23 May 2020 Coronavirus Charts and News – F.D.A. Bars Nearly 30 Antibody Tests

Written by Steven Hansen

The daily GLOBAL new coronavirus count reached record levels again (worst 2 days ever) – and the U.S. new cases are on track to be higher than last week’s numbers. At the end of this post is a set of interactive graphs and tables for the world and individual states – as well as today’s headlines which include American’s raiding their retirement accounts; thoughts on coronavirus immunity certificates; and the results of a Remdesivir study.

VOX published a coronavirus activity risk chart which is how to think of the risks involved in leaving your house.

Coronavirus News You May Have Missed

Latest on global search for coronavirus vaccine: Three candidates show early promise – USA Today

[editor’s note: Econintersect has covered updates on all three drugs. There should be nothing new here for our readers but is simply a recap of the vaccines that show promise]

Chinese vaccine shows early promise – The vaccine is from CanSino Biologics in Tianjin, China. The trial is in the early stages and it is not yet known if the possible vaccine can generate enough of these neutralizing antibodies to protect people against the virus. The candidate vaccine is scheduled to be tested in Canada soon. The Canadian Center for Vaccinology is working with CanSino and Canada’s National Research Council to coordinate the trial. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement during a press briefing.

Experimental COVID-19 vaccine being developed and tested in England by the University of Oxford’s Jenner Institute and licensed to British drugmaker AstraZeneca – It is expected to be delivered as early as October, though that means only that the doses will be stored until the vaccine completes clinical trials ensuring it is safe and effective in protecting against COVID-19 infection. If it isn’t, they’ll be destroyed. The vaccine is still in very early clinical trials in humans and is being tested for safety, whether it produces antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and whether it protects the immunized from becoming infected with the virus. The first tests began in England on April 23.

Moderna vaccine appears safe – Participants in the Phase 1 clinical trial tests made neutralizing antibodies to the virus. When tested on human cells in the laboratory the antibodies stopped the virus from reproducing. After two doses of the candidate vaccine, participants’ antibody levels were about the same as in people who have recovered from a COVID-19 infection. There is no data yet on whether the candidate vaccine protects against becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2.

The Remdesivir Study Is Finally Out: Drug Only Helped Those On Oxygen, Finds Mortality Too High For Standalone Treatment – ZeroHedge

[editor’s note: many posts by major media outlets spun this study in a more positive light. ZeroHedge seems to have better interpreted the bottom line of the study. The bottom line is that there is a time and place for Remdesivir – it is not a silver bullet for all situations, and I believe that most other drugs under development will also have a specific time and a place for use.]

… According to a pivotal study published in the New England Journal of Medicine late on Friday, Remdesivir, which was authorized to treat Covid-19 in a group of 1063 adults and children (split into two groups, one receiving placebo instead of remdesivir) who need i) supplemental oxygen, ii) a ventilator or iii) extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), only significantly helped those on supplemental oxygen.

Meanwhile, and explaining the 6pm release on a Friday, the study also found no marked benefit from remdesivir for those who were healthier and didn’t need oxygen or those who were sicker, requiring a ventilator or a heart-lung bypass machine.

The NEJM, almost apologetically, stated that “the lack of benefit seen in the other groups might have stemmed from a smaller number of patients in each group.”

Still, as a result of the partial benefit for patients in the supplemental oxygen group, the study from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases was evaluated early and led to the authorization of remdesivir before the full trial was completed.

… Another disappointment: the study found that overall “mortality was numerically lower in the remdesivir group than in the placebo group, but the difference was not significant“, in other words the alleged “miracle drug” has largely the same effect as a placebo in terms of overall disease mortality.

The F.D.A. bars nearly 30 antibody tests, many made overseas, from the U.S. market. – New York Times

The Food and Drug Administration has barred the sale of nearly 30 coronavirus antibody tests because the manufacturers, many of them based overseas, failed to prove that they were accurate.

A number of the manufacturers are based in China, including Bioscience (Chongqing) Diagnostic Technology Company, Hangzhou Clongene Biotech Company and Zhengzhou Fortune Bioscience Company. Other affected companies are LifeAssay, based in South Africa, and Promedical, based in Australia.

The tests are devised to detect whether an individual has antibodies to the virus, which would show whether they had been infected previously. Many people are getting tested on the assumption that the antibodies confer some immunity to the virus, though researchers are not yet certain how long any immunity might last or how strong it might be.

Earlier this year, all of the manufacturers had notified the F.D.A. that they had validated the tests, but in one study scientists found that only three of 14 tests they examined gave consistently reliable results. A federal study also concluded that “a concerning number” of the tests, also known as serology tests, yielded invalid results.

Inflamed brains, toe rashes, strokes: Why COVID-19’s weirdest symptoms are only emerging now – National Geographic

An infection can inflict serious damage inside your body in many different ways, and COVID-19 seems to use just about all of them. The coronavirus primarily attacks the lungs, which can cause pneumonia or even respiratory failure, and in one of every five patients, it also leads to multiple organ failure.

Yet, as the pandemic continues to ravage the world, case reports have emerged of more unusual damage ranging from hundreds of tiny blood clots to strokes in young people, and even mysterious inflammatory responses, such as full-body rashes in children and the red lesions that have come to be known unofficially as COVID toe.

Although these conditions seem strange and scary, they have been seen in viral medicine even before the advent of COVID-19, and, to some degree, they are to be expected. Every human body is unique, so a disease that strikes millions of people will yield some oddities. What exactly is going on in these cases, and how common are they? Here’s what we know—and what the scientific community still needs to find out to treat these unusual cases.

Hertz files for U.S. bankruptcy protection as car rentals evaporate in pandemic – Reuters

The more than a century old car rental firm Hertz Global Holdings Inc filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday after its business was decimated during the coronavirus pandemic and talks with creditors failed to result in much needed relief.

Hertz’s board earlier in the day approved the company seeking Chapter 11 protection in a U.S. bankruptcy court in Delaware, according to court records. Its international operating regions including Europe, Australia and New Zealand were not included in the U.S. proceedings, the company said.

The firm, whose largest shareholder is billionaire investor Carl Icahn with a nearly 39% ownership stake, is reeling from government orders restricting travel and requiring citizens to remain home. A large portion of Hertz’s revenue comes from car rentals at airports, which have all but evaporated as potential customers eschew plane travel.

With nearly $19 billion of debt and roughly 38,000 employees worldwide as of the end of 2019, Hertz is among the largest companies to be undone by the pandemic. The public health crisis has also caused a cascade of bankruptcies or Chapter 11 preparations among companies dependent on consumer demand, including retailers, restaurants and oil and gas firms.

More than 1 in 4 Americans are raiding their retirement accounts after a coronavirus-related job loss – CNBC

The unexpected loss in income is causing many Americans to tap their retirement savings just to make ends meet. And many people who lost a job — or have a spouse or partner whose income has declined — didn’t have much money saved in the first place.

Half of Americans who were recently furloughed or let go have saved less than $500 for retirement in the past year — and 70% have saved less than $1,000, according to a report by fintech firm SimplyWise. Of those who have an individual retirement account, 401(k) plan or retirement savings account, 1 in 5 now plan to tap those funds.

… Many Americans are raiding their retirement accounts to pay for basic necessities, including groceries and household bills, according to another survey by MagnifyMoney. More than a quarter of people who’ve withdrawn retirement funds in the past two months said they did so after a job loss, while only 15% said they’d pulled money out of retirement accounts because they’re worried about stock market losses.

Nearly 1 in 4 who tapped their retirement savings said they wanted to take advantage of new legislation allowing for penalty free withdrawals. Under the $2 trillion coronavirus relief package, there is no early withdrawal penalty on coronavirus-related withdrawals of up to $100,000 from IRAs, 401(k)s and other qualified retirement accounts until the end of the year.

COVID-19 immunity certificates: Everything to know about this controversial solution – C Net

Immunity certificates, sometimes referred to as immunity passports or immunity cards, are a form of identification to help mark people who have been infected with COVID-19, recovered and developed antibodies to the disease. The certificates are given under the impression that developing antibodies means you’ve developed an immunity, but that’s still up for debate.

… After getting tested for antibodies and showing immunity to COVID-19, the certificates could be issued in many different ways. Several proposals have recommended different forms for these certificates, like a physical card, a QR code on a mobile app or a sticker on a passport.

Harvard University’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics released a white paper on how it should be implemented, warning that paper copies could be easily counterfeited, and recommended digital certificates.

… China’s version is not explicitly called an immunity certificate, but functions similar to one. The country has been using a color-coded app to indicate whether a person should be quarantined or allowed in public spaces since March, called the Alipay Health Code, according to The New York Times.

… On CNN’s New Day, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ director, said last month that the US was discussing using immunity certificates to help identify who is vulnerable to the disease.

LEI points to a deep recession with no sign of fast rebound – The Conference Board

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index®(LEI) for the US dropped 4.4 percent in April, following a decline of 7.4 percent in March. The decline marks the end of more than 11 years of economic expansion and clearly indicates the US economy is now in deep recession territory. This downturn differs from previous recessions—the bursting of the tech bubble in 2001 and the Great Recession of 2008-2009. This time, there were few indications of a potential downturn, but once the shock of the pandemic hit, the drop was much sharper. The underlying components of the index show spotty improvements in financial markets in April. However, the widespread damage to labor markets and industrial activity suggests the imminent reopening of some sectors won’t be enough to generate a fast rebound for the economy at large.

Did Japan Just Beat the Virus Without Lockdowns or Mass Testing? – Bloomberg

Japan’s state of emergency is nearing its end with new cases of the coronavirus dwindling to mere dozens. It got there despite largely ignoring the default playbook.

No restrictions were placed on residents’ movements, and businesses from restaurants to hairdressers stayed open. No high-tech apps that tracked people’s movements were deployed. The country doesn’t have a center for disease control. And even as nations were exhorted to “test, test, test,” Japan has tested just 0.2% of its population — one of the lowest rates among developed countries.

Yet the curve has been flattened, with deaths well below 1,000, by far the fewest among the Group of Seven developed nations. In Tokyo, its dense center, cases have dropped to single digits on most days. While the possibility of a more severe second wave of infection is ever-present, Japan has entered and is set to leave its emergency in just weeks, with the status already lifted for most of the country and likely to exit completely as early as Monday.

… One widely shared list assembled 43 possible reasons cited in media reports, ranging from a culture of mask-wearing and a famously low obesity rate to the relatively early decision to close schools. Among the more fanciful suggestions include a claim Japanese speakers emit fewer potentially virus-laden droplets when talking compared to other languages.

The pool is probably safe. It’s the people you need to worry about. – National Geographic

It’s not the water people worry about. To the extent that researchers understand SARS-CoV-2—not completely, that is, as it’s a new variant—chlorine and other disinfectants, at standard pool concentrations, do an excellent job of killing this coronavirus, like its better-studied predecessors, including, notably, the polio virus.

In lakes and oceans, the dilution factor appears to make transmissibility equally unlikely. University of North Carolina epidemiologist David Weber, who has researched animal coronaviruses’ survival in sewage and treated wastewater, said he knows of no work specifically examining what happens to this kind of pathogen in salty water—but that swimming offshore should not in itself pose an infection danger. “I’m worried about sitting on the shore with other people who are sitting on the shore, drinking their Mai Tais and not wearing their masks,” Weber says. “That’s a far, far greater risk.”

Human proximity, in other words. For some adult swimmers the ironies are almost unbearable; part of what we depend upon is the meditative isolation of a mile in the water, the rest of the world briefly unreachable. But there are so many of us to manage on our way in, touching things and exhaling on each other and leaving our potentially infectious aerosols and droplets behind, that people like that California water safety businessman Dan Berzansky still have many rough decisions to make.

Today’s Posts On Econintersect Showing Impact Of The Pandemic With Hyperlinks

Is The Fed Walking Into A Trap?

Why Bear-Market Rallies Are So Tricky

Tracking The $9 Trillion Global Fiscal Support To Fight COVID-19

From Hiring Private Eyes To Accommodating Child Care – Modifying Work From Home Rules

What Do Financial Conditions Tell Us About Risks To GDP Growth?

Three Reasons Why Millennials May Face Devastating Setback From COVID-19

Infographic Of The Day: COVID-19 – Who Are The Most Vulnerable?

Would Stocks Be Lower Without COVID-19?

Covid-19: Three Educational Videos

Global Tourism To Suffer Crushing Blow In 2020

The US-China Trade-Tech War Escalates

What The Phase 1 Trials Of The First COVID-19 Vaccine Really Mean

Coronavirus INTERACTIVE Charts

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