’s decision all the more exceptional.
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+Previously, Turkey has responded to countries acknowledging the genocide by recalling diplomats, including ambassadors to Germany and the Vatican. On Tuesday, in anticipation of a statement from Biden on the matter, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned that there could be consequences to Biden’s words.
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+“Statements that have no legal binding will have no benefit, but they will harm ties,” Cavusoglu said. “If the United States wants to worsen ties, the decision is theirs.”
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+As Vox’s Amanda Taub explained in 2015, such concerns over strategic interests in the region have long meant that the US and allies like the United Kingdom have avoided designating mass atrocities against Armenians as a genocide.
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+Turkey is a key US ally — especially now, as the US relies on Turkey’s cooperation in the fight against ISIS in Syria. US officials have compromised on how they refer to the killings. When Obama makes a speech to commemorate the anniversary of the genocide on Friday, White House officials say he will use the term “Meds Yeghern” instead of “genocide.”
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+Likewise, the United Kingdom has not recognized the genocide, apparently out of concern that doing so would jeopardize its relationship with Turkey. A leaked Foreign Office briefing from 1999 stated that Turkey was “neuralgic and defensive about the charge of genocide.” Therefore, the “only feasible option” was for the United Kingdom to continue to refuse to recognize the killings as genocide, because of “the importance of our relations (political, strategic and commercial) with Turkey.”
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+However, the Biden administration has already taken a harder line on the US relationship with Turkey than previous administrations. As a candidate, Biden labeled Erdogan an “autocrat” in an interview with the New York Times, and last month his administration condemned “significant human rights issues” in modern-day Turkey, including the jailing and alleged torture of journalists, activists, and political dissidents.
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+While it’s unclear exactly what the fallout from Saturday’s announcement will look like, other factors have already chilled the US-Turkey relationship. In December of last year, for example, shortly before Biden took office, the US imposed sanctions on Turkey for purchasing Russian military hardware. In 2019, the US also removed Turkey from its joint F-35 stealth fighter program over the same purchase.
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+Turkey is a powerful country in a critical region. It is part of NATO. Our relationship matters. But President Erdogan’s success in blackmailing & bullying the US (and other countries) not to recognize the Armenian Genocide likely emboldened him as he grew more repressive. 4/7
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+On Saturday, former US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, who is also Biden’s nominee to run the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book “A Problem from Hell”: America and the Age of Genocide, argued that the decision was an important step in pushing back on Erdogan’s growing authoritarianism.
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+“Turkey is a powerful country in a critical region,” Power wrote on Twitter. “It is part of NATO. Our relationship matters. But President Erdogan’s success in blackmailing & bullying the US (and other countries) not to recognize the Armenian Genocide likely emboldened him as he grew more repressive.”
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Caitlyn Jenner is running to replace California Gov. Gavin Newsom in likely recall election -
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+Caitlyn Jenner speaks at the 2020 Women’s March on January 18 in Los Angeles. | Sarah Morris/Getty Images
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+The celebrity candidacy adds another challenge to a recall fight complicated by Covid-19.
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+Former Olympian and reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner became one of the highest-profile people to enter California’s expected recall election when she announced Friday that she is launching a bid to replace California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
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+Jenner’s candidacy is expected to be an uphill battle, but the Republican-led challenge to Newsom’s tenure has received a boost in recent months thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic: first, as the recall campaign was extended because of the virus, and then after Newsom violated his own public health mandates by attending a maskless, indoor dinner party in November.
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+A recall election isn’t a sure thing yet, but it’s looking extremely likely, as Newsom opponents have gathered more than 2.1 million signatures supporting the effort. Not all of those signatures will prove valid — at least 266,000 or so aren’t, according to the California Secretary of State — but it takes fewer than 1.5 million to trigger a recall.
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+“I am a proven winner and the only outsider who can put an end to Gavin Newsom’s disastrous time as governor,” Jenner, a Republican, said in a statement Friday. “Californians want better and deserve better from their governor.”
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+Jenner has criticized Newsom for “over-restrictive lockdowns” and high taxes, and also hit the governor for attending a dinner party with lobbyists during the height of the pandemic last year.
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+“This isn’t the California we know,” Jenner said in her Friday statement. “This is Gavin Newsom’s California, where he orders us to stay home but goes out to dinner with his lobbyist friends.”
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+According to Axios, which first reported Jenner’s campaign announcement Friday, several former Trump campaign officials, including campaign manager Brad Parscale and pollster Tony Fabrizio, are already on board with Jenner’s campaign, although Parscale isn’t expected to take on a formal role.
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+Jenner, who is transgender, previously supported Trump, even appearing at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. She publicly walked back her support in October 2018 in response to Trump administration attacks on trans Americans.
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+But a Jenner adviser told Axios Friday that, in a recall election, Jenner would run “as someone that’s socially liberal and fiscally conservative” and steer away from the label of “Trump Republican.“
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+“This will be a campaign of solutions,” Jenner said Friday, “providing a roadmap back to prosperity to turn this state around and finally clean up the damage Newsom has done to this state.”
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+Advisers also say that Jenner, who starred on the reality TV show Keeping Up With the Kardashians, will benefit from substantial name recognition, according to Axios. Jenner first rose to fame as a decathlete, winning Olympic gold medals in the 1970s, and renewed her visibility as part of the Kardashian media empire.
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+But celebrity gossip site TMZ has reported that Jenner’s famous family members will not campaign on her behalf, in part because of political differences. And although Jenner renounced her support of Trump, at least one prominent LGBTQ rights organization has come out against her candidacy, too.
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+Jenner “spent years telling the #LGBTQ+ community to trust Donald Trump. We saw how that turned out. Now she wants us to trust her?” the organization Equality California tweeted Friday. “Hard pass.”
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+The Covid-19 pandemic has boosted a longstanding recall effort
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+Recall efforts are common in the 19 states that allow them, but as Vox’s Jerusalem Demsas has explained, they’re not often successful. In Newsom’s case, however, the pandemic — and his ill-advised dinner at a high-end Napa Valley restaurant in the midst of it — have landed him in a tight spot.
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+Although the recall effort itself, which was filed on February 21, 2020, predates the widespread Covid-19 crisis in the US, the deadline to collect signatures was extended by a judge in November last year, and Newsom’s apparently maskless dinner at French Laundry the same month gave it a boost.
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+As Demsas reported, “Newsom’s hypocrisy and decision to dine at a $350-per-person establishment while so many of the state’s residents suffered from the economic downturn and residents were being warned against holiday gatherings with family was a mobilizing moment for the recall effort.”
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+EXCLUSIVE: We’ve obtained photos of Governor Gavin Newsom at the Napa dinner party he’s in hot water over. The photos call into question just how outdoors the dinner was. A witness who took photos tells us his group was so loud, the sliding doors had to be closed. 10pm on @FOXLApic.twitter.com/gtOVEwa864
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+Despite Jenner’s announcement Friday, however, the recall isn’t yet set in stone. Signatures are still being verified, and although counties face an April 29 deadline to report how many signatures they received, voters will have a chance to remove their signatures if they choose, according to CalMatters.
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+Still, at least 1.2 million valid signatures have been received so far, meaning that a recall is expected to go forward.
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+If it does, Californians will have to answer two questions: Do they want to recall Newsom, and, if so, who do they want to replace him?
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+Actually removing Newsom from office takes a simple majority of voters, and winning the election to replace him takes only a plurality, according to CalMatters — but there’s no limit to how many candidates can run. This could lead to a massive, chaotic field of challengers.
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+In addition to Jenner, previous Republican gubernatorial nominee John Cox, who lost to Newsom in 2018, is in the running, as is former San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer, also a Republican.
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+In 2003, California voters recalled Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat. Out of a field of more than 100, bodybuilder and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger won the election to replace him with less than 50 percent of the vote; he eventually served two terms as a Republican governor.
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+“It’s an expensive, distracting pain in the ass for Californians if it happens,” Newsom spokesperson Dan Newman told Vox last month. “In the Davis recall we had 135 candidates and it was a total circus. Some people think we could have 10 times as many candidates this time around.”
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+But as Demsas points out, the California electorate looks much different than in 2003. The state is more heavily Democratic, and Newsom’s favorability rating has hovered well above where Davis’s stood at the time of his recall. As a result, pollsters suggest that Newsom stands a good chance of riding out this recall campaign.
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+Things are also looking up in California from a public health perspective: The state has among the lowest rates of new Covid-19 infections in the country, and more than 40 percent of Californians have received at least one vaccine dose.
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+But with a recall effort already rolling, Jenner’s entrance into the race marks another wrinkle in Newsom’s hectic tenure as governor — and her celebrity could make for a more difficult fight.
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From The Hindu: Sports
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England spinner Bess says he started “hating cricket” after long bio-bubble stay in India - Bess got just five wickets from two Tests in the fourth-match series which India won 3-1
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IPL 2021 | CSK opt to bat, RCB bring in Christian and Saini - CSK replaced Moeen Ali, who is not fit, with Imran Tahir while Lungi Ngidi made way for Dwayne Bravo.
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Indian boxer Amit Panghal settles for bronze at Governor’s Cup in Russia - Amit was the lone Indian to make the medal rounds of the Governor’s Cup.
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English soccer to unite in four-day social media boycott to protest online abuse - The blackout of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram will begin next Friday and last until Monday, covering a full round of games in the men’s and women’s professional leagues
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Our responsibility to give people some reason to smile, says Morris, about IPL amid COVID-19 - The Rajasthan Royals’ all-rounder commended the front-line workers all over the world who are working tirelessly to help everyone in these tough times.
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From The Hindu: National News
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Second phase of APSET certificate verification cancelled - The second phase of Andhra Pradesh State Eligibility Test (APSET-2020) certificate verification, which was scheduled to be held in the city from April
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Centre privatising PSUs to do away with reservations, alleges MRPS - Cycle rally taken out from Vijayawada to Vizag to oppose move to privatise steel plant
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Coronavirus | Saudi Arabia to ship 80 metric tonnes of oxygen to India to meet growing demand - The supply shipment is being undertaken in cooperation with the Adani group and Linde company.
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Sharad Pawar undergoes medical procedure to remove mouth ulcer - NCP chief Sharad Pawar has been doing the rounds of hospitals since the last month
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Fire tragedy: Virar hospital’s CEO, CAO arrested - They were held for alleged negligence and violation of the fire safety norms, says an official
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From BBC: Europe
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Biden says Armenian mass killing was genocide - The statement by the US president drew an immediate rebuke from Turkey, which disputes the term.
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Covid: Man arrested after infecting 22 people in Majorca - The man allegedly coughed on his colleagues and told them they would get sick, Spanish police said.
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Deep Time study: French volunteers leave cave after 40 days in isolation - The 40-day experiment in France aimed to test the limits of human adaptability to isolation.
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Clubs cannot leave Super League, says Perez - The 12 clubs that agreed to join a new European Super League have “binding contracts” and “cannot leave”, says Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.
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Vebitcoin: Turkey arrests four people after cryptocurrency collapses - Four people have been arrested hours after Vebitcoin abruptly announced it was ceasing operations.
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From Ars Technica
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Why lawmakers are so interested in Apple’s and Google’s “rents” - You can’t understand the app store debate without some grasp of antitrust jargon. - link
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Apple’s AirDrop leaks users’ PII, and there’s not much they can do about it - Apple has known of the flaw since 2019 but has yet to acknowledge or fix it. - link
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Republicans and Democrats increasingly agree: Big Tech is too powerful - Biden chose a Big Tech critic for the FTC—GOP senators seem happy about it. - link
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Conservative versus liberal: A knock-down, drag-out climate policy fight - Experts weigh in on Canada’s Conservative party’s proposed carbon levy. - link
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Apple’s ransomware mess is the future of online extortion - Hackers want $50 million to not release schematics they stole from Apple supplier. - link
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From Jokes Subreddit
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A company owner was asked a question, -
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+How do you motivate your employees to be so punctual?" He smiled & replied, “It’s simple. I have 30 employees and 29 free parking spaces. One is paid parking.”
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