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<title>29 December, 2022</title>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="covid-19-sentry">Covid-19 Sentry</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-preprints">From Preprints</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-pubmed">From PubMed</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-patent-search">From Patent Search</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-preprints">From Preprints</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Intranasal inhibitor broadly blocks SARS-CoV-2 including recent highly immunoevasive Omicron subvariants</strong> -
<div>
The recent emergence of novel SARS-CoV-2 variants capable of efficiently escaping neutralizing antibodies emphasizes the need for prophylactic strategies to complement vaccination in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Nasal epithelium is rich in the ACE2 receptor and important for SARS-CoV-2 transmission by supporting early viral replication before seeding to the lung. Intranasal administration of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies or antibody fragments has shown encouraging potential as a protective measure in animal models. However, there remains a dire need for SARS-CoV-2 blocking agents that are less vulnerable to mutational variation in the neutralization epitopes of the viral spike glycoprotein and more economical to produce in large scale. Here we describe TriSb92, a highly manufacturable and extremely stable trimeric human SH3 domain-derived antibody mimetic targeted against a conserved region in the receptor-binding domain of spike. TriSb92 potently neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 and its variants of concern, including Omicron BA.5 as well as the latest and most immunoevasive variants like BF.7, XBB, and BQ.1.1. Intranasal administration of a modest dose of TriSb92 (5 or 50 micrograms) as early as eight hours before a challenge with SARS-CoV-2 efficiently protected mice from infection, and was still effective even when given 4 h after the viral challenge. The target epitope of TriSb92 was defined by cryo-EM, which revealed triggering of a conformational shift in the spike trimer rather than competition for ACE2 binding as the molecular basis of its strong inhibitory action. The high potency and robust biochemical properties of TriSb92 together with the remarkable resistance of its inhibitory action against viral sequence evolution suggest that TriSb92 could be useful as a nasal spray for protecting susceptible individuals from SARS-CoV-2 infection.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.12.28.474326v2" target="_blank">Intranasal inhibitor broadly blocks SARS-CoV-2 including recent highly immunoevasive Omicron subvariants</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The Effect of COVID-19 on Distracted Driving: A Survey Study</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a significant shift in people9s travel behaviors and distractions while driving. This paper aims to investigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on distracted driving by comparing their behavior before and during the pandemic (from 3/1/2019 to 3/1/2021) in the state of Maryland using a stated preference online survey. Some 158 people were recruited for the survey. Participants were asked about their risky driving behaviors and self-reported distraction both before and during the pandemic. To analyze the results, the Chi-square and post-hoc tests with the Bonferroni adjustment were applied. The results showed that during the pandemic, distraction dropped from 25% to 21%. The highest reported distracted driving behavior during the pandemic was using hands-free cell phones (64%), using GPS (75%), and eating or drinking (57%). The respondents9 daily trips have significantly decreased - about 44% below pre-pandemic rates. Moreover, using a binary logistic regression, it was revealed that the odds of becoming distracted among participants who used a handheld cell phone before and during the pandemic were 4.5 and 6.6 times higher than others, respectively. The findings of this study shed light on the causes of distraction before and during the pandemic.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.12.26.22283062v1" target="_blank">The Effect of COVID-19 on Distracted Driving: A Survey Study</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Estimating the transmission dynamics of Omicron in Beijing, November to December 2022</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
We tracked the effective reproduction number Rt of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BF.7 in Beijing in November-December 2022 by fitting a transmission dynamic model parameterized with real-time mobility data to (i) the daily number of new symptomatic cases on November 1-11 (when the zero-covid interventions were still strictly enforced) and (ii) the proportion of individuals who participated in online polls on December 10-22 and self-reported to have been previously test-positive since November 1. After the announcement of “20 measures”, we estimated that Rt increased to 3.44 (95% CrI: 2.82-4.14) on November 18 and the infection incidence peaked on December 11. The cumulative infection attack rate (i.e. the proportion of population who have been infected since November 1) was 43.1% (95% CrI: 25.6-60.9) on December 14 and 75.7% (95% CrI: 60.7-84.4) on December 22. Surveillance programmes should be rapidly set up to monitor the evolving epidemiology and evolution of SARS-CoV-2 across China.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.12.15.22283522v2" target="_blank">Estimating the transmission dynamics of Omicron in Beijing, November to December 2022</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Viral and host small RNA transcriptome analysis of SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2-infected human cells reveals novel viral short RNAs.</strong> -
<div>
RNA viruses have been shown to express various short RNAs, some of which have regulatory roles during replication, transcription, and translation of viral genomes. However, short viral RNAs (svRNAs) generated by SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 remained largely unexplored, mainly due limitations of the widely used library preparation methods for small RNA deep sequencing and corresponding data processing. By analyzing publicly available small RNA-seq datasets, we observed that human cells infected by SARS-CoV-1 or SARS-CoV-2 produce multiple short viral RNAs (svRNAs), ranging in size from 15 to 26 nt and deriving predominantly from (+) RNA strands. In addition, we verified the presence of the five most abundant SARS-CoV-2 svRNAs in SARS-CoV-2-infected human lung adenocarcinoma cells by qPCR. Interestingly, the copy number of the observed SARS-CoV-2 svRNAs dramatically exceeded the expression of previously reported viral miRNAs in the same cells. We hypothesize that the reported SARS-CoV-2 svRNAs could serve as biomarkers for early infection stages due to their high abundance. Finally, we found that both SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 infection induced up- and down-regulation of multiple endogenous human short RNAs that align predominantly to protein-coding and lncRNA transcripts. Interestingly, a significant proportion of short RNAs derived from full-length viral genomes also aligned to various hg38 sequences, suggesting opportunities to investigate regulatory roles of svRNAs during infection. Further characterization of the small RNA landscape of both viral and host genomes is clearly warranted to improve our understanding of molecular events related to infection and to design more efficient strategies for therapeutic interventions as well as early diagnosis.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.12.27.522023v1" target="_blank">Viral and host small RNA transcriptome analysis of SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2-infected human cells reveals novel viral short RNAs.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>SCIP: A self-paced, community-based summer coding program creates community and increases coding confidence</strong> -
<div>
In 2020, many students lost summer opportunities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We wanted to offer students an opportunity to learn computational skills and be part of a community while stuck at home. Because the pandemic created an unexpected research and academic situation, it was unclear how to best support students to learn and build community online. We used lessons learned from literature and our own experience to design, run and test an online program for students called the Science Coding Immersion Program (SCIP). In our program, students worked in teams for 8 hours a week, with one participant as the team leader and Zoom host. Teams worked on an online R or Python class at their own pace with support on Slack from the organizing team. For motivation and career advice, we hosted a weekly webinar with guest speakers. We used pre- and post-program surveys to determine how different aspects of the program impacted students. We were able to recruit a large and diverse group of participants who were happy with the program, found community in their team, and improved their coding confidence. We hope that our work will inspire others to start their own version of SCIP.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.12.27.521952v1" target="_blank">SCIP: A self-paced, community-based summer coding program creates community and increases coding confidence</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A second update on mapping the human genetic architecture of COVID-19</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Investigating the role of host genetic factors in COVID-19 severity and susceptibility can inform our understanding of the underlying biological mechanisms that influence adverse outcomes and drug development. Here we present a second updated genome-wide association study (GWAS) on COVID-19 severity and infection susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 from the COVID-19 Host Genetic Initiative (data release 7). We performed a meta-analysis of up to 219,692 cases and over 3 million controls, identifying 51 distinct genome-wide significant loci—adding 28 loci from the previous data release. The increased number of candidate genes at the identified loci helped to map three major biological pathways involved in susceptibility and severity: viral entry, airway defense in mucus, and type I interferon.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.12.24.22283874v1" target="_blank">A second update on mapping the human genetic architecture of COVID-19</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Study COVID-19 Severity of Patients Admitted to Emergency Room (ER) with Chest X-ray Images</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Abstract. We have conducted a study of the COVID-19 severity with the chest x-ray images, a private dataset collected from our collaborator St Bernards Medical Center. The dataset is comprised of chest x-ray images from 1,550 patients who were admitted to emergency room (ER) and were all tested positive for COVID-19. Our study is focused on the following two questions: (1) To predict patients hospital staying duration, based on the chest x-ray image which was taken when the patient was admitted to the ER. The length of stay ranged from zero hours to 95 days in the hospital and followed a power law distribution. Based on our testing results, it is hard for the prediction models to detect strong signal from the chest x-ray images. No model was able to perform better than a trivial most-frequent classifier. However, each model was able to outperform the most-frequent classifier when the data was split evenly into four categories. This would suggest that there is signal in the images, and the performance may be further improved by the addition of clinical features as well as increasing the training set. (2) To predict if a patient is COVID-19 positive or not with the chest x-ray image. We also tested the generalizability of training a prediction model on chest x-ray images from one hospital and then testing the model on images captures from other sites. With our private dataset and the COVIDx dataset, the prediction model can achieve a high accuracy of 95.9%. However, for our hold-one-out study of the generalizability of the models trained on chest x-rays, we found that the model performance suffers due to a significant reduction in training samples of any class.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.12.25.22283942v1" target="_blank">Study COVID-19 Severity of Patients Admitted to Emergency Room (ER) with Chest X-ray Images</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Literature analysis of the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccinations</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The COVID-19 pandemic is the largest epidemic of the 21st century so far. Over 650 million people have already been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. One of the ways to stop this pandemic, is to vaccinate the population and gain herd immunity. Many different vaccines are being used around the world, with differing efficacy. This review summarizes the 79 publications on the efficacy of the currently existing COVID-19 vaccines. It shows that there are eleven vaccines that have efficacy data published in a PubMed-indexed scientific journal. Most research has been done on the Pfizer/BioNTech BNT162B2 vaccine, and the eleven vaccines generally have a high efficacy in preventing illness. The Pfizer (86%-100%), Moderna (93.2%-94.1%), Sputnik-V (91.6%) and Novavax (~90%) vaccines show the highest efficacy, followed by the Sinovac (83.5%), QazCovid-in 82%) and Covaxin (77.8%) vaccines. The Oxford/AstraZeneca (69% - 81.5%) and Johnson &amp; Johnson (66%) vaccines have lower efficacy in preventing illness. This overview also shows efficacies other than in preventing illness (e.g. asymptomatic, severe illness, hospitalization, death) in some cases. The results also show that the vaccines have specific effects on specific age groups (e.g. adolescents, adults, elderly) and people with diseases (e.g. leukemia, other cancers, HIV). Future research in this area will mostly focus on vaccine efficacy on specific strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (such as the Omicron variant) as well as the efficacy of booster vaccinations.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.12.24.22283835v1" target="_blank">Literature analysis of the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccinations</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A Usability Evaluation of YouDiagnose: Artificial Intelligence Powered Physician Consultation</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The COVID-19 Pandemic has resulted in a forced transition to telemedicine, where history-taking and clinical assessments are performed remotely during video or telephonic consultations. While telemedicine has added to safety and social distancing during the pandemic, the manual and resource-intense pro-cess of telephonic and video consultations has not helped to ease the patient backlog, rather has added to this snowballing issue. This paper describes about YouDiagnose pre-consultation exercise that automates patient triage and clinical assessment using artificial intelligence technologies delivered through either a Smart Questionnaire or Chatbot. A usability evaluation was conducted with participants from the Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement Senate (PIES) of the Innovation Agency (an Academic Health Science Net-work) Qualitative feedback was obtained from the participants on both modalities and quantitative feedback in the form of the System Usability Scale (SUS), comparing the usability of both interaction modalities. The SUS scores were analysed using the Adjective Rating Scale that revealed the Smart Questionnaire had Good Usability compared to OK Usability of the Chatbot. The results shows the user experience and untapped potential of process automation and artificial intelligence in clinical services.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.12.20.22283710v1" target="_blank">A Usability Evaluation of YouDiagnose: Artificial Intelligence Powered Physician Consultation</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The response to BTN62b2 booster doses demonstrates that serum antibodies do not predict the establishment of immune B-cell memory in common variable immune deficiencies</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
In patients with common variable immune deficiencies, primary vaccination followed by two booster doses is recommended for protection against COVID-19. Seroconversion has been shown in 60% of patients. We have no information on whether serum antibodies reflect the generation of durable immune memory. In a longitudinal study on 47 common variable immune deficiencies patients who received the third and fourth vaccine dose, we show that the measurement of specific antibodies is not sufficient to predict the establishment of immune memory and the ability to respond to antigen re-exposure. Our results indicate that the combination of antibodies and memory B cells responses represents a more reliable read-out of vaccine immune efficacy in vulnerable patients. This analysis may not only identify individuals remaining unprotected after vaccination and unable to respond to additional booster doses, but also address the search for the underlying immune defect and suggest patient-tailored management strategies.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.12.24.22283775v1" target="_blank">The response to BTN62b2 booster doses demonstrates that serum antibodies do not predict the establishment of immune B-cell memory in common variable immune deficiencies</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Techniques for Developing Reliable Machine Learning Classifiers Applied to Understanding and Predicting Protein:Protein Interaction Hot Spots</strong> -
<div>
With machine learning now transforming the sciences, successful prediction of biological structure or activity is mainly limited by the extent and quality of data available for training, the astute choice of features for prediction, and thorough assessment of the robustness of prediction on a variety of new cases. Here we address these issues while developing and sharing protocols to build a robust dataset and rigorously compare several predictive classifiers using the open-source Python machine learning library, scikit-learn. We show how to evaluate whether enough data has been used for training and whether the classifier has been overfit to training data. The most telling experiment is 500-fold repartitioning of the training and test sets, followed by prediction, which gives a good indication of whether a classifier performs consistently well on different datasets. An intuitive method is used to quantify which features are most important for correct prediction. The resulting well-trained classifier, hotspotter, can robustly predict the small subset of amino acid residues on the surface of a protein that are energetically most important for binding a protein partner: the interaction hot spots. Hotspotter has been trained and tested here on a curated dataset assembled from 1,046 non-redundant alanine scanning mutation sites with experimentally measured change in binding free energy values from 97 different protein complexes; this dataset is available to download. The accessible surface area of the wild-type residue at a given site and its degree of evolutionary conservation proved the most important features to identify hot spots. A variant classifier was trained and validated for proteins where only the amino acid sequence is available, augmented by secondary structure assignment. This version of hotspotter requiring fewer features is almost as robust as the structure-based classifier. Application to the ACE2 receptor, which mediates COVID-19 virus entry into human cells, identified the critical hot spot triad of ACE2 residues at the center of the small interface with the CoV-2 spike protein. Hotspotter results can be used to guide the strategic design of protein interfaces and ligands and also to identify likely interfacial residues for protein:protein docking.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.12.26.521948v1" target="_blank">Techniques for Developing Reliable Machine Learning Classifiers Applied to Understanding and Predicting Protein:Protein Interaction Hot Spots</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Evaluation of the molecular diversity of Brazilian strains of the B.1.1 variant of SARS-CoV-2 used in vaccines</strong> -
<div>
In this work, 28 sequences with 57,570 sites of the B.1.1 variant of SARS-CoV-2, from Brazilian states, were used. All sequences (publicly available on the National Center for Biotechnology Information platform (NCBI)) were aligned with Mega X software and all gaps, ambiguous sites and lost data were extracted, resulting in a region in a segment with 8,799 polymorphic (15.2% of the total) that were analyzed for their molecular diversity, FST, demographic and spatial expansion. Phylogenetic relationships of ancestry revealed the absence of genetically distinct subgroups, which was corroborated by the low value of FST found (15.38%). The low degree of polymorphism found among these samples, corroborated by the almost non-existent genetic distance, helped or established the absence of a genetic structuring pattern, demonstrating a satisfactory pattern of response to vaccines, since all the sequences analyzed were part of the Brazilian strains of variant B.1.1 of SARS-CoV-2 used in vaccines.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.12.23.521847v1" target="_blank">Evaluation of the molecular diversity of Brazilian strains of the B.1.1 variant of SARS-CoV-2 used in vaccines</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Tissue protective role of Ganetespib in SARS-CoV-2-infected Syrian golden hamsters</strong> -
<div>
The emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants, capable of escaping the humoral immunity acquired by the available vaccines, together with waning immunity and vaccine hesitancy, challenges the efficacy of the vaccination strategy in fighting COVID-19. Improved therapeutic strategies are therefore urgently needed to better intervene particularly in severe cases of the disease. They should aim at controlling the hyper-inflammatory state generated upon infection, at reducing lung tissue pathology and endothelial damages, along with viral replication. Previous research has pointed a possible role for the chaperone HSP90 in SARS-CoV-2 replication and COVID-19 pathogenesis. Pharmacological intervention through HSP90 inhibitors was shown to be beneficial in the treatment of inflammatory diseases, infections and reducing replication of diverse viruses. In this study, we analyzed the effects of the potent HSP90 inhibitor Ganetespib in vitro on alveolar epithelial cells and alveolar macrophages to characterize its effects on cell activation and viral replication. Additionally, to evaluate its efficacy in controlling systemic inflammation and the viral burden after infection in vivo, a Syrian hamster model was used. In vitro, Ganetespib reduced viral replication on AECs in a dose-dependent manner and lowered significantly the expression of pro-inflammatory genes, in both AECs and alveolar macrophages. In vivo, administration of Ganetespib led to an overall improvement of the clinical condition of infected animals, with decreased systemic inflammation, reduced edema formation and lung tissue pathology. Altogether, we show that Ganetespib could be a potential medicine to treat moderate and severe cases of COVID-19.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.12.27.521979v1" target="_blank">Tissue protective role of Ganetespib in SARS-CoV-2-infected Syrian golden hamsters</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Virological characteristics of the SARS-CoV-2 XBB variant derived from recombination of two Omicron subvariants</strong> -
<div>
In late 2022, the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants have highly diversified, and XBB is spreading rapidly around the world. Our phylogenetic analyses suggested that XBB emerged by recombination of two co-circulating BA.2 lineages, BJ.1 and BM.1.1.1 (a progeny of BA.2.75), during the summer of 2022 around India. In vitro experiments revealed that XBB is the most profoundly resistant variant to BA.2/5 breakthrough infection sera ever and is more fusogenic than BA.2.75. Notably, the recombination breakpoint is located in the receptor-binding domain of spike, and each region of recombined spike conferred immune evasion and augmented fusogenicity to the XBB spike. Finally, the intrinsic pathogenicity of XBB in hamsters is comparable to or even lower than that of BA.2.75. Our multiscale investigation provided evidence suggesting that XBB is the first documented SARS-CoV-2 variant increasing its fitness through recombination rather than single mutations.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.12.27.521986v1" target="_blank">Virological characteristics of the SARS-CoV-2 XBB variant derived from recombination of two Omicron subvariants</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>An alpaca-derived nanobody neutralizes the SARS-CoV-2 omicron variant</strong> -
<div>
The SARS-CoV2 Omicron variant sub-lineages spread rapidly through the world, mostly due to their immune-evasive properties. This has put a significant part of the population at risk for severe disease and underscores the need for anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents that are effective against emergent strains in vulnerable patients. Camelid nanobodies are attractive therapeutic candidates due to their high stability, ease of large-scale production and potential for delivery via inhalation. Here, we characterize the RBD-specific nanobody W25, which we previously isolated from an alpaca, and show superior neutralization activity towards Omicron lineage BA.1 in comparison to all other SARS-CoV2 variants. Structure analysis of W25 in complex with the SARS-CoV2 spike surface glycoprotein shows that W25 engages an RBD epitope not covered by any of the antibodies previously approved for emergency use. Furthermore, we show that W25 also binds the spike protein from the emerging, more infectious Omicron BA.2 lineage with picomolar affinity. In vivo evaluation of W25 prophylactic and therapeutic treatments across multiple SARS-CoV-2 variant infection models, together with W25 biodistribution analysis in mice, demonstrates favorable pre-clinical properties. Together, these data endorse prioritization of W25 for further clinical development.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.12.27.521990v1" target="_blank">An alpaca-derived nanobody neutralizes the SARS-CoV-2 omicron variant</a>
</div></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>101-PGC-005 for the Treatment of COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: 101-PGC-005;   Drug: Dexamethasone<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   101 Therapeutics<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Clinical Study to Assess Preliminary Efficacy, Safety and Tolerability of HH-120 Nasal Spray in COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Coronavirus Disease 2019(COVID-19)<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: HH-120 Nasal Spray<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Beijing Ditan Hospital<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>COVID-19 Booster Study in Healthy Adults in Australia</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: Bivalent Moderna;   Biological: Novavax<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Murdoch Childrens Research Institute;   Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations;   The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Effect of N-Acetylcysteine on Neutrophil Lymphocyte Ratio And Length of Stay In COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: N-acetyl cysteine<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Universitas Sebelas Maret<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Efficacy and Safety of Anti-COVID-19 Antibody SA58 Nasal Spray to Prevent Infection in High-risk Populations</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: SA58 Nasal Spray<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Sinovac Life Sciences Co., Ltd.<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Efficacy and Safety of Ambervin® and Standard Therapy in Hospitalized Patients With COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Tyrosyl-D-alanyl-glycyl-phenylalanyl-leucyl-arginine succinate intramuscularly;   Drug: Tyrosyl-D-alanyl-glycyl-phenylalanyl-leucyl-arginine succinate inhaled;   Drug: Standard of care<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Promomed, LLC<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Immunogenicity and Safety of COVID-19 Vaccine as a Booster Vaccination in Population Aged 18 Years and Above</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: Recombinant SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine (CHO Cell) LYB001;   Biological: ZF2001<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Guangzhou Patronus Biotech Co., Ltd.;   Yantai Patronus Biotech Co., Ltd.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Immunogenicity and Safety of COVID-19 Vaccine in Population Aged 18 Years and Above（Negative Antibody Against COVID-19）</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: One dose group;   Biological: Two doses group;   Biological: Aged 18-59 years;   Biological: Aged 60 years old and above<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Guangzhou Patronus Biotech Co., Ltd.;   Yantai Patronus Biotech Co., Ltd.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Study of GST-HG171/Ritonavir Compared With Placebo in Patients With Mild to Moderate COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Pneumonia<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: GST-HG171/Ritonavir;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Fujian Akeylink Biotechnology Co., Ltd.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A PhaseⅡ Study to Evaluate the Safety &amp; Immunogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha/Beta/Delta/Omicron Variants COVID-19 Vaccine</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Pandemic<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: SCTV01E;   Biological: Placebo (normal saline)<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Sinocelltech Ltd.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The COPE Study: Pilot Intervention to Improve Symptom Self-management and Coping in Adults With Post COVID-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   Post COVID-19 Condition;   Post-COVID-19 Syndrome<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Behavioral: 6-Week Self-Management Group<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   University of Washington<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>ICBT for Psychological Symptoms Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic Remaining After Societal Opening</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Depression and Anxiety Symptoms Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Behavioral: Internet-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Linkoeping University<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Graphene Photothermal Adjuvant Therapy for Mild Corona Virus Disease 2019: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Device: Graphene spectrum light wave therapy room<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Southeast University, China;   Hohhot First Hospital<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>ARVAC - A New Recombinant Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Vaccine</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Vaccine<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: ARVAC-CG vaccine (recombinant protein vaccine against SARS-CoV-2)<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Laboratorio Pablo Cassara S.R.L.;   Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSAM);   National Council of Scientific and Technical Research, Argentina<br/><b>Active, not recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The KIN-FAST Trial (KIN001 For Accelerated Symptoms Termination) in Non Hospitalized Patients Infected With SARS-CoV-2</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: KIN001;   Drug: KIN001-Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Kinarus AG<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-pubmed">From PubMed</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Silver nanoparticles with excellent biocompatibility block pseudotyped SARS-CoV-2 in the presence of lung surfactant</strong> - Silver (Ag) is known to possess antimicrobial properties which is commonly attributed to soluble Ag ions. Here, we showed that Ag nanoparticles (NPs) potently inhibited SARS-CoV-2 infection using two different pseudovirus neutralization assays. We also evaluated a set of Ag nanoparticles of different sizes with varying surface properties, including polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-coated and poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG)-modified Ag nanoparticles, and found that only the bare (unmodified) nanoparticles…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Characterization of <em>SARS-CoV-2</em> omicron variants from Iran and evaluation of the effect of mutations on the spike, nucleocapsid, ORF8, and ORF9b proteins function</strong> - The SARS-CoV-2 ‘Omicron’ strain, with 15 mutations in the receptor binding domain (RBD), was detected in South Africa and rapidly spread worldwide. SARS-CoV-2 ORF9b protein by binding to the TOM70 receptor and ORF8 protein by binding to MHC-I, IF3 receptors inhibit the host’s immune response. In this study, genomics variations were evaluated for 96 samples isolated from Iran from March to July 2022 using the Nextclade web server and informatics tools. We identified the mutations occurring in the…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Molecular insights into the <em>in silico</em> discovery of corilagin from <em>Terminalia chebula</em> as a potential dual inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 structural proteins</strong> - The spike (S) glycoprotein and nucleocapsid (N) proteins are the crucial pathogenic proteins of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS CoV-2) virus during its interaction with the host. Even FDA-approved drugs like dexamethasone and grazoprevir are not able to curb the viral progression inside the host and are reported with adverse effects on body metabolism. In this context, we aim to report corilagin a novel, potential dual inhibitor of S and N proteins from Terminalia…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Natural and Semi-Synthetic Flavonoid Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Agents for the Treatment of Long COVID-19 Disease and Neurodegenerative Disorders of Cognitive Decline</strong> - The aim of this review is to highlight the beneficial attributes of flavonoids, a diverse family of widely-distributed polyphenolic phytochemicals that have beneficial cell and tissue protective properties. Phytochemicals are widely distributed in plants, herbs and shrubs used in traditional complimentary medical formulations for centuries. The bioactive components that convey beneficial medicinal effects in these complex herbal preparations are now being identified using network pharmacology…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Performance and correlation of ten commercial immunoassays for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies</strong> - Accurate immunoassays with a good correlation to neutralizing antibodies are required to support SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis, management, vaccine deployment, and epidemiological investigation. We conducted a study to evaluate the performance and correlation of the surrogate virus neutralization test (sVNT) and other commercial immunoassays. We tested 107 sera of COVID-19 confirmed cases from three different time points, 58 confirmed non-COVID-19 sera, and 52 sera collected before the pandemic with two…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SARS-CoV-2 accessory proteins ORF7a and ORF3a use distinct mechanisms to down-regulate MHC-I surface expression</strong> - Major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) molecules, which are dimers of a glycosylated polymorphic transmembrane heavy chain and the small-protein β(2)-microglobulin (β(2)m), bind peptides in the endoplasmic reticulum that are generated by the cytosolic turnover of cellular proteins. In virus-infected cells, these peptides may include those derived from viral proteins. Peptide-MHC-I complexes then traffic through the secretory pathway and are displayed at the cell surface where those…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Carotenoids as potential inhibitors of TNFα in COVID-19 treatment</strong> - Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) is a multifunctional pro-inflammatory cytokine, responsible for autoimmune and inflammatory disorders. In COVID-19 patients, increased TNF-α concentration may provoke inflammatory cascade and induce the initiation of cytokine storm that may result in fatal pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ADRS). Hence, TNFα is assumed to be a promising drug target against cytokine storm in COVID-19 patients. In the present study, we focused on finding novel…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Infectivity of pseudotyped SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern in different human cell types and inhibitory effects of recombinant spike protein and entry-related cellular factors</strong> - Since the report of the first COVID-19 case in 2019, SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) have continued to emerge, manifesting diverse infectivity, evasion of host immunity and pathology. While ACE2 is the predominant receptor of SARS-CoV-2, TMPRSS2, Kim-1, NRP-1, CD147, furin, CD209L and CD26 have also been implicated as viral entry-related cofactors. To understand the variations in infectivity and pathogenesis of VOCs, we conducted infection analysis in human cells from different organ…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The prediction of SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibition with filtering by position of ligand</strong> - The paper analyzes a set of equations that adequately predict the IC50 value for SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitors. The training set was obtained using filtering by criteria independent of prediction of target value. It included 76 compounds, and the test set included nine compounds. We used the values of energy contributions obtained in the calculation of the change of the free energy of complex by MMGBSA method and a number of characteristics of the physical and chemical properties of the…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Impacts of video communication on psychological well-being and cosmetic surgery acceptance</strong> - Video communication via platforms such as Zoom has been routinely used as a communication tool during the COVID-19 pandemic. Scientific evidence has suggested that constant video communication can have detrimental consequences such as “Zoom fatigue”, inhibiting collaboration, and new information exchange. The current study focuses on the effects of using video communication technology on self-esteem, affect, and image perception under the framework of objective self-awareness (OSA). We…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A new intracellular targeting motif in the cytoplasmic tail of the spike protein may act as a target to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 assembly</strong> - Infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) poses a threat to global public health, underscoring the urgent need for the development of preventive and therapeutic measures. The spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2, which mediates receptor binding and subsequent membrane fusion to promote viral entry, is a major target for current drug development and vaccine design. The S protein comprises a large N-terminal extracellular domain, a transmembrane domain, and a short…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Regulatory role of endoplasmic reticulum resident chaperone protein ERp29 in anti-murine β-coronavirus host cell response</strong> - Gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) involving astrocytes is important for proper CNS homeostasis. As determined in our previous studies, trafficking of the predominant astrocyte GJ protein, Connexin43 (Cx43), is disrupted in response to infection with a neurotropic murine β-coronavirus (MHV-A59). However, how host factors are involved in Cx43 trafficking and the infection response is not clear. Here, we show that Cx43 retention due to MHV-A59 infection was associated with increased…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Cenicriviroc for the treatment of COVID-19: first interim results of a randomised, placebo-controlled, investigator-initiated, double-blind phase II trial</strong> - CONCLUSION: Our interim analysis provides proof-of-concept data on CVC for COVID-19 patients as intervention to inhibit CCR2/CCR5. Further studies are warranted to assess its clinical efficacy.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Mammalian hybrid prophagophore is a precursor to autophagosomes</strong> - SUMMARYThe precursors to mammalian autophagosomes originate from pre-existing membranes contributed by a number of sources, and subsequently enlarge through intermembrane lipid transfer, then close to sequester the cargo, and merge with lysosomes to degrade the cargo. Using cellular and in vitro membrane fusion analyses coupled with proteomic and biochemical studies we show that autophagosomes are formed from a hybrid membrane compartment referred to as a prophagophore or HyPAS (hybrid…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Booster shot of inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine induces potent immune responses in people living with HIV</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: PLWH receiving booster shot of inactivated vaccines generate higher antibody responses than the second dose, but lower than that in HCs. Decreased anti-BA.4/5 responses than that of WT impede the protective effect of the third dose on Omicron prevalence. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Case for Wearing Masks Forever</strong> - A ragtag coalition of public-health activists believe that America’s pandemic restrictions are too lax—and they say they have the science to prove it. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-activism/the-case-for-wearing-masks-forever">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>From Climate Exhortation to Climate Execution</strong> - The Inflation Reduction Act finally offers a chance for widespread change. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/from-climate-exhortation-to-climate-execution">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Kirk Douglas, the Guitarist for the Roots, Revamps the Holiday Classics</strong> - A bona-fide guitar hero puts a fresh spin on some holiday classics. And the former United States Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith on reading poetry across the political divide. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-new-yorker-radio-hour/kirk-douglas-the-guitarist-for-the-roots-revamps-the-holiday-classics">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Water Wranglers of the West Are Struggling to Save the Colorado River</strong> - Farmers, bureaucrats, and water negotiators converged on Caesars Palace, in Las Vegas, to fight over the future of the drought-stricken Southwest. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-the-southwest/the-water-wranglers-of-the-west-are-struggling-to-save-the-colorado-river">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Devastating New History of the January 6th Insurrection</strong> - The House report describes both a catastrophe and a way forward. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/american-chronicles/the-devastating-new-history-of-the-january-sixth-insurrection">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Why hasn’t pandemic aid fraud become a bigger scandal?</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="Text of the CARES Act seen through the lens of a pair of glasses resting on the document." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rVvPRBsBFdGeCmABZEvQDwXgi3o=/286x0:4834x3411/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71802549/GettyImages_1265366028.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Getty Images/iStockphoto
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The scope of the fraud is staggering, but there are reasons the political impact has been muted.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="r8rB79">
The United States government’s historic spending on pandemic aid in 2020 and 2021 was accompanied by a historic amount of fraud and theft, with potentially <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/biggest-fraud-generation-looting-covid-relief-program-known-ppp-n1279664">hundreds of billions of dollars stolen</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PBwGzn">
Yet despite much <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2022/covid-money-trail-investigation-explained/">excellent</a> <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/how-unemployment-insurance-fraud-exploded-during-the-pandemic">investigative</a> <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/biggest-fraud-generation-looting-covid-relief-program-known-ppp-n1279664">reporting</a> into Covid relief fraud and various <a href="https://whyy.org/articles/inspectors-ask-for-authority-to-go-after-more-covid-fraud/">government</a> <a href="https://coronavirus.house.gov/news/press-releases/clyburn-fintech-fraud-ppp-doj-sba">investigations</a> into it, it’s never really risen to dominate the news agenda or made much of a political impact. It’s become the sort of issue that burbles on in the background, not a major scandal demanding everyone’s attention.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5dnhKQ">
The Covid relief bills did an enormous amount of good, cushioning devastating economic blows from the abrupt halt to much in-person activity in 2020 and helping millions of people across the US. Still, I have been surprised that the high level of fraud hasn’t gotten at least a bit more attention, considering the staggering sums of money involved, and how much the right obsessed with <a href="https://www.vox.com/2015/1/5/7490593/F-35-vs-solyndra">overblown controversies</a> over far smaller amounts of supposedly misspent funds in President Barack Obama’s stimulus law.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fW8jdu">
The main reason for the relatively muted reaction is likely that focusing on this doesn’t play to either party’s political advantage. Democrats and Republicans collaborated to pass the Covid relief bills at issue under President Donald Trump. And the specifics of the fraud don’t really fit with either party’s current top messaging priorities, with Democrats hesitant to demonize big-spending government aid programs, while Republicans are increasingly consumed by the domestic culture war.
</p>
<h3 id="5k9BWD">
How the fraud happened
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EYvYBH">
As the federal and state governments tried to get pandemic relief funds out quickly to people and businesses who needed it in 2020, fraudsters and scammers pounced.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9qdZbe">
<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/biggest-fraud-generation-looting-covid-relief-program-known-ppp-n1279664">NBC News’s Ken Dilanian and Laura Strickler</a> wrote in March that, per experts they consulted, pandemic fraud across three major relief programs could reach the $250 billion to $560 billion range (though no one really knows because the exact amount is difficult to estimate). The federal government approved about $5 trillion in total pandemic relief money, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/12/28/covid-aid-pandemic-fraud-oversight-budget/">per the Washington Post</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PukDtW">
Matthew Schneider, a former US attorney, told NBC that this was “the biggest fraud in a generation,” adding, “nothing like this has ever happened before.” And ProPublica’s Cezary Podkul <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/how-unemployment-insurance-fraud-exploded-during-the-pandemic">wrote that</a> the pandemic relief fraud “may turn out to be the biggest fraud wave in U.S. history.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OffTyh">
Some culprits were domestic, but much of the fraud was targeted internet crime from foreign scammers operating in countries such as <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/easy-money-how-international-scam-artists-pulled-epic-theft-covid-n1276789">Russia, China, and Nigeria</a>. These included <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/how-unemployment-insurance-fraud-exploded-during-the-pandemic">self-motivated hustlers</a> just trying to pick up what they saw as easily available money, while others were more organized criminals. It turns out that when US government or state entities offer free money on the internet with minimal safeguards for identity verification, people will come along and try to take that money.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RmUXiO">
The main programs targeted included the <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/how-unemployment-insurance-fraud-exploded-during-the-pandemic">expanded unemployment insurance benefits</a> and the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/biggest-fraud-generation-looting-covid-relief-program-known-ppp-n1279664">Paycheck Protection Program</a>. Both of these were <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/03/27/congress-coronavirus-house-vote/">signed into law in the March 2020 CARES Act</a> by Trump after being passed by a Democratic House and a Republican Senate. That means the Trump administration was in charge of the executive branch when much of the theft took place — though it was often antiquated state unemployment benefit systems that were specifically targeted. After President Biden took office in 2021, Democrats <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2021/3/10/22320350/biden-sign-stimulus-bill-covid-19">passed their own pandemic aid plan</a> that extended the expanded unemployment insurance benefits several more months.
</p>
<h3 id="bO4tOr">
Why the politics are playing out this way
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GMH1Pe">
All of the above makes for a messy picture of political culpability. Republicans can’t frame this as a purely Democratic scandal when Trump signed the bill and was president while much of the theft happened. Democrats, for their part, helped craft the initial relief bill and extended it further under Biden. So that’s an incentive for both parties not to look too closely at what might have gone wrong. Unless, of course, some Republican with an incentive to make Trump look bad — like his possible 2024 presidential primary rival Ron DeSantis — decides to lay it at his feet.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ugHBML">
Among Democrats, there’s likely a generalized fear that making too much about any fraud in government benefits will be used to discredit the use of government benefits to help people generally (harking back to the “<a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/12/20/255819681/the-truth-behind-the-lies-of-the-original-welfare-queen">welfare queen</a>” attack from Ronald Reagan). Both <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22394677/unemployment-insurance-ron-wyden">mainstream</a> and <a href="https://ocasio-cortez.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-introduces-bill-extend-pandemic-unemployment">left Democrats</a> were thrilled at the generosity of vastly expanded unemployment benefits, and hoped they could make these changes permanent in some form. Dwelling too much on all the money that was stolen would not be helpful here.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1uOTBp">
One would think, though, that it would be anti-spending Republicans who would typically make a big stink about an issue like this. And yet with the GOP increasingly fixated on the domestic culture war, the specifics of the pandemic relief fraud (money stolen by foreign hackers) don’t seem to fit too well with their current message.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IIqQAZ">
This is evident in an amusing recent exchange on the pages of the Wall Street Journal. Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the incoming chair of the House Oversight Committee, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/get-ready-for-republican-oversight-government-transparency-democrats-gop-border-fentanyl-energy-inflation-majority-covid-11670789661?mod=article_inline">wrote an op-ed</a> on pandemic relief fraud, along with five other issues he plans to investigate. But his most specific concern was that some states and localities used pandemic relief funds for “electric buses and controversial ideologies.” In <a href="https://republicans-oversight.house.gov/release/comer-foxx-reveal-new-evidence-of-covid-relief-dollars-funding-woke-initiatives/">an earlier press release</a>, his office claimed to find evidence that pandemic relief money funded “woke initiatives.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VbxT5l">
American Enterprise Institute fellow Matt Weidinger responded to Comer’s op-ed with a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/republican-oversight-pandemuc-unemployment-fraud-benefits-11671477221">letter to the Journal</a> urging him to focus on the bigger fraud picture so it could be stopped from happening again. “Criminal gangs, including some based in Russia and China, used stolen identities to seize U.S. tax dollars on an industrial scale,” Weidinger wrote. This could be read as saying: Focus on the real issue, please, not just the culture war crap. We will see next year whether the GOP House majority listens.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gLPFBM">
Finally, and more broadly, there could well be a general feeling of leniency from both the political system and the public because this was an unprecedented situation, and many people who did need help got it — even if many scammers got some too. Some fraud was inevitable, and sure, this might be a lot. But haven’t the past few years been a lot for everyone?
</p></li>
<li><strong>The best, worst, and just plain dumb of American politics in 2022</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XPR1R5jAs-UfT3VzeBfYkTyrbQ8=/432x0:3900x2601/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71802476/GettyImages_1446783547a.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Herschel Walker speaks during a campaign rally in Loganville, Georgia, on December 4. Walker lost to incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock in Georgia’s Senate runoff election on December 6. | Alex Wong/Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
From dinner with Kanye West to orating about werewolves, 2022 was strange.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HYmFjZ">
From the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2015/1/20/7854969/state-of-the-union-facts">State of the Union</a> to <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23448316/midterm-elections-2022-results-winners-losers">the midterm elections</a>, Vox’s politics team has noted many political winners and losers throughout 2022.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="U8Rsz7">
With the year almost in the rearview, we want to take a moment to single out some of the most noteworthy achievements by current and aspiring public servants, and revisit some of their biggest flops and failures. Here are the best, worst, and weirdest political moments and phenomena of the year.
</p>
<h3 id="mMmf9I">
Worst dinner<strong> </strong>
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZttTjg">
One of the more recent innovations in holiday celebrations is “Friendsgiving,” wherein millennials have a Thanksgiving-style dinner with their friends in advance of the holiday, which they celebrate with their family. The day before Thanksgiving, former President Donald Trump partook in something like this at Mar-a-Lago, his private Florida club: He had a Thanksgiving-style dinner with two prominent antisemites, rapper <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/10/kanye-west-presidential-campaign-was-a-warning-sign.html">Kanye West</a> and white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="idyoUh">
The meal was apparently good enough that West <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/25/trump-fuentes-ye/">had a second helping of the stuffing</a>, but it produced a lot of tough headlines for Trump to digest. It came only weeks after Trump-backed candidates <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23450428/donald-trump-midterm-elections-republican-red-wave">had disappointing results in the midterm elections</a><strong> </strong>and shortly after he announced his third presidential bid in a desultory speech at Mar-a-Lago. The news of the dinner leaking out only made things worse for Trump.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SmNpeb">
The former president equivocated for days about having dined with the two but could not bring himself to condemn them (he denied even knowing who Fuentes was). In the meantime, West and Fuentes gloried in the attention and afterward went on an alt-right media tour together, where West repeatedly <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/01/kanye-west-alex-jones-hilter-interview/">praised Adolf Hitler</a>.<strong> </strong>
</p>
<h3 id="dvEe0h">
Most deliberate political martyrdom
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9wwnCq">
Liz Cheney set her political career on fire this year and never seemed to bat an eye. The Wyoming Republican made herself the face of the January 6 committee and burned every last bridge she had to the Republican Party. Cheney’s continued ardent opposition to Trump after January 6 led to <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/05/elise-stefanik-millennial-maga-moderate-replaces-cheney.html">her eventual removal</a> as the No. 3 Republican in the House, and her decision to join the committee made her a virtual pariah within the House Republican Conference. Cheney didn’t mind. She <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/8/12/23301904/liz-cheney-wyoming-donald-trump-gop">lost her primary</a> in a landslide, without even <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/8/16/23309182/liz-cheney-wyoming-trump">really trying to win</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jMcWj5">
Instead, she became a guided missile, pointed directly at Donald Trump and the MAGA wing of the Republican Party. She even endorsed select Democrats in the 2022 midterms. Like Samson, she was fine bringing the temple down on her head as long as it took down Trump and his acolytes as well.
</p>
<div>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/GrA1u_n8eevkGpojwJfDYHVWaTc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24308172/GettyImages_1450372873a.jpg"/> <cite>Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Liz Cheney, vice chair of the select committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the Capitol, participates in the committee’s last public meeting on December 19.
</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ri8jfG">
Cheney will never be completely irrelevant in American politics. Her last name, her former position as the No. 3 House Republican, and her transformation into the GOP’s most ardent Trump opponent after January 6 ensure that. But, barring any Sunday show greenrooms being admitted as states by Congress, her electoral career is over for the foreseeable future.
</p>
<h3 id="V4urfX">
Worst political speech<strong> </strong>
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RpIlYJ">
There were a lot of reasons that Herschel Walker <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/12/6/23497495/georgia-runoff-herschel-walker-raphael-warnock-donald-trump">lost his Senate race</a> to incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock this year. Pundits could point to the fact that he ran a flawed campaign while Warnock ran a good one. They could also point out the plethora of scandals swirling around Walker’s personal life, including what seemed to be a regularly increasing number of children he fathered and a regularly increasing number of times he allegedly paid for a partner’s abortion. There were also fresh allegations of domestic violence, in addition to those he chronicled in a memoir that described his struggles with mental illness.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qDdQVv">
In comparison to these, his oratory wasn’t his biggest issue. But Walker encapsulated all his political challenges in a speech he gave in November during the Senate runoff, where he <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&amp;v=MTPzRp2XO2A">discussed the various merits</a> of vampires versus those of werewolves in combat.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EOJhH1">
The Republican Senate hopeful and <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23412672/herschel-walker-georgia-football-jeff-pearlman">former college football star</a> proclaimed to a crowd, “I don’t know if you know, but vampires are some cool people, are they not? But let me tell you something that I found out: A werewolf can kill a vampire. Did you know that? I never knew that.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CrKnoj">
Walker continued, “So I don’t want to be a vampire anymore. I want to be a werewolf.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ckqR1K">
The clip was used in a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/29/us/politics/warnock-walker-georgia-ad.html">closing ad by Warnock</a>, mocked by Barack Obama when he stumped in the Peach State, and became a lasting part of Walker’s political legacy.
</p>
<h3 id="IGYrMC">
Best rap video<strong> </strong>
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vekCyB">
Linda Paulson, an octogenarian running for state Senate in Utah, went viral for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXyRPEscXCQ">releasing a campaign video</a> of herself rapping — or at least performing something vaguely resembling hip-hop — in September. Paulson was running as a Republican against an incumbent Democrat in suburban Salt Lake City. She lost by 15 percent but at least got a lot more attention than most losing state legislative candidates do.
</p>
<h3 id="VLWF63">
Most bizarre sex scandal<strong> </strong>
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HvbVqe">
An ISIS bride falling for a backbench member of Congress wouldn’t make a good romantic comedy. It did, however, make an interesting political story this year.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UxOXhoyBlbrXKpQYKP8UZcbYuhI=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24308178/GettyImages_1244878257a.jpg"/> <cite>Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Texas Rep. Van Taylor leaves the US Capitol after the last votes of the week on November 17.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xiYCa5">
Van Taylor was a two-term Republican from the Dallas suburbs with a pedigree that was seemingly perfect for an establishment Republican: two degrees from Harvard and one tour in Iraq as an officer in the Marines. However, despite a strong conservative voting record, Taylor faced a primary challenge for heresies such as voting to uphold the 2020 election and to establish a bipartisan commission to investigate January 6.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Hr5ttN">
Taylor looked like he was going to edge through the primary — where a candidate needed 50 percent to avoid a runoff — until only two days before, when a fringe far-right website published allegations that Taylor had had an extramarital affair with Tania Joya, a woman who was previously known for being the widow of a prominent member of ISIS and received ample coverage in British tabloids as an “ISIS Bride.” She eventually fled the Islamic State and moved to Texas, where she met Taylor and an affair ensued.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5jL30J">
As a result of the allegations, which had been stoked by one of his opponents, Taylor finished just shy of the 50 percent mark needed to avoid a runoff and two days later <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2022/03/02/last-minute-infidelity-allegation-helped-force-two-term-plano-rep-van-taylor-into-runoff/">dropped out of the race</a> after publicly confessing to the affair. The result essentially handed his congressional seat to Keith Self, who finished a distant second place in the primary.
</p>
<h3 id="BhE1q4">
Most bizarre food scandal
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IJbVu0">
New York Mayor Eric Adams has long touted a vegan diet, which he claimed has had innumerable health benefits for him, including <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/06/01/mayoral-candidate-eric-adams-wants-nyc-to-go-vegan/">reversing blindness</a> in one eye brought on by diabetes. It was something he repeatedly talked up during his 2021 mayoral campaign and even wrote a book about.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8FBz9U">
It turned out Adams wasn’t actually a vegan — he was eating fish quite frequently. Although a spokesperson for the New York mayor <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/05/eric-adams-restaurant-00005935">originally lied</a> and claimed that Adams never touched seafood, eventually <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/07/nyregion/eric-adams-fish-vegan.html">Adams confessed</a> and admitted his private pescetarianism.
</p>
<h3 id="zISZ2f">
Best work-life balance
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="K3z0fI">
Democratic Congress member Kai Kahele had a very long commute from his home in Hawaii to the Capitol in Washington, DC, but he made it much easier by simply not showing up.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VxHB8y">
The first-term Hawaii Democrat stopped showing up for work in late 2021 and used proxy voting instead of going to the Capitol. As Civil Beat<em> </em><a href="https://www.civilbeat.org/2022/04/has-us-rep-kai-kahele-given-up-on-washington/">reported at the time</a>, in the first few months of 2022, he only cast five in-person votes as he explored a gubernatorial bid. Kahele eventually decided to run and <a href="https://www.civilbeat.org/2022/08/what-comes-next-for-us-rep-kai-kahele/">lost in a blowout</a>. In the meantime, his concentration on his gubernatorial campaign <a href="https://rollcall.com/2022/11/28/ethics-report-rep-kai-kahele-may-have-misused-official-resources/">prompted a House Ethics Committee investigation</a> into whether he misused official resources for his campaign.
</p>
<h3 id="pPYccI">
Most bizarre corruption scandal
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kqEjdu">
The late Baltimore businessman Russell “Stringer” Bell once <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGo5bxWy21g">famously expressed shock</a> that a colleague was “taking notes on a criminal conspiracy.” Rep. Marie Newman (D-IL) didn’t just take notes on a criminal conspiracy. She entered into a formal contract to do so.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Marie Newman smiles." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/IJLKoamMRxjtnx8GLkqxWZE0mHU=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24308217/AP22176795558854a.jpg"/> <cite>Charles Rex Arbogast/AP</cite>
<figcaption>
Illinois Rep. Marie Newman campaigns in Chicago in March 2020.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lcMpnT">
Newman promised a job to a political rival during her 2020 primary campaign against incumbent Democrat Dan Lipinski so that he would not run against her and split the anti-Lipinski vote. She <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/dem-rep-wrote-contract-promising-job-to-rival-watchdog-says">entered into a contract</a> with Iymen Chehade in which she promised to hire him and pay him a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rep-newman-hired-rival-shes-accused-of-bribing-daily-beast-2022-2">six-figure salary</a> to be a “foreign policy advisor” in exchange for him not running against her. During the negotiations, <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/new-twist-in-dem-rep-marie-newmans-bribery-scandal-negotiating-anti-israel-positions">she also agreed to take anti-Israel positions</a> at Chehade’s behest, although that language was not written into the final contract. After she beat Lipinski, she didn’t hire Chehade, so he sued her.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="53Pj6M">
Newman defended herself by citing an opinion from the House general counsel that the contract was unenforceable because it was “contrary to public policy.” Eventually a settlement was reached, and Chehade appeared on her campaign payroll with the title of “foreign policy advisor.” The effort was nonetheless referred to the Office of Congressional Ethics, which <a href="https://ethics.house.gov/sites/ethics.house.gov/files/documents/OCE%20Reports%20and%20Findings.pdf">found</a> in its investigation “substantial reason to believe that Rep. Newman may have promised federal employment to a primary opponent for the purpose of procuring political support.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cS6KMs">
The entire imbroglio has sparked an ongoing investigation by the House Ethics Committee. However, the investigation won’t continue into 2023. After all that, Newman suffered a blowout defeat to Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) after the two were redistricted together.
</p>
<h3 id="wQmcEy">
Best alliterative fish advocacy
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6K0EIn">
In both her win in Alaska’s September special election for Congress and in the November election that followed, Mary Peltola had a lot of luck winning as a Democrat in the Last Frontier.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qqhdwj">
Peltola benefited from <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/09/30/americas-weirdest-voters-test-its-newest-voting-system-00059376">the state’s ranked choice voting system</a> as well as a divided Republican field with both former reality television star Sarah Palin and businessman Nick Begich running against her.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Cwt3sv">
But she also had one key advantage: fish. Peltola ran on a three-pronged platform of “Fish, Family, and Freedom” and made her advocacy for Alaska’s salmon fisheries one of the bases of her campaign. It worked, and Peltola will represent the most pro-Trump district (according to the 2020 election results) of any Democrat in the next Congress.
</p></li>
<li><strong>2022 was the worst for many US hospitals. The aftershocks will last for years.</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/oUT8xvSWGa_gDcMtVWQcDz5V5jM=/137x0:3554x2563/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71802432/GettyImages_1384409846a.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
A lab technician cares for a patient in the emergency department at Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley, California, in March. | Mario Tama/Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Constant health crises have made it impossible for some hospitals to plan for the future. Patients will pay the price.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Pg0dgH">
Terry Scoggin, CEO of Titus Regional Medical Center in Mount Pleasant, Texas, saw his first <a href="https://www.vox.com/coronavirus-covid19">Covid-19</a> surge in May 2020, when <a href="https://www.dmagazine.com/healthcare-business/2020/06/the-pandemic-missed-mount-pleasant-until-it-didnt/">an outbreak at a meat processing plant</a> filled almost all of his small hospital’s ICU beds.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IvQtQ1">
But the worst of the pandemic didn’t come until 2022. By January, the hospital, the last independent rural hospital in northeast Texas, had lived through four separate surges in 18 months. They had reopened their building’s third floor, closed eight years ago, and relied on traveling nurses to staff their beds. Then, at the end of 2021, the government funding that had paid for that extra help ran out.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VwC8gn">
For the first two months of 2022, as patients lined the building’s hallways and his staff struggled to find anywhere else to send them, Scoggin said his hospital experienced its most traumatic trial yet.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qMXWHc">
“We didn’t have the staff,” Scoggin told me. “People were dying and you couldn’t get them out.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="E4XfH7">
But Scoggin isn’t just worried about the strain his hospital is under right now. He worries about how three years without a real break — five Covid surges, a <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/23292430/monkeypox-outbreak-us-gay-men">monkeypox</a> case that forced his facility to prepare for a wider outbreak, and now <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/10/27/23421344/covid-19-flu-rsv-symptoms-vaccines-2022">a nasty wave of RSV and flu</a> — is compromising his ability to plan and prepare for the future.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bCHatN">
The pandemic <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/11/28/23424682/us-health-care-rural-hospital-closures-mergers">pummeled hospitals like his</a>. Titus serves its hometown of Mount Pleasant, population 15,000, as well as 70,000 other residents in Titus County and four surrounding counties. Four hospitals within 35 miles of his facility have closed in the last eight years. TRMC is a medical oasis in northeast Texas; sometimes they will even see patients from just over the border in Arkansas, Louisiana, or Oklahoma.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="APnYpv">
TRMC has a 70-year-old building in desperate need of updates, including a $500,000 repair to the building’s elevators, and the kitchen should be remodeled, Scoggin said. But the impact of the last three years extends well beyond the hospital’s walls. Three years of constant crisis means the hospital hasn’t been able to invest in outpatient care proven to avert bigger problems for patients later on.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="f6caSH">
“We’re sick” is the way Scoggin summarizes the health challenges of the community his hospital serves.<strong> </strong>Nearly one-third of people in Titus County are uninsured. It is a <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/tituscountytexas">majority-minority area</a>, 45 percent Hispanic and almost 10 percent Black.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="i1Awnx">
Building the infrastructure and hiring the staff to help people better manage their health — and, eventually, start to prevent chronic health conditions in the first place — requires years of work and planning. Those plans have been set back years, in a community that was already struggling.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/55ou8cGf0TvGBftCjk5C3k0ZZds=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24309858/1245585610a.jpg"/> <cite>Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Justin Precourt, chief nursing officer at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, Massachusetts, stands in the hospital’s busy ambulance bay on December 12. The hospital is operating at above its normal capacity, and Precourt is in charge of figuring out how many patients the hospital can admit and where they go.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="M8CkUJ">
He’s not alone. Hospitals across the country have experienced near-constant crisis. In addition to the persistent threat of Covid-19, there were unexpectedly brutal waves of RSV last summer and again this fall. Monkeypox put hospitals on high alert for a very different kind of infectious disease. Then there were the one-off disasters, like the hurricane that struck St. James Parish Hospital in the Louisiana Delta and cut them off from the world for two weeks.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="54gsFR">
Hospitals postponing plans to install a new medical records system or build a new primary care clinic might not sound like the most urgent problem, given the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/12/6/23494948/flu-influenza-rsv-covid-vaccine-chart-tripledemic-tridemic">current wave of respiratory illness</a> straining the US health care system once again. But in small communities like these, the local hospital may be the only entity in a position to make those investments — investments that are critical for the long-term health of their patients. <a href="https://health.gov/healthypeople/priority-areas/social-determinants-health/literature-summaries/access-primary-care">Research shows</a> time and again that better access to preventive and primary care leads to better outcomes.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EsJc3E">
The fragility of the US health care system was laid bare by the pandemic. And heading into 2023, there is little sign of relief for overworked and overwhelmed health care providers. Think of it as a cumulative health care debt: for every clinic that can’t be built or every health program that can’t be planned, Americans could be worse off in the years to come.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OG2aqe">
“The future is not next year. The future is 10 years from now that you’re working on right now,” Scoggin told me. “It’s hard to get people to think about 10 years from now when they haven’t gotten over what happened 10 months ago.”
</p>
<h3 id="FUpJRb">
The pandemic set back long-term plans at America’s rural hospitals
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qQS2U4">
Small community hospitals were struggling before Covid-19. and the pandemic has only made their predicament more precarious. <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/11/28/23424682/us-health-care-rural-hospital-closures-mergers">More than 130</a> rural US hospitals have closed in the past 10 years, and hundreds more are projected to be in danger of closing. According to <a href="https://www.shepscenter.unc.edu/product/health-system-challenges-for-critical-access-hospitals-findings-from-a-national-survey-of-cah-executives/">one report from the University of North Carolina’s rural health research program</a>, about 30 percent of all US hospitals were operating in the red as of 2018. A majority of them are located in rural communities.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="llHG3R">
Scoggin has felt <a href="https://www.vox.com/coronavirus-covid19/22763417/us-covid-19-hospitals-nurses-shortage">the same staffing challenges</a> as other hospitals around the United States. He hired 75 nurses from traveling agencies over the course of the pandemic to keep his emergency, ICU, and labor and delivery departments adequately staffed. The hospital’s labor costs have risen upward of 20 percent.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bIKqOI">
But there are also subtler ways in which the constant crisis of Covid-19 compromised hospitals’ ability to best serve their patients, by altering some operations permanently and postponing many other projects and plans.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/pYMyjWr8kSDZPIbC2qurVhH41Yc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24309893/1230539256a.jpg"/> <cite>Ariana Drehsler/AFP via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Health care workers in the emergency department at Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley, California, in January 2021. As the coronavirus tore through Southern California, small hospitals in rural towns like Apple Valley were overwhelmed, with Covid-19 patients crammed into hallways, makeshift ICU beds, and even the pediatric ward.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="U0U5ue">
In Lutcher, Louisiana, home to St. James Parish Hospital, CEO Mary Ellen Pratt still has to repair her building after Hurricane Ida, which hit the hospital in late August 2021 — amid its fourth surge of Covid-19, driven by the delta variant. The hospital was supposed to launch a new electronic health record system that week, something they had put off in the spring of 2020, and instead lost internet connectivity for 14 days.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Bux2Iy">
It’s an executive’s job to create “a vision and direction for the future,” Pratt said. But the pandemic made that impossible.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RG9GRc">
“During Covid, almost all CEOs were focused on operations, dealing with what was right smack in front of their face,” she said. “It wasn’t until January 2022 that I was seeing down the road again.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DsFkpa">
By then, a plot of land purchased by the hospital had been sitting unused for two years. Pratt is planning to build a modernized primary care health clinic with other community services, such as an exercise center and a kitchen for healthy cooking classes. That work is finally getting started after the long delay.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lS6BAN">
But any progress can feel fleeting. These hospitals now operate in a state of permanent crisis. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/01/us/politics/covid-aid-hospitals-uninsured.html">Federal and state relief is drying up</a>, but the situation on the ground hasn’t actually improved much.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EAsM96">
“I think we’re just living in the chaos,” said Julie Bieber, vice president at the Bellin Health Oconto Hospital, about 40 minutes north of Green Bay. “We know we’re going to have a lot of sick patients.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EGjSYn">
At Oconto Hospital, patient beds were moved into rooms previously used for infusion treatments, to seclude non-Covid patients from people with the new virus — and they are still doing that, almost three years later. With RSV surging, their emergency and urgent care units are often operating at 100 percent capacity and patients have to wait up to six hours to be seen. When I spoke with Bieber, her hospital had 30 staff members and five doctors out with their own respiratory illness.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lOQ4Du">
But they must keep the doors open. Short of a long drive to Green Bay, they are the only place where local residents can get hospital-level care. “In rural health, you don’t have back-ups to back-ups,” Bieber said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BE1GmL">
She has her own list of put-off plans. The hospital had intended to start construction on a new clinic in Marinette, another 25 miles north along the bay, that would provide services of particular importance to cancer patients, such as ultrasounds and radiation therapy, so they would not need to travel as far to manage their illness.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vLijMd">
But they postponed. “We didn’t have the energy,” Bieber said, and they didn’t know what the future would look like.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="f1BxXJ">
Bellin is preparing to start that project soon. But first, they may have to wait almost six months for door frames, an example of how the pandemic’s disruption of the global supply chain can put hospitals even further behind in unexpected ways.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-zsGEDAjPbd3wmGQLOzerPAMsxI=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24309853/1241877506a.jpg"/> <cite>Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
A nurse requests more supplies while helping to put in a dialysis line for a patient in the Covid-19 intensive care unit at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, Massachusetts, in December 2021.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rtgrNr">
Across Wisconsin, there was a decline in health care facilities investing in new capital projects during Covid. According to statistics shared by the Wisconsin Health and Educational Facilities Authority, which funds such projects through bonds, there were 21 bonds issued for health care construction in fiscal year 2020 (which mostly comprised the pre-pandemic period). That number fell to three in fiscal year 2021 before rebounding partly to eight in the fiscal year 2022.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rXSWKy">
That kind of partial recovery was reflected in my conversations with Scoggin, Pratt, and Bieber, all of whom were preparing to get back to work on their long-term plans. But more delays could be in their future.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DwWgM0">
The winter viral season is already off to a rough start. Tim Size, who leads the Rural Health Wisconsin Cooperative, said the current trends could put hospitals “right back to where we were last winter.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YUAl3R">
“That would be devastating for patients and the morale of our hospitals,” he said.
</p>
<h3 id="cj3B3Z">
Long-term investments are vital for population health
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="C297R0">
On the list of pandemic health consequences, both direct and indirect, hospitals’ delays in making capital improvements might not rank highly compared to, for example, <a href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/23057643/long-covid-symptoms-treatment-definition-test-diagnosis-research-common">long Covid</a> or <a href="https://www.vox.com/coronavirus-covid19/22841229/covid-19-us-cancer-screenings">the delays in cancer diagnoses</a> or <a href="https://www.vox.com/coronavirus-covid19/2021/9/14/22650733/us-covid-19-hospitals-full-texas-alabama">the risks posed to the quality of care</a> when a hospital’s staff is burnt out and overmatched. Not every hospital has been so adversely affected; as <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/billions-in-covid-aid-went-to-hospitals-that-didnt-need-it-11670164570">the Wall Street Journal recently reported</a>, hospitals that serve wealthier communities took advantage of the government funding made available during Covid-19, to the detriment of needier facilities.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="z9sxyZ">
But in the communities that these critical access hospitals serve, the stakes are high, even existential. Scoggin has watched most of his peers in northeast Texas either close or end up bought out by a bigger hospital system. That brings its own problems. Titus prides itself on continuing to operate a labor and delivery department for its rural community. But, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22923432/maternity-wards-hospitals-covid-19-pandemic">as I’ve reported this year</a>, maternity care is often a target for cuts when a small hospital is eaten up by a bigger system.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Y3JdrG">
Scoggin takes these risks personally, he said. “I don’t want to be the one who cost us having an independent hospital.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="48Z7y3">
There are clinical risks when patients have to travel farther to give birth. There are also risks when patients can’t easily see a doctor and get ahead of emerging health problems. Delays in diagnosing and treating chronic conditions like diabetes or other diseases like cancer lead to worse patient outcomes, according to <a href="https://health.gov/healthypeople/priority-areas/social-determinants-health/literature-summaries/access-primary-care">the available research</a>.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Xrz_bRTb13SqXzYFqQyjalnY7bU=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24309870/GettyImages_1241090233a.jpg"/> <cite>Nick Otto for the Washington Post via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Dayton General Hospital in Dayton, Washington, in October 2021. Rural hospitals were particularly overwhelmed by the pandemic.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YVhuPS">
It is especially challenging for patients living in smaller communities, like the people in Mount Pleasant and Lutcher and Oconto, to receive medical care. In these places, the local hospital is often the one making new investments to expand health care access. But for the past three years, cascading from one crisis to another, they haven’t been able to do that.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8myEw2">
“Without the ability to invest in our strategy, it is concerning for our future,” Scoggin said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dHuyif">
The consequences of those delays or aborted plans may not be obvious, but, based on what we know about the struggles of patients in these communities to access health care, any missed opportunities will leave people worse off.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lx1lta">
Pratt described her vision for a new community health center in Lutcher as a place where not only could residents see a doctor, but they could take exercise and cooking classes. Where kids can attend after-school programs and stay out of trouble and seniors could play bingo — the kinds of engagement that can materially improve a person’s well-being. “That is wellness,” she said. “That’s health.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="quMkpG">
Maybe in 2023, after these unforeseen and unpredictable delays, the vision can finally become a reality.
</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Liverpool confirms signing of World Cup star Cody Gakpo</strong> - PSV announced that it had agreed to the transfer of Cody Gakpo to Liverpool for an undisclosed fee, describing it as a “record” for the Dutch club</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Mukesh Ambani sets goals for children, cites Lionel Messi to explain leadership</strong> - On Reliance Family Day, Ambani said winning in business takes leadership and teamwork, citing Messi and Argentina’s victory at the FIFA world cup 2022</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Haaland sets PL scoring record in Man City's 3-1 win over Leeds</strong> - Manchester City’s Erling Haaland scored twice against Leeds United to become the fastest player to 20 goals in the Premier League</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>South Africa faces uphill task after Carey’s maiden hundred</strong> - Wicketkeeper Alex Carey scored his maiden test century for Australia, hitting 13 boundaries in his tally of 111</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Will do everything possible to be fit for Test series against India: Green</strong> - Green does not want to miss the opportunity to be part of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy tour as it is crucial for both India and Australia</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>CPI(M) set to lead Pala municipality for the first time</strong> -</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Telangana reiterates request for transfer of Defence land for taking up road projects</strong> - CS Somesh Kumar meets Defence Secretary A. Giridhar</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Apollo Hospital orgnises ‘hygiene parliament’ in Chittoor</strong> - Event was aimed at driving behavioural change in students to adopt high hygiene standards</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Congress, BJP trade barbs over cough syrup-related deaths of children in Uzbekistan and Gambia</strong> - The Opposition party asked the Narendra Modi government to stop boasting about India being ‘a pharmacy to the world’ and take strict action</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Guruvayur temple possesses over ₹1,737 crore in bank deposits, 271 acres land: RTI reply</strong> - RTI reply shows temple has an immense collection of gold, silver and precious stones received as offerings from devotees</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Russia fires dozens of missiles at Ukrainian cities</strong> - Ukrainian officials say cities across the country are targeted in several waves of strikes.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine fighting is deadlocked, spy chief Kyrylo Budanov tells BBC</strong> - Kyrylo Budanov says neither side can make significant advances, and eyes advanced Western weapons.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pope Francis appeals for prayers for ‘very ill’ predecessor Benedict</strong> - The Vatican says the ex-Pope’s condition has worsened and Pope Francis asks pilgrims to pray.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine was sea-change for openness – GCHQ head</strong> - Sir Jeremy Fleming interviews head of US intelligence agency as guest editor of Radio 4’s Today programme.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Energy giant ExxonMobil sues EU to block energy windfall tax</strong> - The US company says the levy on its profits will discourage future investment in Europe.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Here are the 10 best new cars, trucks, and SUVs we drove in 2022</strong> - Eight EVs made the top 10 this year. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1906479">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ars Technica’s best video games of 2022</strong> - A dearth of big-budget blockbusters couldn’t hold back the year in games. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1906399">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Startup claims to offer stratospheric geoengineering as a service</strong> - Claims to sell geoengineering warming offsets but can’t currently validate anything. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1906897">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>iOS 16 exploit lets you set the system font to Comic Sans (and other things)</strong> - Irritate Apple’s UI designers with this one weird trick. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1906876">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Is that shrunken head really human? Combining imaging methods yields clues</strong> - Combining CT scanning with micro-CT scanning improves the resolution of key details - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1870586">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>What do you call an IQ of 160 in the marines?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A Platoon.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/redditg0nad"> /u/redditg0nad </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/zxiet8/what_do_you_call_an_iq_of_160_in_the_marines/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/zxiet8/what_do_you_call_an_iq_of_160_in_the_marines/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pull</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A guy drives into a ditch, but luckily, a farmer is there to help. He hitches his horse, Buddy, up to the car and yells, “Pull, Nellie, pull!” Buddy doesn’t move.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Pull, Buster, pull!” Buddy doesn’t budge.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Pull, Coco, pull!” Nothing.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Then the farmer says, “Pull, Buddy, pull!” And the horse drags the car out of the ditch.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Curious, the motorist asks the farmer why he kept calling his horse by the wrong name. “Buddy’s blind,” said the farmer. “And if he thought he was the only one pulling, he wouldn’t even try.”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/gary6043"> /u/gary6043 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/zx7554/pull/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/zx7554/pull/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>What’s the difference between Greta Thunberg and Andrew Tate</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Greta was nominated for the Nobel Prize, and awarded Tate the No-balls prize.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/james_s_docherty"> /u/james_s_docherty </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/zx96b7/whats_the_difference_between_greta_thunberg_and/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/zx96b7/whats_the_difference_between_greta_thunberg_and/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>What’s the difference between an American girl and an Iranian girl?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The American girl gets stoned before sex.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/vartha"> /u/vartha </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/zxw6v5/whats_the_difference_between_an_american_girl_and/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/zxw6v5/whats_the_difference_between_an_american_girl_and/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Lady and the Farmer</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A farmer stopped by a hardware store and bought a bucket and a gallon of paint. Then he stopped by the feed store and picked up a couple of chickens and a goose.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
However, struggling outside the store, he wondered how to carry all his purchases home.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
While he was scratching his head, he was approached by a lady who told him she was lost.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
She asked, ‘Can you tell me how to get to this address please?’
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The farmer said, ‘Well, as a matter of fact, my farm is very close to that house. I would walk you there, but I can’t carry this lot.’
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The lady suggested, ‘Why don’t you put the can of paint in the bucket, carry the bucket in one hand, put a chicken under each arm, and carry the goose in your other hand?’
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‘Thank you very much,’ he said and proceeded to walk the lady home.
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On the way, he said, ‘Let’s take my short cut and go down this alley. We’ll be there in no time.’
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The lady looked him over cautiously and said, ‘I am a lonely widow without a husband to protect me. How do I know that when we get in the alley you won’t hold me up against the wall, pull up my skirt, and have your way with me?’
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The farmer said, ‘Holy smokes, lady! I’m carrying a bucket, a gallon of paint, two chickens, and a goose. How in the world could I possibly hold you up against the wall and do that?’
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The lady replied, ‘Set the goose down, cover him with the bucket, put the paint on top of the bucket, and I’ll hold the chickens.’
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