In the past week so many of the things we thought we know about the novel Coronavirus that causes COVID-19 have changed.
Here’s a few of the highlights.
The number of cases of COVID-19 in the US has topped 3,000 as the global infection rate tops 153,000. [1]
The new number of cases of COVID-19 is now doubling approximately every 2 days. This is likely due to several factors, including more tests are being performed and more cases are being counted and the virus is rapidly spreading. To see this trend, follow the number of cases are reported by the CDC and WHO.
There has been widespread implementation of social distancing by large companies, school districts and state governments.
At this time in the US, mass closings of larger gatherings may be one of the most important tools we have to decrease the spread of the novel Coronavirus.
In 53 days of testing in the US, there have been just over 20,000 Coronavirus tests performed. [6] South Korea can test up to 15,000 people daily. [7, 8] South Korea has conducted 4,099 tests per million people compared to 26 per million in the U.S. [8] Because of their testing capacity, South Korea has been able to test and quarantine specific people rather than entire cities. [10]
South Korea started using drive-thru testing centers where you could literally be tested in your car. They can test twice as many people as you could in a traditional indoor clinic and greatly decrease the exposure risk to other patients.
Several areas in the U.S. were early adopters of drive up testing sites, including Washington state, New York, Connecticut, Colorado and Vermont. [10]
While the global mortality rate sits around 3.7%, countries with good access to testing and whose governments have taken swift action to contain the virus have mortality rates of ~0.9% [1, 7,9 ]
With additional testing being available, we’re hoping to see more cases of mild COVID-19 detected and the current US mortality rate drop.
Researchers have found some oral medications that may help in the treatment and potentially prevention of COVID-19. These include chloroquine and hydroxycholorquine. [2, 3] Based upon in-vitro studies of the SARS coronavirus, nitazoxanide may also be an effective drug. Protease inhibitors, particularly the combination of lopinavir and ritonavir, that have shown promise in other coronaviruses (SARS, MERS) are also showing potential to decrease disease severity and duration in COVID-19. [4]
For all the latest on the emerging Coronavirus pandemic, subscribe via RSS to my blog and check back regularly. You can also check my latest videos on Facebook and YouTube.
Keep yourself and your family safe. Download my Coronavirus Cheat Sheet to have instant access to my Top 3 Tips to Prevent Getting the novel Coronavirus and my Top 5 Tips for Boosting Your Immune System so you can stay safe and healthy in the event you are exposed.
Sources:
- World Health Organization. https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/685d0ace521648f8a5beeeee1b9125cd
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTi-g18ftNZUMRAj2SwRPodtscFio7bJ7GdNgbJAGbdfF67WuRJB3ZsidgpidB2eocFHAVjIL-7deJ7/pub?fbclid=IwAR1tk-vo7CXssZP_MGpOcARzBQQyVtCAwlM7nk9RcMu8Q69QMhdR6-PwsPc#ftnt8
- Xueting Yao, Fei Ye, Miao Zhang, Cheng Cui, Baoying Huang, Peihua Niu, Xu Liu, Li Zhao, Erdan Dong, Chunli Song, Siyan Zhan, Roujian Lu, Haiyan Li, Wenjie Tan, Dongyang Liu, In Vitro Antiviral Activity and Projection of Optimized Dosing Design of Hydroxychloroquine for the Treatment of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), Clinical Infectious Diseases, , ciaa237, https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa237
- Rossignol, J-F. Nitazoxanide, a new drug candidate for the treatment of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, Journal of Infection and Public Health, Volume 9, Issue 3, 2016, Pages 227-230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jiph.2016.04.001.
- Yao, T‐T, Qian, J‐D, Zhu, W‐Y, Wang, Y, Wang, G‐Q. A systematic review of lopinavir therapy for SARS coronavirus and MERS coronavirus—A possible reference for coronavirus disease‐19 treatment option. J Med Virol. 2020; 1– 8. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmv.25729
- https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/testing-in-us.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Ftesting-in-us.html
- https://www.propublica.org/article/how-south-korea-scaled-coronavirus-testing-while-the-us-fell-dangerously-behind
- https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/covid-19-testing
- https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51836898
- https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/03/13/815441078/south-koreas-drive-through-testing-for-coronavirus-is-fast-and-free
