"Connecting Communities for COVID19 News" 20th Oct 2020
Isolation Tips
28 Things To Help Cheer Up A Student Who Hates Doing School At Home
1. A comfy memory foam pillow to give their neck and back the reprieve they deserve while they're studying or learning in bed or on the couch. 2. Tiny, adorable, and helpful animal cable bites that can bring a smidge of extra excitement to their workspace and protect the part of their charger cables that gets beat up the most with regular use.
Toddler behaviour hardest hit during Covid-19 lockdowns, survey finds
Charlotte Gurnell’s three-year-old daughter regressed in her potty training and invented an imaginary friend. The tantrums of Olivia Rysenbry’s normally sweet-natured, 3-year-old daughter intensified. Victoria Gray’s 3-year-old son switched to a short attention span and didn’t play as well with his little brother. If you noticed a drastic and negative change in your toddler's behaviour during a Covid-19 lockdown, you’re not alone.
Hygiene Helpers
Covid-19: First UK airport coronavirus testing begins
The test will cost £80 and a result can take a mere 20 minutes. The aim is to help people travelling to destinations where proof of a negative result is required on arrival. A growing number of countries have classified the UK as being "at risk", meaning travellers from the UK face more restrictions. The authorities in Hong Kong now require people to show they have a negative test result, taken within 72 hours of a flight from London. The rapid saliva swab, which is now available at Heathrow Terminals 2 and 5, is known as a Lamp (Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification) test.
What can we learn from nations that got it right? Victoria Allen analyses UK's Covid testing farce
Why has Test and Trace fallen apart in England while other countries have managed to make the system work? The principle is simple – test people with symptoms, trace their contacts and ask them to self-isolate – but the execution has varied dramatically. England has lagged behind countries such as South Korea, which rapidly grasped the importance of testing people and tracking their contacts.
And where Germany invested in local contact tracers, the English system relied on poorly performing call centres.
Community Activities
Surf lifeguards 'expecting huge crowds' at beaches during post-lockdown summer
Ahead of the patrol season starting this long weekend, there are concerns resources will be tested more than ever with many beachgoers eager to hit the water. “The fact that we're not travelling overseas, we are expecting huge crowds on the beaches,” Surf Lifesaving New Zealand’s search and rescue manager Allan Mundy told 1 NEWS. Complicating things further, international lifeguards who often bring experience to patrols on the country’s busiest coastlines won’t be allowed in due to Covid-19 restrictions. However, officials have been working with their international counterparts in Britain, the United States and Australia to learn how they’re keeping beaches under control during the pandemic. “Their public were choosing to swim on beaches that people had never swum on before and that was a real risk because they didn't have any lifeguard cover,” Mundy said.
Serum Institute has begun manufacturing intranasal Covid vaccine: Harsh Vardhan
While there are three vaccine candidates against Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) being tested on humans in India, there is no intranasal vaccine candidate under trial currently, said Union health minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday. However, he also said that Serum Institute of India was manufacturing an intranasal vaccine candidate. The minister also said that Bharat Biotech has also entered in an agreement with Washington University School of Medicine to conduct trials to produce and market an intranasal vaccine
Working Remotely
Work From Home Fallout: Productivity Up, Innovation Down
The now seven-month-long grand work-from-home experiment among knowledge and office workers has shattered many of the pre-conceived notions of managers that it can’t be done in a productive way. However, the ability to foster innovation across solely electronic interactions is still a challenge. That’s the finding of a recent survey of 9,000 managers and employees across Europe, conducted by Boston Consulting Group and KRC Research, commissioned by Microsoft. Executives say their remote teams have been highly productive, with 82% saying they saw productivity levels either hold steady or increase as people shifted to remote work. More than half also see it as a powerful way to retain top talent.
Remote working is emptying Ottawa's downtown, but is it a permanent shift?
For the legions of employees across Ottawa who have been working remotely since March, the home office is beginning to feel like the new normal. While the federal government's official plan anticipates the tens of thousands of public servants currently working from home will eventually return to the office, other major employers in the city, like Shopify, have already announced remote working is a permanent arrangement. Walk through Ottawa's downtown core these days, and the effects of the pandemic are plain to see: a few workers trickle out of LRT stations, but parking garages have plenty of space, sidewalks are uncrowded and "for lease" signs are a street-level reminder of the hit to downtown business.
Increased support for remote working after Covid crisis
The latest National Remote Working Employee Survey has found 94% of workers would like to work remotely some or all of the time when the Covid-19 crisis ends.
The survey carried out by NUI Galway and the Western Development Commission shows that 23% of respondents would even consider relocating because of the possibility of remote working, while 7% have already moved. The first phase of the research published last April found that 83% of respondents favoured working from home.
Working Remotely: Don’t Forget Boundaries
“Mary Ann” is one of those quintessential island songs that you may remember from a past Caribbean holiday. Even if you don’t recognize the title, you’re probably familiar with some variation of the chorus: “All day, all night … Mary Ann; Down by the seaside … sifting sand.” According to my research the song was composed by Rafael de Leon, a World War II-era calypso singer from Trinidad, who performed professionally using the stage name Roaring Lion. The song has been recorded by a slew of performers including, in 1957, “The Hilltoppers” and “Terry Gilkyson and the Easy Riders.” Both of the 1957 recordings were Billboard Top 10 hits, with the Gilkyson-Easy Riders record climbing to #1 in my native Australia.
Virtual Classrooms
Virtual school lets teachers see directly into students' lives. Here's what they're learning
As soon as students logged on for the first day of virtual school, Reading School District teacher Kyle Wilson heard the first chirps. Was it something wrong with his headset? He waited. More beeps. And then more beeps. Finally, he realized: about a quarter of the students in his fifth-grade math and science classes didn’t have functioning smoke detectors in their homes. “I need to do something,” Wilson thought.
Left Behind By Virtual Learning, Students Reconnect At A Therapeutic Middle School
When the school year started virtually in August, 13-year-old Faith Jackson struggled to participate from her home in New Orleans East. “It was so hard because I couldn't get in my classes,” Jackson said. “The teachers weren’t answering none of the calls or email or nothing.” Jackson had a school-provided laptop and hotspot but the internet connection from her home in New Orleans East wasn’t strong enough, she said. She missed class and failed to complete assignments.
After a virtual term, I still prefer a classroom
I enrolled for my first online-based semester in May this year which ended in August, with exams. The assessment was by assignments and online sit-in exams.
Virtual classes are different from real classes where you sit next to your classmates with a lecturer in front of you. In my virtual classes, I listened to the lecturer and interacted with classmates without seeing them since we all preferred to have our cameras off.
'Technology Can Never Substitute In-class Training' Says B-School Directors
Management schools have been adversely impacted because of the COVID-19 pandemic. New technological tools are now taking their place in the daily routine of students; virtual classrooms are a part of it. The question remains what the future of business schools is going to look like. L K Tripathi, Director, Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies, Pune, said, “There is no replacement for face-to-face learning. However, in the present situation, the technology has helped us a lot in all the three fields of design, delivery and evolution of curriculum.” The director was speaking at the recently held virtual Future of Management Education Conclave organized by BW Education. Other notable dignitaries present were Himanshu Rai, Director, IIM Indore; R. Raman, Director, Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM), Pune.
Teachers Offer Virtual Learning Tips for Parents, Students
For many schools throughout Pennsylvania and the rest of the country, virtual education has allowed learning to continue amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But for some students and parents, remote learning adds an extra layer of difficulty. Educators statewide gathered virtually last week to discuss tips for parents and children who are struggling to keep pace in this new world of virtual learning. It begins with positive parent involvement, according to Randy Seely , the state Department of Education's charter school division chief. "Positive parent involvement is the most positive predictor of success," Seely said. As a parent, positive involvement includes open communication with students and educators about educational planning, assignments and how students are doing overall.
Experts Share Tips on How to Combat Distance Learning Fatigue
We're well into October, and many students in San Diego County are still learning from home. This is creating homeschooling fatigue for a lot of parents, but there are a few ways to cope. Online classes and learning can be intimidating, both for students and parents. And there are some obstacles as well, like having reliable internet at home and learning the online platform that teachers are using.
A desk of their own to ease remote learning for kids in need
As remote schooling surged during the pandemic, parents across the country realized that many kids didn’t have desks at home. So they got busy building, collecting and donating them, giving hundreds or thousands of students workspaces to call their own and helping them get through long days of virtual learning. For Mitch Couch in the Central California town of Lemoore, inspiration struck when his 16-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son kept taking over the kitchen table for their remote lessons. He made desks for them, and thought: Why not provide others' children with individual learning areas they could decorate with stickers and paint? The desks he made were kid-size, simple and inexpensive, fashioned from plywood with a hutch for workbooks and papers. But they did the trick.
Public Policies
Covid cases rise by almost 19,000 in the UK as 80 more deaths are announced
A further 18,804 cases of coronavirus cases and 80 deaths have been announced in the UK. It brings the total number of cases in the UK to 741,212 and confirmed deaths to 43,726. Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies show there have now been 58,500 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. The number of cases remains high as the government pushes for more areas of England to be put under Tier 3 lockdown while Wales has announced it is entering a 'circuit break' lockdown. The two-week lockdown in Wales will see many hospitality venues closed, secondary schools will only be open to years seven and eight and, people will be told to stay at home as much as possible.
Analysis: Will Scotland follow Wales into 'firebreaker' lockdown?
Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford briefed Nicola Sturgeon by phone this morning before he went public with a tranche of new restrictions. People have been ordered to stay at home, while pubs, restaurants, hotels and non-essential shops will shut down.
Will Germany's effective Covid strategy work again as it enters a second wave?
I believe that we benefited greatly from three factors in the first wave. The first was sheer luck, which enabled people to act early. With the disturbing and tragic images of outbreaks in northern Italy and in countries that were a few weeks ahead of us, the German population was already very alarmed by the time we registered a first significant increase in cases. The mood meant that the mobility of the population had already severely decreased before we even decided on and announced the initial political measures. Evaluations of mobility using phone data clearly prove this.
Italy, Austria tighten coronavirus restrictions
Italy and Austria have introduced stricter measures to curb the rise in new coronavirus cases. Late Sunday, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced new restrictions on public life, including midnight closing times for bars and restaurants from Monday. Venues could also be forced to close at 9 p.m. in case of large crowds. Conte insisted that "the strategy is not and cannot be the same as in the spring," when Italy had one of Europe's highest death rates from COVID-19 while at the same time paying a high economic price due to the lockdown.
Coronavirus: Italy and Belgium toughen restrictions fearing a 'tsunami' of COVID-19 infections
Italy and Belgium have introduced new socialising rules amid fears there could be a "tsunami" in coronavirus cases. The new restrictions in Belgium came into force as a government minister admitted the country can "no longer control" the current rate of COVID-19 transmission. Bars and restaurants have been closed with only takeaways allowed up until 10pm, while groups of people are limited to four when together in public spaces. Close contact with just one person is allowed outside a household while the same four guests, changeable every two weeks, may visit a home if they follow social distancing rules. There is also a nightly curfew from midnight to 5am.
Ireland Set for Tough Curbs as Europe Seeks to Control Virus
Ireland is poised to introduce some of Europe’s toughest measures to curb the coronavirus as countries across the region battle to overcome the pandemic. The Irish cabinet is due to meet on Monday to finalize the restrictions after health authorities recommended a move to the tightest lockdown tier. While the government may stop short of imposing a total shutdown, it has indicated that all non-essential stores, restaurants and bars could close. “There is a big hit to the economy, and that has to be paid for,” Europe Minister Thomas Byrne said in an interview with broadcaster RTE on Monday. “It is incumbent on the government to consider every single ramification of this.” Countries across Europe are toughening restrictions to fight the pandemic. Still, governments are grappling with the challenge of controlling the outbreak without inflicting lasting damage on their economies, prompting some to take different approaches.
Spain's regions tighten COVID-19 measures as one million case milestone looms
Several Spanish regions toughened their coronavirus restrictions on Monday, seeking to curb a second wave of contagion that looks set to drive the country with Western Europe’s highest case load above one million infections this week. Authorities in the northern region of Castile and Leon announced they would seal off the city of Burgos and nearby Aranda de Duero to all but essential travel from Tuesday night after infection rates in the area surpassed 500 cases per 100,000 people. “We are in circumstances similar to those of March or April,” Burgos Mayor Daniel de la Rosa told state broadcaster TVE, recalling the beginning of the pandemic, when many Spaniards were confined to their homes to stop the spread.
Wales implementing two-week national lockdown to slow virus spread
Wales will impose a two-week national lockdown beginning Friday, officials announced Monday. Restaurants, pubs and nonessential businesses will be closed, and non-household members will be banned from both indoor and outdoor gatherings, according to the BBC. Houses of worship will reportedly only be open for funerals and weddings, and Halloween gatherings will also be barred. Observances will, however, be permitted for Remembrance Sunday, when Britain honors those who fought in the two world wars. Wales has a seven-day average of 130 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people. The country recorded 4,127 total cases between Oct. 9-15.
Global coronavirus cases hit 40 million as second wave gathers pace
The number of coronavirus cases around the world has hit 40 million on Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The grim milestone reached on Monday comes as various parts of Europe and the U.S. struggle to deal with an alarming surge in cases.
UK offers Manchester money to impose tougher lockdown
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government hopes to reach an agreement shortly with local leaders in Manchester to impose a stricter COVID-19 lockdown, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said on Monday. Jenrick said the government had offered Manchester more money. “This does now need to be brought to a conclusion,” he said. The devolved Welsh government is due on Monday to announce a possible ‘fire break’ set of additional measures to control the virus. Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford is due to make a statement
California says it will independently review coronavirus vaccine
A California panel of experts will independently review the safety of new coronavirus vaccines and initial plans for distribution, Governor Gavin Newsom said on Monday. The 11-person panel specializing in topics such as epidemiology, biostatistics, and infectious disease will review any vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration before it is distributed to state residents, Newsom told a news conference. “These are top health experts that will independently review any FDA-approved vaccines,” he said. “We will do our own independently reviewed process with our world-class experts that just happen to live here in the state of California.”
Indonesia's president says COVID vaccine must be halal
Indonesian President Joko Widodo warned his ministers Monday not to rush the launching of a novel coronavirus vaccine amid public concerns about whether it would be certified halal, or permissible under Islamic law. “We should consider public perception regarding the halal status of potential COVID-19 vaccines,” he said during a meeting. Controversy over whether vaccines adhere to Islamic principles has stymied public health responses before in Indonesia, including in 2018, when the Indonesian Ulema Council issued a fatwa or ruling declaring that a measles vaccine was haram, or forbidden under Islam. “Public communication regarding the halal status, price, quality and distribution must be well-prepared,” he added. Widodo said the next critical point is administering the vaccines to the public.
Spain: Cases surge over weekend, Navarra to lock down
As Spain saw its highest-ever weekend surge of new coronavirus infections on Monday, officials in one northern region announced they will enforce Spain’s first region-wide semi-lockdown. As of Thursday, Navarra will limit all non-essential movement in and out of the entire region, close bars and restaurants, and make all other businesses close their doors to customers by 9 p.m. These are the toughest measures taken by a regional government in Spain to curb the pandemic since its first wave. All other restrictions on movement so far have been limited to particular cities, not regions. With nearly 950 contagions per 100,000 people in the last two weeks, Navarra has Spain’s highest rate of contagion – nearly double that of Madrid. Its capital city Pamplona is especially hard-hit.
Canada's Economy Needs Tougher Shutdowns To Reopen: CIBC
If Canadians want to get back to eating in indoor restaurants and drinking in bars ― as others in some places in the world can do today ― the country will need tougher lockdowns in the short term first. That’s the prognosis from CIBC’s chief economist, Avery Shenfeld, in a report issued Friday that explored what lessons the pandemic-stricken parts of Canada can learn from places such as Japan, South Korea and Newfoundland, where authorities have been able to reopen the economy to a large extent without a major new outbreak. In Shenfeld’s analysis, the problem is pandemic-stricken areas are reopening bars, restaurants and similar establishments too soon, allowing caseloads to rise back up again.
Israel takes first steps out of second virus lockdown
Israel started cautiously emerging from a second coronavirus lockdown Sunday after a month of tight restrictions, re-opening preschools, kindergartens, beaches and national parks, with numbers of new infections falling. Public radio said about a million young children would return to kindergartens and other facilities Sunday.
Businesses not involving face-to-face contact with the public were allowed back to work, and a contentious ban on individuals moving more than one kilometre from their homes was lifted.
Maintaining Services
Migrant Workers Restricted to Farms Under One Grower’s Virus Lockdown
This year, there is a new and even more difficult working condition: To keep the coronavirus from spreading and jeopardizing the harvest, Lipman has put its crews on lockdown. With few exceptions, they have been ordered to remain either in the camps, where they are housed, or the fields, where they toil. The restrictions have allowed Lipman’s tomato operations to run smoothly, with a substantially lower caseload than many farms and processing facilities across the country that have wrestled to contain large outbreaks. But they have caused some workers to complain that their worksite has become like a prison.
Over 60% of Covid-19 patients report fatigue and breathlessness 3 months after onset
From a dry cough to a fever, coronavirus is known to be associated with a range of unpleasant symptoms. Now, a new study has warned that several symptoms can persist for months. Researchers the University of Oxford have found that a large proportion of Covid-19 patients still experience breathlessness, fatigue, anxiety and depression up to 3 months after contracting the virus. In the study, the researchers analysed 58 coronavirus patients with moderate to severe Covid-18, as well as 30 uninfected controls from the community. The participants underwent MRI scans of their brain, lungs, heart, liver and key, as well as lung function tests, and assessments of their quality of live, cognitive and mental health.
People who have Covid-19 vaccine could still contract virus, warns doctor
A doctor has warned that people who have the Covid-19 vaccine when it becomes available could still contract the virus. Speaking to Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford on Monday’s This Morning, Dr Sara explained that the vaccine won’t work for everyone – and that we still need to be cautious. ‘In addition to Pfizer, we know that Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer has been reported as saying that he doesn’t think it’s unrealistic that we’ll be able to have the vaccine from the Oxford trial during December time,’ she began.
Italy orders bars to shut from 6pm and 'public spaces' to close after 9pm amid rising covid cases
Italy reported 11,705 cases on Sunday, eclipsing Saturday's highest ever toll
Bars and restaurants have to close at 6pm unless they can offer table service
Festivals, fairs and amateur sport have all been closed but gyms remain open
Lombardy, the former epicentre of the virus, is experiencing another surge
Across Europe, many countries are imposing harsh new measures to curb virus
Prague holding off on lockdown decision until early November
The Czech Republic, which has the highest coronavirus infection rate in Europe, will wait at least two weeks before deciding whether to order a full lockdown to stem its epidemic, deputy prime minister Karel Havlicek said on Sunday. Italy, the first country in Europe to be hit hard by Covid-19, is also experiencing a sharp rise in cases and is preparing new measures to combat the spread of the virus. In the Czech Republic, bars and restaurants in the country of 10.7 million have been ordered in the past week to close except for takeout orders, and schools have moved to distance learning. Sport and fitness clubs, theatres and cinemas had already shut, but shops have remained open.
Bar owners in Holland become the latest to go to court to fight covid laws
Dutch caterers say the closures will cause 'incalculable' damage to their industry
At least 30 businesses have launched a lawsuit to get two-week closure blocked
Berlin bar curfews were blocked while Madrid region has battled Spanish leaders
Covid: How other countries are tackling the second wave differently from the UK
After entire nations were shut down during the first surge of the coronavirus earlier this year, some countries are trying more targeted measures as cases rise again, especially in Europe and the Americas. Here's a look at lockdown restrictions around the world:
Restrictions stay after ship records 24 new COVID-19 infections in WA
An operation to remove crew from a COVID-19 infected livestock ship is due to get underway this morning at Fremantle Port in Western Australia. It comes as a number of passengers who arrived in Perth overnight from Sydney on board a plane have now been put onto buses and taken to hotel quarantine.
The 45 travellers are believed to have come from New Zealand via the newly-opened travel bubble.
'I had 60 texts straight away': hair salons booked out as Melbourne lockdown gets a trim
On Sunday the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, announced a partial reopening of Melbourne as case numbers continue to drop. As the city didn’t quite reach the required benchmark of less than five average daily cases, the majority of hospitality and retail restrictions stayed in place. But hairdressers were the exception and were allowed to open their doors from midnight. “My manager said that after the announcement was made we had 250 bookings within an hour and today we have just been running around like crazy,” Covelli says.
No lockdown needed in Bulgaria to contain new wave of pandemic - IMF
Bulgaria will not need to impose a full lockdown to contain the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic if it follows protective measures like mask-wearing and social distancing, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said. “Bulgaria risks, like every other country, a shock from a second wave,” Bulgarian-born Georgieva told a briefing for Bulgarian media on Sunday by videoconference. “It does not mean a full lockdown when you follow protective measures, like wearing masks, social distancing and testing. This is what we should do now in the face of a second wave.”
More than half of workers worldwide fear they’ll lose their jobs
More than half of workers around the world are worried about losing their jobs, according to a survey measuring labor-market insecurity wreaked by the coronavirus crisis. The poll of 12,430 people for the World Economic Forum showed 54% of them are either “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” that their employment will cease in the next year. Respondents were from 27 countries spread around the world, including almost all of the Group of 20 economies.
Insufficient funds: COVID-19 leaves more US families unbanked
After years of increasing access to banking, many poorer Americans will struggle to keep a foothold in the system due to the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, a United States banking regulator warned Monday. A new report from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) found that in 2019, just 5.4 percent of Americans lacked a chequing or savings account, the lowest level recorded in the decade-old survey.
Healthcare Innovations
Placebo doses to be slashed in one of coronavirus vaccine trials in Russia
On Monday, the clinical trials of the inactivated whole-virion coronavirus vaccine developed by the Chumakov Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immune and Biological Products began in the regional center. According to Ishmukhametov, it is common practice that some participants get a placebo in the trials to determine a vaccine’s efficiency. "The trials include 300 people. Usually, if a new medicine is used, then the [vaccine-placebo ratio] is one to one, or 50% each. However, the moment comes in the pandemic when we need to reduce the number of people getting placebo, therefore, [it will be] one to two," he noted.
France's Ose to enrol up to 400 for 'T-cell' coronavirus vaccine trials
France’s Ose Immunotherapeutics will enrol up to 400 patients for the first two stages of clinical trials of an experimental coronavirus vaccine it hopes will provide an extra weapon in battle against the global pandemic. Chief executive Alexis Peyroles told Reuters Ose hoped to roll out its vaccine in Europe and the United States in 2022, potentially at least a year after the most advanced projects. However, he said the different modus operandi of Ose’s candidate meant it could still play an important role. More than 40 drugmakers and research groups are conducting human trials into vaccines against a virus that has led to more than 1 million deaths and roiled economies.
Study led by Penn professor finds 206000 excess deaths across 21 countries due to COVID-19
An international team of researchers including a Penn professor found that excess deaths occurred at a rate of 18% across 21 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Penn sociology professor Michel Guillot and the team looked at data from 19 European countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand. The team found that 206,000 more people died between mid-February and the end of May in comparison to a baseline simulation as if the pandemic had not occurred, Penn Today reported. The team did not look at the United States because data with enough details has yet to be released. The research accounted for not only deaths due to COVID-19 but also deaths that stemmed from compromised economic, social, and healthcare circumstances during the pandemic, Penn Today reported.
‘Super antigens’ tied to mysterious COVID-19 syndrome in children
Thanks to months of urgent research, what began as a mysterious spectrum of symptoms has coalesced into a definable illness, with early signs that include fever, rashes, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, and vomiting. Though MIS-C is rare—with 1,027 confirmed cases in the U.S. so far—it can develop into severe inflammation in a matter of hours, often requires intensive care, and is sometimes fatal. A recent report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed coronavirus fatalities in people under 21 and found that the majority were from MIS-C. “It happens so rapidly, and the kids are so ill, that 70 percent will require admission into an ICU,” says Alvaro Moreira, a physician scientist at the University of Texas in San Antonio who recently published an analysis of results from multiple scientific papers in EClinicalMedicine based on 662 cases of MIS-C.
Doctors probe whether COVID-19 is causing diabetes
It’s already been well-documented that people with diabetes face much higher risks of severe illness or death if they contract COVID-19. In July, U.S. health officials found that nearly 40% of people who have died with COVID-19 had diabetes. Now, cases like Buelna’s suggest the connection between the diseases runs both ways.
“COVID could be causing diabetes from scratch,” said Dr. Francesco Rubino, a diabetes researcher and chair of metabolic and bariatric surgery at King’s College London. Rubino is leading an international team that is collecting patient cases globally to unravel one of the biggest mysteries of the pandemic. Initially, he said, more than 300 doctors have applied to share cases for review, a number he expects to grow as infections flare up again.
