Integrative Therapy based on Yoga, Ayurveda and Modern Western Medicine for Treatment of High-risk Cases of COVID-19: A Telemedicine-Based Case Series -
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+Background: We report a telemedicine-based case-series of thirty high risk COVID-19 positive patients with co-morbidities such as Diabetes Mellitus (DM), Hypertension (HTN), Hypothyroidism, Ulcerative Colitis and Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) or aged 60 and above (or possibly both), treated successfully using an Integrative Therapy plan based on Ayurveda, Yoga and Modern Western Medicine. The symptoms experienced by the patients included fever, body-ache, sore throat/throat pain, cough/running nose, headache, nasal/chest congestion, stomach problems (such as diarrhea, constipation), nausea, loss of taste, loss of smell, foul smell or taste, loss of appetite, weakness, gastric upset, respiratory trouble (such as breathlessness or high respiration rate) and anxiety. Two patients (both aged above 70) were asymptomatic and remained asymptomatic during the entire course of the treatment. Design: The reported cases have been categorized into YAS (patients taking Yoga and Ayurveda based treatment, with possibly western Supplements), YASP (patients taking Yoga and Ayurveda based treatment, with possibly western Supplements and Paracetamol), YAM (patients taking Yoga and Ayurveda based treatment, and Modern western medicine (MWM) as an adjunct), MYA (patients who first tried the Modern western medicines (in most of the cases mandated by the government) and later switched to Yoga and Ayurveda treatment. The last group has been further subdivided into subgroups – patients who developed new symptoms after the commencement of Yoga and Ayurveda-based treatment (MYA-S) and those who did not (MYS-NS). The YAS group had 4 patients, YASP had 6 patients, YAM had 6 and MYA had 14 patients (MYA-S having 7 and MYA-NS having 7). Case-Series Presentation: Ayurveda is a highly personalized system of medicine that considers the Prakruti (the Ayurvedic constitution) as well as Vikruti (the homeostatic imbalances) in treating the patients. Based on the patient’s symptoms and co-morbidities, a personalized treatment plan including Ayurvedic medicines, Yoga protocol, dietary recommendations and lifestyle modifications was prescribed by a registered Ayurveda doctor and a Yoga consultant. More than half of the symptomatic patients started experiencing improvement within 5 days (90% within 9 days) from the start of the treatment. More than 60% of the symptomatic patients reported at least 90% recovery within 10 days (90% within 17 days) from the start of the treatment. Six patients, whose SpO2 level was observed to be at or below 95%, benefited from the practice of Makarasana and Shithilasana. None of the patients progressed to severe stage of illness. Many patients experienced improvement with respect to their comorbidities besides COVID-related symptoms. Some of them, after recovering from COVID, even sought consultation for long-term management of their comorbidities through Ayurveda and Yoga. Some patients got so convinced about the possibility of restoration of health through Yoga, that they adopted this practice into their lifestyle. Conclusions: The Integrative Therapy was found to be very effective in mitigating the symptoms of all the high-risk cases of COVID-19 patients with comorbidities who remained compliant to the treatment. Considering that approximately 32.8% of the patients with the comorbidities such as DM, HTN, COPD, cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, Hepatitis B, malignancy, immunodeficiency progress to severe stage of illness, and assuming under the null hypothesis that a similar percentage of patients are expected to progress to a severe stage for the treatment population, the corresponding p-value (incorporating 23 symptomatic patients with one or more of the above comorbidities) turns out to be 1.07 e-4. Integrative Therapy based on classical texts of Ayurveda and Yoga from the East and emergency treatment of modern western medicine may offer a promising and scalable treatment option for COVID-19 patients. More studies including a suitably designed randomized controlled trial is needed to assess its efficacy.
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Minimizing loss of life in Covid-19 in a 100 day period in the U.S.A. by personalized-dose vaccination and distribution of a limited vaccine supply -
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+Background: We aimed at minimizing loss of lives in the Covid-19 pandemic in the USA by identifying optimal vaccination strategies during a 100-day period with limited vaccine supplies. While lethality is highest in the elderly, transmission and case numbers are highest in the younger. A strategy of first vaccinating the elderly is widely used, thought to protect the vulnerable, elderly best. Despite lower immunogenicity in the elderly, mRNA vaccines retain high efficacy, implying that in the younger, reduced vaccine doses might suffice, thereby increasing vaccination counts with a given vaccine supply. Methods: Using published immunogenicity data of the Moderna mRNA-1273 vaccine, we examined the value of personalized-dose vaccination strategies, using a modeling approach incorporating age-related vaccine immunogenicity, social contact patterns, population structure, Covid-19 case and death rates in the USA in late January 2021. An increase if the number of persons that can be vaccinated and a potential reduction of the individual protective efficacy was accounted for. Results: Age-personalized dosing strategies reduced cases faster, shortening the pandemic, reducing the delay to reaching <1009000 cases/day from 64 to 30 days and avoiding 259000 deaths within 100 days in the USA. In an 9elderly first9 vaccination strategy, mortality is higher even in the elderly. Findings were robust with transmission blocking efficacies of reduced dose vaccination between 30% to 90%, and with a vaccine supply from 1 to 3 million full dose vaccinations per day. Conclusion: Rapid reduction of Covid-19 case and death rate in the USA in 100 days with a limited vaccine supply is best achieved when personalized, age-tailored dosing for highly effective vaccines is used, according to this vaccination strategy model parameterized to U.S. demographics, Covid-19 transmission and vaccine characteristics. Protecting the vulnerable is most effectively achieved by personalized-dose vaccination of all population segments, while an 9elderly first9 approach costs more lives, even in the elderly.
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Endothelium-protective, histone-neutralizing properties of the polyanionic agent defibrotide -
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+Neutrophil-mediated activation and injury of the endothelium play a role in the pathogenesis of diverse disease states ranging from autoimmunity to cancer to COVID-19. Neutralization of cationic proteins (such as neutrophil extracellular trap/NET-derived histones) with polyanionic compounds has been suggested as a potential strategy for protecting the endothelium from such insults. Here, we report that the FDA-approved polyanionic agent defibrotide (a pleotropic mixture of oligonucleotides) directly engages histones and thereby blocks their pathological effects on endothelium. In vitro, defibrotide counteracted endothelial cell activation and cell death, whether triggered by purified NETs, COVID-19 serum containing high levels of NETs, or recombinant histone H4. In vivo, defibrotide stabilized the endothelium and protected against histone-accelerated inferior vena cava thrombosis in mice. Mechanistically, defibrotide demonstrated direct and tight binding to histone H4 as detected by both electrophoretic mobility shift assay and surface plasmon resonance. Taken together, these data provide insights into the potential role of polyanionic compounds in protecting the endothelium from thromboinflammation with potential implications for myriad NET- and histone-accelerated disease states.
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A catalog of associations between rare coding variants and COVID-19 outcomes -
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+Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19), a respiratory illness that can result in hospitalization or death. We investigated associations between rare genetic variants and seven COVID-19 outcomes in 543,213 individuals, including 8,248 with COVID-19. After accounting for multiple testing, we did not identify any clear associations with rare variants either exome-wide or when specifically focusing on (i) 14 interferon pathway genes in which rare deleterious variants have been reported in severe COVID-19 patients; (ii) 167 genes located in COVID-19 GWAS risk loci; or (iii) 32 additional genes of immunologic relevance and/or therapeutic potential. Our analyses indicate there are no significant associations with rare protein-coding variants with detectable effect sizes at our current sample sizes. Analyses will be updated as additional data become available, with results publicly browsable at https://rgc-covid19.regeneron.com.
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Initial evaluation of a mobile SARS-CoV-2 RT-LAMP testing strategy -
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+Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) control in the United States remains hampered, in part, by testing limitations. We evaluated a simple, outdoor, mobile, colorimetric reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay workflow where self-collected saliva is tested for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. From July 16 to November 19, 2020, 4,704 surveillance samples were collected from volunteers and tested for SARS-CoV-2 at 5 sites. A total of 21 samples tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-LAMP; 12 were confirmed positive by subsequent quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) testing, while 8 were negative for SARS-CoV-2 RNA, and 1 could not be confirmed because the donor did not consent to further molecular testing. We estimated the RT-LAMP assay9s false-negative rate from July 16 to September 17, 2020 by pooling residual heat-inactivated saliva that was unambiguously negative by RT-LAMP into groups of 6 or less and testing for SARS-CoV-2 RNA by qRT-PCR. We observed a 98.8% concordance between the RT-LAMP and qRT-PCR assays, with only 5 of 421 RT-LAMP negative pools (2,493 samples) testing positive in the more sensitive qRT-PCR assay. Overall, we demonstrate a rapid testing method that can be implemented outside the traditional laboratory setting by individuals with basic molecular biology skills and can effectively identify asymptomatic individuals who would not typically meet the criteria for symptom-based testing modalities.
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Occupational Portrait of A Pandemic Workforce: Latin Americans in the Health and the Sales & Services Sectors of Canada -
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+Reflecting on present COVID-19 pandemic times in Canada and using both visible and ethnic ancestry information from the 2016 census, the author produced an occupational portrait of the Latin American workforce of the Health and Sales & Services sectors of the country. The focus was on full-time, full-year workers, aged 25-64, who received employment income in 2015. The workforce in the Health and Sales & Services sectors totaled 5.5 thousand and 24.3 thousand individuals respectively. The occupational portrait, which was developed based on the Canadian 2016 NOC occupational classification system, revealed an active participation of Latino workers in activities enhancing sanitary protection and the economic survival of the Canadian population. Women, and established and recent immigrants as well as those reporting Central American ethnic origins were found among those who most participated in the economic activities of the sectors. The most typical jobs performed by Latin American workers were as nursing aides in the Health sector and janitorial (males) and light or specialized cleaners (women) in the Sales & Services sector. The nature of these jobs made them a high health-risk group and vulnerable one in pandemic times as they entail working in close proximity to other colleagues and the general public.
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Increased hazard of mortality in cases compatible with SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern 202012/1 - a matched cohort study -
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+Objectives - To establish whether there is any change in mortality associated with infection of a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 (VOC-202012/1), first detected in UK in December 2020, compared to that associated with infection with circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants. Design - Matched cohort study. Cases are matched by age, gender, ethnicity, index of multiple deprivation, lower tier local authority region, and sample date of positive specimen, and differing only by detectability of the spike protein gene using the TaqPath assay - a proxy measure of VOC-202012/1 infection. Setting - United Kingdom, Pillar 2 COVID-19 testing centres using the taqPath assay. Participants - 54,773 pairs of participants testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 in Pillar 2 between 1st October 2020 and 29th January 2021. Main outcome measures - Death within 28 days of first positive SARS-CoV-2 test. Results - There is a high probability that the risk of mortality is increased by infection with VOC-202012/01 (p <0.001). The mortality hazard ratio associated with infection with VOC-202012/1 compared to infection with previous strains is 1.7 (95% CI 1.3 - 2.2) in patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the community. In this comparatively low risk group, this represents an increase of deaths from 1.8 in 1000 to 3.1 in 1000 detected cases. Conclusions - If this finding is generalisable to other populations, VOC-202012/1 infections have the potential to cause substantial additional mortality over and previously circulating variants. Healthcare capacity planning, national and international control policies are all impacted by this finding, with increased mortality lending weight to the argument that further coordinated and stringent measures are justified to reduce deaths from SARS-CoV-2.
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Escape of SARS-CoV-2 501Y.V2 variants from neutralization by convalescent plasma -
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+SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC) have arisen independently at multiple locations and may reduce efficacy of current vaccines targeted at the spike glycoprotein. We re- cently described the emergence of VOC in South Africa (501Y.V2 or PANGO lineage B.1.351) with mutations in the spike receptor-binding domain (RBD) and N-terminal do- main (NTD). Here, using a live virus neutralization assay (LVNA), we compared neutral- ization of a first wave virus (B.1.1.117) versus the 501Y.V2 variant using plasma collected from adults hospitalized with COVID-19 from two South African infection waves, with the second wave dominated by 501Y.V2 infections. Sequencing demonstrated that infections in first wave plasma donors were with viruses harbouring none of the 501Y.V2-defining RBD or NTD mutations, except for one with E484K. 501Y.V2 virus was effectively neutralized by plasma from second wave infections and first wave virus was effectively neutralized by first wave plasma. In cross-neutralization, 501Y.V2 virus was poorly neutralized by first wave plasma, with an 8.4-fold drop in neutralization relative to first wave virus and a 15.1-fold drop relative to 501Y.V2 neutralization by second wave plasma. In contrast, second wave plasma neutralization of first wave virus was more effective, showing 4.1-fold decline relative to 501Y.V2 virus neutralization and 2.3-fold decline relative to first wave plasma neutralization. While we only tested one plasma elicited by E484K alone, this po- tently neutralized both variants. The observed effective neutralization of first wave virus by 501Y.V2 infection elicited plasma provides preliminary evidence that vaccines based on VOC sequences could retain activity against other circulating SARS-CoV-2 lineages.
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Studying the course of Covid-19 by a recursive delay approach -
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+In an earlier paper we proposed a recursive model for epidemics; in the present paper we generalize this model to include the asymptomatic or unrecorded symptomatic people, which we call dark people (dark sector). We call this the SEPARdmodel. A delay differential equation version of the model is added; it allows a better comparison to other models. We carry this out by a comparison with the classical SIR model and indicate why we believe that the SEPARdmodel may work better for Covid-19 than other apporaches. In the second part of the paper we explain how to deal with the data provided by the JHU, in particular we explain how to derive central model parameters from the data. Other parameters, like the size of the dark sector, are less accessible and have to be estimated more roughly, at best by results of representative serological studies which are accessible, however, only for a few countries. % for a few studies available in Germany and Switzerland, where the dark sector has already a visible impact. We start our country studies with Switzerland where such data are available. % and use it as an example for discussing the role of the dark sector for modelling the course of the epidemic. Then we apply the model to a collection of other countries, three European ones (Germany, France, Sweden), the three most stricken countries from three other continents (USA, Brazil, India). Finally we show that even the aggregated world data can be well represented by our approach. At the end of the paper we discuss the use of the model. Perhaps the most striking application is that it allows a quantitative analysis of the influence of the time until people are sent to quarantine or hospital. This suggests that imposing means to shorten this time is a powerful tool to flatten the curves.
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Modelling the epidemic growth of preprints on COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 -
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+The response of the scientific community to the global health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has produced an unprecedented number of manuscripts in a short period of time, the vast majority of which have been shared in the form of preprints posted on online preprint repositories before peer review. This surge in preprint publications has in itself attracted considerable attention, although mostly in the bibliometrics literature. In the present study we apply a mathematical growth model, known as the generalized Richards model, to describe the time evolution of the cumulative number of COVID-19 related preprints. This mathematical approach allows us to infer several important aspects concerning the underlying growth dynamics, such as its current stage and its possible evolution in the near future. We also analyze the rank-frequency distribution of preprints servers, ordered by the number of COVID-19 preprints they host, and find that it follows a power law in the low rank (high frequency) region, with the high rank (low frequency) tail being better described by a q-exponential function. The Zipf-like law in the high frequency regime indicates the presence of a cumulative advantage effect, whereby servers that already have more preprints receive more submissions.
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VCFCons: a versatile VCF-based consensus sequence generator for small genomes -
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+We had developed VCFCons to address urgent need for a robust consensus sequence generator for SARS-CoV-2 viral surveillance, which presented several unique requirements, including: (a) low coverage areas should be noted with ’N’s, (b) low frequency or suspicious variant calls need to be filtered. We have found that, while some existing tools such as bcftools can generate the desired consensus sequence, it required multiple filtering steps and additional scripting. As such, we decided to create VCFCons as a one-step process that can flexibly handle a variety of VCF inputs. VCFCons can generate consensus sequences based on variant calls in a VCF format with versatile filtering criteria based on coverage and estimated variant frequency. We applied VCFCons to the Labcorp SARS-CoV-2 sequencing data and showed that it generated correct consensus sequences that were successfully submitted to GISAID and NCBI SRA. We hope the community will find value in this tool and aim to continue developing VCFCons to handle more complex viral data in the future.
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Pandemic Fatigue: Measurement, Correlates, and Consequences -
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+With no effective treatment or vaccine widely available, most national COVID-19 response strategies have relied on people’s willingness to comply with health-protective behaviours and behavioural restrictions. Despite generally high levels of public compliance, several countries have reported a recent upsurge in the number of people who no longer sufficiently adhere to restrictions or keep themselves informed about COVID-19. This developing trend has been attributed to Pandemic Fatigue. Using quota-representative survey data from Denmark and Germany (overall n = 12,191), we introduce a psychometrically sound measure of Pandemic Fatigue, show who experiences it, identify related emotions and perceptions, and shed light on the relation between Pandemic Fatigue and four COVID-19-related health-protective behaviours. Further, based on a preregistered online experiment with US participants (n = 1,584), we establish a causal link between Pandemic Fatigue and people’s intention to comply with recommended heath-protective behaviours.
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PROTECTIVE BEHAVIOR AGAINST COVID-19 AMONG VIETNAMESE PEOPLE IN THE SOCIAL DISTANCING CAMPAIGN A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY -
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+In the global fight against the rapid spread of COVID-19, a variety of unprecedented preventive measures have been implemented across the globe, as well as in Vietnam. How Vietnamese people respond to threats to their health and life remains unclear. For this reason, the current study aims to examine Vietnamese people’s protective behavior and its factors. Based on 1,798 online survey respondents’ data collected on the last three days of the nationwide social distancing campaign in mid-April, it is found that gender, knowledge of COVID-19 and preventive measures, and attitudes towards the COVID-19 prevention policies are the three main factors of participants’ protective behaviors. We also find that males are less likely than females to adopt precautionary measures. People who are knowledgeable about COVID-19 may have inappropriate practices towards it. Further research is needed to examine other determinants of protective behaviors to provide more useful information for authorities, public health policy-makers, and healthcare workers to deliver the best practices to control COVID-19 in our country.
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A statewide analysis of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in New York -
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+New York State, in particular the New York City metropolitan area, was the early epicenter of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in the United States. Similar to initial pandemic dynamics in many metropolitan areas, multiple introductions from various locations appear to have contributed to the swell of positive cases. However, representation and analysis of samples from New York regions outside the greater New York City area were lacking, as were SARS-CoV-2 genomes from the earliest cases associated with the Westchester County outbreak, which represents the first outbreak recorded in New York State. The Wadsworth Center, the public health laboratory of New York State, sought to characterize the transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 across the entire state of New York from March to September with the addition of over 600 genomes from under-sampled and previously unsampled New York counties and to more fully understand the breadth of the initial outbreak in Westchester County. Additional sequencing confirmed the dominance of B.1 and descendant lineages (collectively referred to as B.1.X) in New York State. Community structure, phylogenetic, and phylogeographic analyses suggested that the Westchester outbreak was associated with continued transmission of the virus throughout the state, even after travel restrictions and the on-pause measures of March, contributing to a substantial proportion of the B.1.X transmission clusters as of September 30th, 2020.
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+Objectives: Current estimates of the total number of cases of COVID-19 are largely based on previously-determined case fatality rates (CFRs). The background theory in this study is based on two factors: (1) There is no evidence that the CFR is fixed throughout time or place during an epidemic and (2) there is evidence that an increased viral load (density of infection) leads to more fatalities. Study Design: This study was done to look for relationships of the mortality rate (MR) presented as deaths/ million (M) population with both the total number of cases /(M) population (density of infection) and the CFR. We chose 31 countries with testing coverage levels of > 400,0000 tests /M and populations with greater than 1 million inhabitants. Methods: We used ANOVA regression analyses to test the associations. Results: The CRF is not a fixed ratio as it changes with a change in the MR. The COVID-19 deaths/million data were able to be used to calculate the total number of cases through the equation total deaths/M =0.006593 X (total cases1.016959) with a too high significant correlation between total deaths/1M and the total number of cases (P-value 0.0000). A too high positive influence of the COVID-19 MR on the CFR (P-value = 0.0002) was also found by non-linear regression (power model) using the equation CFR = (0.093200) X (total deaths/ M.)0.366580 Conclusions: There is new evidence for using the MR to estimate the CFR and a total number of cases through uniform formulae. This is applicable during this pandemic and possibly for every epidemic. This evidence gives us an idea of the behavior of epidemics.
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Study to Evaluate a Single Dose of STI-2020 (COVI-AMG™) in Hospitalized Adults With COVID-19 - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Biological: COVI-AMG; Drug: Placebo Sponsor: Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. Not yet recruiting
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COVID-19 Antithrombotic Rivaroxaban Evaluation - Condition: COVID-19 Intervention: Drug: Rivaroxaban 10 mg Sponsors: Hospital Alemão Oswaldo Cruz; Bayer; Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein; Hospital do Coracao; Hospital Sirio-Libanes; Hospital Moinhos de Vento; Brazilian Research In Intensive Care Network; Brazilian Clinical Research Institute Recruiting
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The Safety and Efficacy of FB2001 in Healthy Subjects and Patients With COVID-19 Infection - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Drug: FB2001; Drug: FB2001 Placebo Sponsor: Frontier Biotechnologies Inc. Not yet recruiting
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A Safety and Efficacy Study of Human Monoclonal Antibodies, BRII-196 and BRII-198 for the Treatment of Patients With COVID-19 - Condition: COVID-19 Interventions: Drug: BRII-196 and BRII-198; Drug: Placebo Sponsor: Brii Biosciences, Inc. Not yet recruiting
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Effect of Prone Position onV/Q Matching in Non-intubated Patients With COVID-19 - Condition: Covid19 Intervention: Other: prone position Sponsor: Southeast University, China Not yet recruiting
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Safety & Efficacy of Low Dose Aspirin / Ivermectin Combination Therapy for Treatment of Covid-19 Patients - Condition: Covid19 Intervention: Drug: 3-dayIVM 200 mcg/kg/day/14-day 75mgASA/day + standard of care (intervention 1) Sponsors: Makerere University; Ministry of Health, Uganda; Mbarara University of Science and Technology; Joint Clinical Research Center Not yet recruiting
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Protecting Native Families From COVID-19 - Condition: COVID-19 Interventions: Behavioral: Motivational Interviewing; Behavioral: COVID-19 Symptom Monitoring System; Behavioral: Motivational Interviewing and COVID-19 Symptom Monitoring System; Other: Supportive Services Sponsor: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Not yet recruiting
Safety and Efficacy of Thymic Peptides in the Treatment of Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients in Honduras - Condition: COVID-19 Intervention: Biological: Thymic peptides Sponsors: Universidad Católica de Honduras; Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile Recruiting
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Safety, Tolerability, and Immunogenicity of the COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate (VBI-2902a) - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Biological: VBI-2902a; Biological: Placebo Sponsor: VBI Vaccines Inc. Not yet recruiting
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Safety and Immunogenicity Study in Adults of AZD1222 and rAd26-S Administered as Heterologous Prime Boost Regimen for the Prevention of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Biological: AZD1222; Biological: rAd26-S Sponsors: R-Pharm; AstraZeneca Not yet recruiting
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Trial Efficacy of Saisei Pharma Dietary Supplements MAF Capsules, 148 mg and M Capsules, 148 mg in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Dietary Supplement: MAF capsules 148 mg; Dietary Supplement: M capsules 148 mg; Other: Standard of care Sponsor: Saisei Pharma Active, not recruiting
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Impact of Colchicine and Low-dose Naltrexone on COVID-19 - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Drug: Colchicine 0.6 mg; Drug: Naltrexone Sponsors: HealthPartners Institute; Park Nicollet Foundation Enrolling by invitation
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THE EFFECT OF BREATHING EXERCISE AFTER COVID-19 PNEUMONIA: A Randomised Controlled Study - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Other: Breathing exercise with the phone application; Other: Breathing exercise Sponsor: Tokat Gaziosmanpasa University Not yet recruiting
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The RAPID COVID Study - Application of Point-of-Care COVID-19 Testing - Condition: Covid19 Intervention: Diagnostic Test: Spartan COVID-19 Platform Sponsor: Ottawa Heart Institute Research Corporation Not yet recruiting
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From PubMed
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Mechanisms of COVID-19 Entry into the Cell: Potential Therapeutic Approaches Based on Virus Entry Inhibition in COVID-19 Patients with Underlying Diseases - The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) virus spread from Wuhan, China, in 2019 and is spreading rapidly around the world. COVID-19 victims are almost associated with cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other underlying diseases. Concerning the high prevalence of these disorders, widespread mortality threatens global society, and its fatality rate may increase with increasing COVID-19 prevalence in countries with older populations. Therefore, evaluating patients’ clinical…
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A new class of alpha-ketoamide derivatives with potent anticancer and anti-SARS-CoV-2 activities - Inhibitors of the proteasome have been extensively studied for their applications in the treatment of human diseases such as hematologic malignancies, autoimmune disorders, and viral infections. Many of the proteasome inhibitors reported in the literature target the non-primed site of proteasome’s substrate binding pocket. In this study, we designed, synthesized and characterized a series of novel α-keto phenylamide derivatives aimed at both the primed and non-primed sites of the proteasome. In…
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Glucosylceramide synthase inhibitors prevent replication of SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza virus - The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a major threat to global health. Vaccines are ideal solutions to prevent infection, but treatments are also needed for those who have contracted the virus to limit negative outcomes, when vaccines are not applicable. Viruses must cross host cell membranes during their lifecycle, creating a dependency on processes involving membrane dynamics. Thus, in this study we examined whether the…
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Platelet-Activating Immune Complexes Identified in Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients Suspected of Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia - CONCLUSIONS: Our study identifies platelet-activating ICs as a novel mechanism that contributes to critically ill COVID-19.
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MicroRNA Mimics or Inhibitors as Antiviral Therapeutic Approaches Against COVID-19 - Coronaviruses, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, present a significant threat to human health by inflicting a wide variety of health complications and even death. While conventional therapeutics often involve administering small molecules to fight viral infections, small non-coding RNA sequences, known as microRNAs (miRNAs/miR-), may present a novel antiviral strategy. We can take advantage of…
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SARS-CoV-2 nsp12 attenuates type I interferon production by inhibiting IRF3 nuclear translocation - SARS-CoV-2 is the pathogenic agent of COVID-19, which has evolved into a global pandemic. Compared with some other respiratory RNA viruses, SARS-CoV-2 is a poor inducer of type I interferon (IFN). Here, we report that SARS-CoV-2 nsp12, the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), suppresses host antiviral responses. SARS-CoV-2 nsp12 attenuated Sendai virus (SeV)- or poly(I:C)-induced IFN-β promoter activation in a dose-dependent manner. It also inhibited IFN promoter activation triggered by…
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A SARS-CoV-2 cytopathicity dataset generated by high-content screening of a large drug repurposing collection - SARS-CoV-2 is a novel coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, in which acute respiratory infections are associated with high socio-economic burden. We applied high-content screening to a well-defined collection of 5632 compounds including 3488 that have undergone previous clinical investigations across 600 indications. The compounds were screened by microscopy for their ability to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 cytopathicity in the human epithelial colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line, Caco-2. The…
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Cyclic gallium-68 labeled peptides for specific detection of human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 - In this study, we developed ACE2-specific, peptide-derived ^(68)Ga-labeled radiotracers, motivated by the hypotheses that (1) ACE2 is an important determinant of SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility, and (2) that modulation of ACE2 in COVID-19 drives severe organ injury. Methods: A series of NOTA-conjugated peptides derived from the known ACE2 inhibitor DX600 were synthesized, with variable linker identity. Since DX600 bears two cystine residues, both linear and cyclic peptides were studied. An ACE2…
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In vivo structural characterization of the SARS-CoV-2 RNA genome identifies host proteins vulnerable to repurposed drugs - Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the cause of the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Understanding of the RNA virus and its interactions with host proteins could improve therapeutic interventions for COVID-19. By using icSHAPE, we determined the structural landscape of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in infected human cells and from refolded RNAs, as well as the regulatory untranslated regions of SARS-CoV-2 and six other coronaviruses. We validated several…
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Inhibition of anti-viral stress granule formation by coronavirus endoribonuclease nsp15 ensures efficient virus replication - Cytoplasmic stress granules (SGs) are generally triggered by stress-induced translation arrest for storing mRNAs. Recently, it has been shown that SGs exert anti-viral functions due to their involvement in protein synthesis shut off and recruitment of innate immune signaling intermediates. The largest RNA viruses, coronaviruses, impose great threat to public safety and animal health; however, the significance of SGs in coronavirus infection is largely unknown. Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV)…
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Breadth and function of antibody response to acute SARS-CoV-2 infection in humans - Serological and plasmablast responses and plasmablast-derived IgG monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) have been analysed in three COVID-19 patients with different clinical severities. Potent humoral responses were detected within 3 weeks of onset of illness in all patients and the serological titre was elicited soon after or concomitantly with peripheral plasmablast response. An average of 13.7% and 13.0% of plasmablast-derived MAbs were reactive with virus spike glycoprotein or nucleocapsid,…
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Bromelain inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infection via targeting ACE-2, TMPRSS2, and spike protein - No abstract
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Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 replication using calcineurin inhibitors: are concentrations required clinically achievable? - No abstract
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Severe SARS-CoV-2 infection inhibits fibrinolysis leading to changes in viscoelastic properties of blood clot: A descriptive study of fibrinolysis - BACKGROUND: Accumulating evidence indicates towards an association between SARS-CoV-2 infection and procoagulatory state in blood. Thromboelastographic investigations are useful point-of-care devices to assess coagulation and fibrinolysis.
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Plant-Derived Food Grade Substances (PDFGS) Active Against Respiratory Viruses: A Systematic Review of Non-clinical Studies - Human diet comprises several classes of phytochemicals some of which are potentially active against human pathogenic viruses. This study examined available evidence that identifies existing food plants or constituents of edible foods that have been reported to inhibit viral pathogenesis of the human respiratory tract. SCOPUS and PUBMED databases were searched with keywords designed to retrieve articles that investigated the effect of plant-derived food grade substances (PDFGS) on the activities…
Compositions and methods for detecting SARS-CoV-2 spike protein - - link
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一种3-羟基丁酰化修饰蛋白质药物及其制备方法和应用 - 本发明涉及医药技术领域，公开了一种3‑羟基丁酰化修饰蛋白质药物（例如抗体）及其制备方法和应用，特别是一种3‑羟基丁酰化修饰抗体及其制备方法和应用。发明人经过大量实验发现，3‑羟基丁酸及其类似物修饰蛋白质药物（例如抗体）后，可以显著提高蛋白质药物的热稳定性、对蛋白酶水解的抗性，降低蛋白质药物的等电点，并显著延长其在受试者体内的半衰期，进而提高其药效。修饰后所得蛋白质药物在科研和临床方面具有广阔的应用前景和较高的商业价值。 - link
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新冠病毒重组融合蛋白、其制备方法和应用 - 本发明提供一种新冠病毒重组融合蛋白、其制备方法和应用。本发明通过对新冠病毒S和N重组融合蛋白的基因序列进行设计，选择最优的片段进行整合，再通过人源HEK293细胞系统重组表达融合蛋白，经过纯化后对融合蛋白的分子量、纯度进行检测，最后利用融合蛋白制成新冠病毒抗体胶体金检测试纸条/试剂盒。与单独使用S蛋白或N蛋白制备的胶体金检测试纸条相比，该重组融合蛋白制备的胶体金检测试纸条具有更高的灵敏度和更低的漏检率。此外，本发明提供的新冠病毒重组融合蛋白可广泛应用于不同平台技术的新冠抗体检测试剂盒开发，如胶体金、荧光免疫层析、化学发光和酶联免疫等。 - link
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稳定的冠状病毒重组蛋白二聚体及其表达载体 - 本发明公开了稳定的冠状病毒重组蛋白二聚体及其表达载体，冠状病毒重组蛋白，由冠状病毒S蛋白S‑RBD、冠状病毒N蛋白的CTD区N‑CTD和将二者偶联的连接子构成。本发明一些实例的冠状病毒重组蛋白，可以形成并维持稳定的二聚体结构，避免单体S‑RBD降解，有利于提高冠状病毒重组蛋白的免疫原性，有望用于制备检测试剂原料、疫苗、抗体、预防或治疗性药物。本发明一些实例的冠状病毒重组蛋白二聚体，具有很好的免疫原性。在疫苗开发领域具有广阔的应用前景。本发明一些实例的表达载体，易于表达冠状病毒重组蛋白二聚体且表达量高。 - link
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SELF-CLEANING AND GERM-KILLING REVOLVING PUBLIC TOILET FOR COVID 19 - - link
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一种新冠病毒S1蛋白的灌流生产系统及方法 - 本发明涉及细胞生物学技术领域，提供了一种新冠病毒S1蛋白的灌流生产系统及方法，包括：细胞反应器，用于培养表达S1蛋白的细胞株；灌流系统，包括过滤装置、出液管、回液管和第一循环泵，所述过滤装置的主体内设有孔径为0.1‑0.2μm的中空纤维柱，用于过滤透出液，截留细胞培养液中的S1蛋白；所述出液管的两端分别与所述细胞反应器和所述中空纤维柱的下端相连通；所述回液管的两端分别与所述细胞反应器和所述中空纤维柱的上端相连通；所述第一循环泵设置于所述出液管与所述中空纤维柱相连的管路中。本发明系统投入成本低且S1蛋白产量高。 - link
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检测新冠病毒的方法及试剂盒 - 本发明公开了一种检测新冠病毒的方法及试剂盒。其中，该方法包括以下步骤：1）采集样本；2）采用核酸释放剂提取核酸；3）采用LAMP扩增进行检测，其中，核酸释放剂包括：热敏蛋白酶1000U/L~10000U/L、Tris‑HCl 5~50 mmol/L、曲拉通X‑100体积百分比0.05%0.5%和金属离子螯合剂0.10.5mmol/L，其余为无菌水，热敏蛋白酶为≥55℃加热5~10分钟会完全失活的蛋白酶。应用本发明的检测新冠病毒的方法及试剂盒，检测新冠病毒，检测周期短，操作简单方便，检测结果通俗易懂，检测特异性高，检测成本低。 - link
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一种新型冠状病毒拉曼光谱数据中心的构建方法 - 本发明公开了一种新型冠状病毒拉曼光谱数据中心的构建方法，该方法包括以下步骤：S1.构建新冠病毒结构蛋白拉曼光谱数据库；S2.构建新冠病毒核酸拉曼光谱数据库；S3.构建新冠病毒颗粒拉曼光谱数据库；S4.构建新冠病毒临床检测样本拉曼光谱数据库；将各新型冠状病毒拉曼光谱数据库存入新型冠状病毒拉曼光谱检测服务器构成新型冠状病毒拉曼光谱数据中心。本发明有效建立了一套完整的新型冠状病毒拉曼光谱数据库，为新冠病毒拉曼检测技术提供可靠的标准数据支撑，有效提高检测结果的准确性及置信度。 - link
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+ 28 February, 2021
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The Good, the Bad, and the Embarrassing in America’s COVID-19 Response - Were Americans too unruly, or did elected officials expect too little of them? - link
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Why Won’t Amnesty International Call Alexey Navalny a Prisoner of Conscience? - The Russian regime has used both its vast media infrastructure and its judicial system to vilify its opponents. - link
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Inside Xinjiang’s Prison State - Survivors detail the scope of China’s campaign of persecution against ethnic and religious minorities. - link
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The Secret Early History of Queer Foster Families - In the nineteen-seventies, social workers in several states placed queer teen-agers with queer foster parents, in discrete acts of quiet radicalism. - link
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A Deportation Nightmare in the Bronx - Arrested for jaywalking, a DACA recipient spent the pandemic in ICE detention because of what New York City officials admit was an “operational error.” He could be deported as soon as next week. - link
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From Vox
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Kevin McCarthy’s CPAC panel shows how the GOP has devolved into a Trump personality cult -
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+House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy speaks at CPAC on Saturday. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images
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+McCarthy contorts himself to praise Trump, as Trump reportedly considers denouncing him anyway.
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+If you watched House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s Saturday panel discussion at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) after spending four months in a coma, you’d not only think that there was no January 6 insurrection aimed at overthrowing former President Donald Trump’s election loss, but that Trump actually won a second term.
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+McCarthy’s remarks in particular — and CPAC 2021 in general — illustrate how whatever second thoughts the Republican establishment had about Trump following the insurrection have fallen by the wayside. And they were a reminder that although Trump did lose reelection, he remains a popular, and therefore powerful, figure in the Republican Party.
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+McCarthy didn’t make the former president the focus of his remarks, but was quick to praise Trump early during his event, crediting the former president for Republicans picking up seats in the House of Representatives following last November’s election.
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+“President Trump worked on all these races,” McCarthy said, later adding, “Even when President Trump was sick with Covid … he would do these rallies over the phone for each district, and he would have the candidate on and then he would talk, and he would turn out the votes.”
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+McCarthy didn’t talk much about Trump during his CPAC panel discussion, aside from crediting him for Republicans gaining seats in the House last November pic.twitter.com/jzyartRYb4
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+“Listen — we’re gonna continue to do exactly what we did in the last election,” McCarthy said at another point.
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+The rest of CPAC has been similar in tone. In fact, despite President Joe Biden’s decisive popular vote and Electoral College victory over Trump — and Trump’s shameful efforts to overthrow the election during the transition period to a new administration — CPAC 2021 has served as a cultish celebration of the former president. None of the few remaining prominent anti-Trump Republicans were invited to speak, and no criticism of the former president has been brooked.
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+Along these lines, perhaps the most revealing remark during McCarthy’s panel discussion came from Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), who, like many of his Republican colleagues, skipped the vote on the Covid-19 relief bill so he could appear at CPAC.
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+“The most popular Republican figure in Congress today is Kevin McCarthy,” Banks said. “Let me tell you who the least popular Republicans in the party are today — they are those very few Republicans who want to erase Donald Trump and Donald Trump supporters from our party.”
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+Rep. Jim Banks: “The most popular Republican figure in Congress today is Kevin McCarthy. Let me tell you who the least popular Republicans in the party are today – they are those very few Republicans who want to erase Donald Trump and Donald Trump supporters from our party.” pic.twitter.com/LBo7ZUBjVu
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+Banks’s observations about anti-Trump Republicans may be technically true, but what he didn’t mention is that Trump has dragged down the popularity of all GOP officials. A recent Forbes piece by Andrew Solender explains:
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+Republicans have the lowest ratings [of national politicians], with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy down by 20 points, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) down by 30 points and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell suffering a staggering deficit of 44 points, with just 17% favorability and 61% unfavorability.
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+Nonetheless, there’s a political calculus in McCarthy’s decision to stand behind Trump, even after he criticized him in the days following the insurrection.
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+Trump may not be popular in general, but he remains overwhelmingly popular with the GOP base — a recent Politico/Morning Consult poll found 79 percent of Republicans viewed Trump favorably, while McCarthy received just 34 percent support among Republicans. And a recent USA Today/Suffolk University study found 46 percent of Republicans said they would leave the GOP should Trump start his own political party.
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+It is Trump who can decide the fate of the GOP, and of individual lawmakers, and he has made it clear in the past that he values those lawmakers who are loyal to him. But there are also indications that the level of loyalty McCarthy has shown thus far, as fawning as it may be, may not be enough for Trump.
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+Trump is reportedly thinking about denouncing McCarthy during his CPAC speech on Sunday
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+McCarthy initially had some doubts about Trump.
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+During the 2016 presidential campaign, for instance, he was recorded saying he believed Trump was literally on Vladimir Putin’s payroll. But during Trump’s tenure as president, McCarthy — who served as House Majority Leader until Republicans lost the majority in the 2018 midterms, then became House Minority Leader — emerged as one of Trump’s staunchest congressional defenders.
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+McCarthy concocted far-fetched arguments to defend Trump during his first impeachment, including that there is a precedent against impeaching presidents in their first term, and went as far as to patronize and promote Trump’s private business. He echoed Trump’s lies about the FBI investigation into his relationship with Russia being tantamount to “a modern-day coup” and, while sitting next to Donald Trump Jr. at last year’s CPAC, farcically cited Wikipedia edits as evidence that big tech companies are biased against Republicans.
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+OMG – @GOPLeader is still pushing the ridiculous conspiracy theory that Wikipedia edits are evidence of anti-conservative bias among tech companies pic.twitter.com/KuVfpbS9ib
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+Even after Trump lost the election last November, McCarthy went on Fox News and held up his disastrous coronavirus response as an example of “remarkable” governance. He defended a recorded phone call of Trump trying to bully the Georgia secretary of state into throwing out his loss there as evidence that he’s “always been concerned about the integrity of the election.”
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+War is peace. Trump’s call trying to bully the Georgia secretary of state into helping him steal the election reflects that he’s “always been concerned about the integrity of the election,” according to Kevin McCarthy. pic.twitter.com/3FPTefLREx
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+For a brief moment after the deadly January 6 insurrection Trump encouraged, however, McCarthy’s tune changed a bit. While McCarthy joined 146 other Republicans in voting to overthrow the election results, on January 13 he gave a speech on the House floor saying Trump “bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress.”
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+But as it became clear that the Republican base was sticking with Trump, McCarthy quickly fell back in line. Just eight days after he said Trump “bears responsibility” for the insurrection, McCarthy said basically the exact opposite thing during a news conference.
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+“I don’t believe he provoked it,” McCarthy said, referring to the January 6 insurrection.
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+This is a remarkable how it started/how it’s going for Kevin McCarthy on whether Trump is responsible for the Capitol riot pic.twitter.com/z3yvH4dhrp
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+But that remarkable flip-flop apparently wasn’t enough to keep McCarthy in Trump’s good graces. Trump is now reportedly steamed that McCarthy stood by House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) even after Cheney voted for Trump’s second impeachment.
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+The GOP split between the large MAGA faction McCarthy represents and the much smaller anti-Trump faction led by Cheney was illustrated in a scene on Wednesday, when, during a news conference, McCarthy told a reporter that he thinks Trump should be speaking at CPAC. He was immediately contradicted by Cheney, who was standing behind him and said, “I don’t believe [Trump] should be playing a role in the future of the party.”
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+“On that high note, thank you all very much,” McCarthy quipped, before walking away from reporters.
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+In an awkward moment, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) disagree about whether former President Trump should participate in CPAC. pic.twitter.com/J43K3ZH0QD
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+Trump is reportedly bothered that instead of purging Cheney from the party, McCarthy supported her in retaining her leadership position in the House Republican caucus — leading to awkward scenes like the one from Wednesday. Tara Palmeri provided the full context in the Saturday installment of Politico Playbook:
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+Three people close to Trump tell me that he’s stewing anew over KEVIN MCCARTHY. It’s become so frequent that his advisers think the House minority leader may be in for a public reprimand. That’s even after the powwow at Mar-a-Lago where McCarthy tried to patch things up after he denounced Trump for the violence on Jan. 6.
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+The reason for Trump’s displeasure: an emboldened Cheney.
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+Each time Cheney criticizes Trump from her leadership post as the No. 3 House Republican, he’s reminded that it was McCarthy who pleaded with his conference to keep her on as chair — despite her vote to impeach Trump. The latest trigger came Wednesday, when Cheney said at a press conference that Trump should not lead the party going forward while McCarthy awkwardly stood by.
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+McCarthy in particular, and CPAC speakers in general, have sided against Cheney in this dispute. On Friday, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) claimed during his speech that Cheney would be booed if she showed up at CPAC, and he’s not wrong. But that Trump is even considering publicly castigating McCarthy just because he won’t work to purge the handful of House Republicans who voted for Trump’s impeachment reflects the extent to which the party has devolved into a personality cult — one that’s endured even after the leader was defeated.
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+Sign up for The Weeds newsletter. Every Friday, you’ll get an explainer of a big policy story from the week, a look at important research that recently came out, and answers to reader questions — to guide you through the first 100 days of President Joe Biden’s administration.
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CPAC 2021 shows how conservatives have learned nothing about the coronavirus -
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+Sen. Ted Cruz speaks at CPAC on Friday. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images
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+CPAC organizers begged attendees to wear masks — and got booed.
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+One of the most enduring clips from the 2020 Conservative Political Action Conference was Mick Mulvaney dismissing the coronavirus pandemic as a media-driven “attempt to bring down the president.” More than 500,000 deaths and a year later, the first two full days of CPAC 2021 in Orlando, Florida, illustrated how little conservatives have learned.
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+Throughout the day on Friday, speakers characterized the coronavirus — which continues to claim more than 2,000 lives each day in the US — as something that only liberal wimps worry about or, more nefariously, as little more than a pretext Democratic public officials have used to shut down businesses and schools.
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+This type of rhetoric might seem absurd to people who take science and public health seriously, but it doesn’t to CPAC attendees.
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+One of the most memorable scenes from Friday’s festivities came early on, when event officials had to take to the stage and beg people to respect “private property rights” and “the rule of law” by wearing masks while walking around the hotel where the conference is being held. Unhappy attendees responded by booing and yelling “freedom!”
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+CPAC officials have to remind attendees to please, for the love of God, comply with the hotel’s rules and wear a mask. Unhappy people in the audience yell “freedom!” pic.twitter.com/hvoTPLKQ9J
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+People could be excused for experiencing some cognitive dissonance. The speakers who came before and after that incident demonstrated that enduring a year-long pandemic hasn’t motivated conservatives to take basic public health practices more seriously.
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+This was perhaps most evident on Saturday, when South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, gave the headlining speech. Despite the fact that more than 1 in 500 South Dakotans has died from Covid-19 — a mortality rate that places the state among the 10 hardest-hit — Noem took a victory lap and portrayed public health responses to the pandemic as largely unnecessary.
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+“Let me be clear — Covid didn’t crush the economy, government crushed the economy,” she said, before taking a direct shot at trusted public health experts.
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+“Dr. Fauci is wrong a lot,” she added.
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+South Dakota is in the bottom 10 in the country in terms of Covid mortality and yet she’s out here taking a victory lap and attacking Dr. Fauci pic.twitter.com/i2p3om1VfM
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+Noem’s comments encapsulated the tone with which the coronavirus is being talked about at CPAC. Though America’s disastrous response to the pandemic was the responsibility of a Republican president, Noem and other speakers have pointed at the fact that blue states like New York and Massachusetts are among the highest in per capita deaths to discredit public health science and make it seem as though Trump’s bungling was actually a success story. Unfortunately, contrary to what Noem claims, it was not.
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+“This is just dumb”
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+Notably, a trio of Republican senators was among the worst offenders when it came to spreading Covid-19 misinformation on Friday.
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+Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) got the morning going by bragging not only about going to church “during a time of Covid” but also about singing during the service.
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+“I even dared to sing in church, contrary to California doctrine,” he said.
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+But it has nothing to do with “California doctrine,” whatever that is. Singing in church was linked with superspreader events in the early days of the pandemic last spring, so public health experts recommended against it, and some states banned it (until a Supreme Court ruling in November found such bans to be unconstitutional). It’s not safe, unless you’ve already been vaccinated — which Lankford has been, but most Americans still have not.
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+Lankford’s comment set the tone. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) began his speech by cracking a joke about his decision to travel to Mexico for a family vacation last week while millions of his constituents languished without power. He then pretended to not understand why it’s important to wear masks during a pandemic, describing it as “strange” that restaurant-goers are required to wear masks in many states unless they are eating or drinking.
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+“You walk in, you gotta put your mask on — sadly, I’ve got two — you walk in, you gotta put your mask on. You sit down, you can take your mask off. See, apparently, the virus is actually connected to elevation,” Cruz quipped, adding later: “This is just dumb.”
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+Ted Cruz is now owning the libs by pretending he doesn’t understand why it’s important to wear masks during a pandemic pic.twitter.com/ieqsZManao
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+Later, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) mocked Maryland officials for state public health guidelines that ended up prohibiting CPAC from having the conference in its usual location just outside Washington, DC.
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+“Even though cases are plummeting and vaccination rates are surging, we are still banned from getting anywhere near our nation’s capital,” Cotton said, as if the fact that daily new cases and deaths are down from where they were two months ago is a good reason to immediately drop all public health guidelines.
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+Tom Cotton is out here pretending he doesn’t understand how pandemics work pic.twitter.com/YCiUXYpAhT
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+In hindsight, CPAC 2020 was one of the earliest indicators that Republicans would politicize public health responses to the coronavirus pandemic by framing any measure that closed businesses or schools as an impingement on their personal freedoms. That mentality went on to infuse a reelection campaign in which Trump spread disease and misinformation across the country at rallies that made a mockery of basic public health measures.
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+But even after Trump’s defeat, conservatives’ approach to the coronavirus pandemic remains unchanged.
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+It’s still Trump’s party in more ways than one
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+Beyond making a mockery of the coronavirus, another big theme from Friday was speakers pushing the same lies about the 2020 election and the January 6 insurrection.
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+Wayne Dupree, a conspiracy theorist who once claimed the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was a false flag, used a panel discussion to try to blame antifa and Black Lives Matter for an insurrection that was perpetrated by Trump supporters. Later, a panel discussion devoted to “How Judges & Media Refused to Look at the Evidence” of election fraud had to be interrupted on Right Side Broadcasting’s CPAC stream so hosts could distance themselves from the panelists’ claims. (Voting machine companies have filed and threatened billion-dollar lawsuits against individuals and media organizations that have falsely claimed machines were rigged against Trump.)
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+Wow. Right Side Broadcasting cut away from the big lie CPAC panel discussion so hosts could read a disclaimer protecting the network from legal liability. pic.twitter.com/Gd170VZUHC
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+And, of course, the day was infused with lots of culture war grievances about everything from social media companies having the temerity to fact-check Trump to Mr. Potato Head’s genitalia.
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+The big takeaway from all this is that conservatives haven’t even tried to learn lessons or make adjustments following an election cycle in which they lost control of the White House and the Senate.
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+Like it was last year, CPAC 2021 is a cultish celebration of Donald Trump that will be headlined Sunday with a speech by the former president — an embodiment of a movement that stands for little more than owning the libs.
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Poll: A majority of Americans think teachers should be vaccinated before reopening schools -
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+Principal Ben Geballe helps students settle into a classroom as they return to in-person learning on February 25, in New York City. | Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
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+The poll shows Americans have nuanced opinions about when — and how — to reopen schools.
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+Many schools have been closed since the earliest days of the pandemic, resorting to remote learning in an effort to reduce the spread of Covid-19. Now that scientists have a better understanding of how to limit infections in schools — and with vaccine distribution ramping up throughout the country — some parents, students, and educators are calling for the days of closed schools to soon be in the rearview mirror.
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+But a new Pew Research poll has found that a majority of Americans — 59 percent — believe that K-12 schools that have yet to open should remain closed for now, at least until all teachers who want a vaccine get one, compared to just 40 percent who say schools should reopen as quickly as possible.
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+The poll of 10,121 US adults (taken from February 16 to 21) also found that 61 percent of adults believe schools should make the possibility that students may fall behind with online learning central to deciding whether to reopen.
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+That percentage is up 13 percent from a similar July 2020 poll taken at the height of the pandemic. In last year’s poll, respondents were more concerned with preventing the spread of the virus among students (61 percent) and teachers (60 percent). Pew found respondents far less worried about these concerns in its latest poll, with 48 percent concerned with spread among teachers and 45 percent concerned about the spread among students.
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+The results are somewhat contradictory; if students falling behind is a key concern, that would suggest schools ought to be opened as soon as possible, given that current data suggests online learning has slowed students’ progress. However, if vaccinating all teachers who would like to be inoculated is important, then reopening may have to be delayed, given the current availability of vaccines.
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+The issue of when to reopen schools is one that evokes strong emotions on either side of the debate. Parents have been left to care for their own kids while managing learning online at home over the last year, while teachers have understandably been terrified of exposing themselves and their families to a potentially deadly disease.
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+According to an EducationWeek report released Wednesday, at least 227 active teachers have died of Covid-19 in the US since the start of the pandemic. That teaching in person may prove fatal is a legitimate concern that has many teachers’ unions across the country now pushing for delaying school reopenings until their teachers can get the vaccine.
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+The Pew poll suggests that a majority of US adults are sympathetic to that position, even if it may mean putting students further behind academically.
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+The poll revealed differences of opinions along racial lines. Eighty percent of Black respondents said schools should wait until teachers who want it can be vaccinated; 72 percent of Asian respondents agreed, along with 69 percent of Hispanic respondents. However, only a slight majority (51 percent) of white poll takers said reopenings should be contingent on vaccination.
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+The numbers were even starker along partisan lines, with nearly 8 in 10 Democrats (79 percent) agreeing with waiting until teachers can be vaccinated, compared to just 34 percent of Republicans.
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+There’s a federal push to reopen schools — but doing so may still take more time
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+President Joe Biden has pushed for a quick return to full time, in-person learning since taking office late last month, with the CDC releasing new guidelines for reopening schools safely. But those guidelines are also preventing some school districts from being able to reopen.
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+One of the guidelines recommends that areas with high local spread of Covid-19 — a condition currently applicable to large swaths of the US — should only reopen with a fraction of the student population, or remain closed altogether.
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+The lack of action has left many parents frustrated, and students at risk of falling behind and suffering negative mental health outcomes. And even with an ambitious vaccination program, waiting to vaccinate all teachers will take time, as epidemiologist Benjamin Linas noted for Vox:
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+
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+I appreciate that returning to in-person learning carries some risk for educators. There is no immediately foreseeable scenario in which there will be truly no risk of Covid-19 infection in school settings.
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+However, insisting on a zero-risk scenario for school reopening is a commitment to long-term remote learning, which most people agree is not acceptable. We owe it to educators to do everything we can to mitigate risk.
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+Vaccines can help lower this risk even further but do not save the day just yet. It will take time to vaccinate all teachers (who are only currently eligible for shots in just over half of states) and, still longer, students. And even when people are vaccinated, we do not yet know for certain that the vaccine prevents transmission of the virus (which has been a sticking point for educators and their unions because it means that, theoretically, they could pick up the infection without getting sick and transmit it to others, like unvaccinated family members).
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+Balancing the health of teachers and students with the academic progress and mental health of students is no easy task. Reflecting this, public opinion appears to be uniquely nuanced on the issue. The decisions of administrators and teachers’ unions may lead to some frustration in the short term, but perhaps the best news is that the pandemic will, eventually, be over.
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From The Hindu: Sports
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ICC will get written assurance from BCCI by March regarding issuance of visas for our players, says Ehsan Mani - Mani said if India qualifies for the WTC final it would be impossible for the Asia Cup to be held this year as planned due to a clash of dates.
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Para athlete Nishad Kumar tests positive for COVID-19 - The governing body said Nishad “has been moved to SS Sparsh Multi-speciality hospital.”
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ICC Rankings | Rohit reaches career-best eighth rank; Ashwin, Patel also move up - ICC said that player rankings will move to a weekly updating system from March 2021 for both men and women.
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Gold for Rakesh and mixed doubles pair of Harvinder-Pooja in Fazza world ranking tournament - Indian para archer Rakesh Kumar stood on top of the podium in the Compound event while the pair of Harvinder Singh and Pooja grabbed gold in the rec
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Indian shotgun coach, in Cairo for ISSF World Cup, tests positive for COVID-19 - The coach is asymptomatic and in quarantine at the moment.
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From The Hindu: National News
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V.P. Joy takes over as Kerala new Chief Secretary - He replaces Vishwas Mehta
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My dream is to see India and Pakistan become true good friends, says Malala Yousafzai - Malala Yousafzai, who virtually addressed the Jaipur Literature Festival, also called for protection of minorities and the right to protest
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Low-key bidding likely at spectrum auctions on March 1 - Bands valued at ₹3.92 lakh cr at stake; 5G airwaves not on sale
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In Nagaland, an itch for reviving prickly cages for offenders - Made of logs of a tree that irritates the skin, these cages are prescribed by customary laws for shaming law-breakers
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Can AI pay a month’s salary to terminated contractual pilots: HC asks national carrier - The pilots have sought a direction to AI to restore their contractual engagements or pay them salaries along with flying allowances.
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From BBC: Europe
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Covid vaccine: Germany urged to back AstraZeneca jab for over-65s - A senior German immunologist tells the BBC that his country should reverse its decision on the jab.
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Covid-19: Belgium prisoners quarantined after virus outbreak - All inmates at Namur prison have been confined to their cells amid the virus outbreak, officials say.
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LeBron vs Zlatan: Who won the politics bout? - “I will never shut up,” James tells Ibrahimovic in political activism spat.
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Covid-19: Police officers injured at Dublin anti-lockdown protest - Police say 23 people have been arrested after disorder at an anti-lockdown protest.
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Pompeii: Archaeologists unveil ceremonial chariot discovery - The ornate discovery was used during festivities and parades almost 2,000 years ago, experts say.
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From Ars Technica
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Clubhouse’s security and privacy lag behind its explosive growth - The platform has promised to do better after a string of incidents. - link
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FDA authorizes J&J COVID vaccine after unanimous vote [Updated] - An FDA advisory committee voted Friday 22-0 in favor of authorization. - link
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As important as the Beetle? Two days with Volkswagen’s electric ID.4 - It’s a competent but not flashy crossover with a real-world range of 250 miles. - link
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Creator or Creature? A Nightmare Wakes dramatizes the birth of Frankenstein - Ars chats with director Nora Unkel about the origins, themes of her first feature film. - link
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Atlantic currents seem to have started fading last century - Another predicted impact of climate change may be here. - link
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From Jokes Subreddit
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Letters between a father and son -
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+Dear son;
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+Your mother and I love you very much, and we miss you dearly ever since you went to prison. I especially miss you now that spring is here, and it is time to plow the fields. The ground is hard, and my back is old. I am afraid I will never be able to plant the crops in time.
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+
+Your loving father
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+
+—————————————-
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+Dear Dad:
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+Do not dig in the field. That is where I hide that thing. You know I can not say what it is because they read our mail. Just do not dig out there.
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+
+Your son
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+
+—————————————-
+
+
+Dear son:
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+The cops came out and dug up my fields. They said they were looking for something. Thanks, son. It looks like I will get the crops planted.
+
Three English men were in a bar and spotted an Irish man. One of the guys said he was going to bug him. -
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+He walked over to the Irish man and tapped him on the shoulder. “Hey, I hear your St. Patrick was a sissy.” “Oh really, hmm, didn’t know that.”
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+Puzzled, the English man walked back to his buddies. “I told him St. Patrick was a sissy and he didn’t care!” “You just don’t know how to set him off. Watch and learn.”
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+The second English man walked over and tapped the Irish man on the shoulder. “I hear your St. Patrick was a transvestite!” “Oh, wow, I didn’t know that, thank you.”
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+Shocked beyond belief, the English man went back to his buddies. “You are right, he is unshakable!”
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+The third English man said: “No, no, no, I will really bug him, you just watch.”
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+The English man walked over to the Irish man, tapped him on the shoulder and said: “I hear your St. Patrick was an Englishman!” “Yeah, that’s what your buddies were trying to tell me.”
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