CDC director clarifies comments about the second wave of coronavirus in the US
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Speaking at the White House on Wednesday, Redfield said that the second wave "could be more difficult, more complicated" and not "worse."
"When I commented yesterday that there was a possibility of the fall/winter -- next fall and winter it could be more difficult, more complicated," Redfield said. "When we had two respiratory illnesses circulating at the same time, influenza and the coronavirus, but I think it's really important to emphasize what I didn't say. I didn't say this was going to be worse. I said it was going to be more more difficult and potentially complicated because we'll have flu and coronavirus circulating at the same time. I want to emphasize we continue to build the nation's public health infrastructure to ensure that we have the capacity to stay in the containment mode."
Social distancing measures to remain until there's a vaccine or treatment, says English medical expert
The UK will have to rely on social distancing measures until there is a vaccine or a treatment for coronavirus, England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said during the daily Downing Street briefing on Wednesday.
“In the long run, the exit from this is going to be one of two things, ideally. One of which is highly effective vaccine, and there are a variety of ways vaccines can be deployed. They can be deployed for dampening down epidemics, they can be deployed to protect vulnerable people. Or, and or, highly effective drugs so that people stop dying of this disease even if they catch it, which can prevent this disease in vulnerable people," Whitty said.
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A large-scale UK study will track the spread of coronavirus and try to gauge immunity levels
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Up to 300,000 people in the UK will take part in a major long-term study to track the spread of coronavirus in the population, and understand the levels of immunity, the British government announced in a statement on Wednesday.
The study will examine how many people are infected in the UK, and how many have developed antibodies to the virus, the statement says.
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“This survey will help to track the current extent of transmission and infection in the UK, while also answering crucial questions about immunity as we continue to build up our understanding of this new virus," UK health minister Matt Hancock said in the statement.
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In total, 25,000 people will take part in the pilot phase of the survey, with plans to extend it to up to around 300,000 over the next 12 months. the government said.
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150,000 tests from South Korea will arrive in Colorado by end of the week
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The state is partnering with Colorado State University to expand testing at skilled nursing facilities, including asymptomatic workers, and work is going on to deploy "hundreds of thousands of antibody tests," Polis said.
"No amount of testing is enough to reopen the state. If that's all you're doing," Polis said, but "testing will absolutely be a part of going back to work."
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Spain extends state of emergency until May 9, prolonging lockdown to 8 weeks
The Spanish parliament voted to approve the extension of the state of emergency for the third time until May 9, prolonging the country’s stay-at-home order to eight weeks in total.
The state of emergency was first decreed on March 14, which ordered severe restrictions on movement and business.
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Most Covid-19 patients lost taste or smell, survey finds
Loss of taste or smell does indeed seem to be a symptom of Covid-19 infection, researchers reported Wednesday.
A survey of more than 200 patients in Italy found that 67% reported an altered sense of taste or smell either right before or right after they tested positive for Covid-19.
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“Other frequent symptoms were fatigue (68.3%), dry or productive cough (60.4%), and fever (55.5%),” the team wrote.
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China reports 10 new coronavirus cases
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Among the new cases, six were imported from abroad and four were locally-transmitted.
No new Covid-19 related fatalities were reported Wednesday, leaving China's death toll unchanged at
4,632.
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Nearly all Covid-19 patients put on ventilators in New York’s largest health system died, study finds
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It found that, overall, about 20% of Covid-19 patients treated at Northwell Health died, and 88% of those placed on ventilators died. A ventilator is a device that forces air into the lungs of patients who cannot breathe on their own because of severe pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome.
Other, smaller reports have indicated that patients who need ventilation are unlikely to survive.
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The team looked at the electronic health records of 5,700 patients with coronavirus disease hospitalized at Northwell Health. Final outcomes were known for 2,634 of them.
The records support what doctors have been saying about the coronavirus: most people who become severely ill have some sort of so-called underlying condition. More than half, or 57%, had high blood pressure, 41% were obese and 34% had diabetes.
“Of the patients who died, those with diabetes were more likely to have received invasive mechanical ventilation or care in the ICU compared with those who did not have diabetes,” the researchers wrote.
They also confirmed that men were more likely to die than women, and no one under the age of 18 died.
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Coronavirus pandemic: Updates from around the world - CNN
