CORONA VIRUS Update: Why Was Data Hidden Concerning BLACK AND LATINO Cases?

BLACK AND LATINO PEOPLE FACE BRUNT OF CORONA VIRUS, NEW DATA REVEALS

By Yasemin Saplakoglu - Staff Writer, Jeanna Bryner - Live Science Editor-in-Chief, 

Rachael Rettner - Senior Writer 2 hours ago

The racial disparities in who is taking the brunt of the novel coronavirus has become even more clear after The New York Times sued the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to obtain federal data on the matter. In the most comprehensive look at nearly 1.5 million Americans infected with SARS-CoV-2 (the virus causing COVID-19) through the end of May, the Times found that "Black and Latino people have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus in a widespread manner that spans the country, throughout hundreds of counties in urban, suburban and rural areas, and across all age groups," the Times reported. Black and Latino people in the U.S. have been three times more likely to contract the virus and nearly twice as likely to die from it compared with white people, the Times said. Those numbers came from data on 640,000 infections in nearly 1,000 U.S. counties. However, race and ethnicity information was missing from more than half of the cases; in addition, another important piece of information — how the individual contracted the virus — was also missing. 

Experts contacted by the Times revealed reasons why Black and Latino individuals would be more likely to be exposed to SARS-CoV-2. According to the Times, many of these individuals have frontline jobs that don't allow for work-from-home conveniences; they rely on public transportation; and they often live in tight quarters or in multigenerational homes (meaning a lot of people in a small area where social-distancing would be impossible and where one individual could spread the virus to several others).

"You literally can't isolate with one bathroom," said Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II, head of Michigan's task force on coronavirus racial disparities, the Times reported. 

For instance, a 26-year-old Latino woman spoke to the Times about her experience with the coronavirus. She gave only her first name, Diana, for fear her husband might lose his job, but said that in April her husband contracted the virus at a construction site where they live in Fairfax, Virginia. Diana and her brother, also a construction worker, soon caught the virus as well. The couple and brother have three children between them, meaning six family members lived in a two-bedroom apartment. 

"We have to go out to work," Diana told the Times. "We have to pay our rent. We have to pay our utilities. We just have to keep working."

STUDY: EVEN WITHOUT ANTIBODIES, YOU MAY BE IMMUNE TO CORONAVIRUS

Even if you tested negative for antibodies specific to the novel coronavirus, there's a chance you are still immune to the virus called SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19), according to a study out of Sweden. In the study, the researchers at the Karolinska Institute tested 200 people for both coronavirus antibodies and T-cells — a type of white blood cell produced by the body's immune system to fight off intruders (like SARS-CoV-2). The researchers found that for every person who tested positive for antibodies, two people tested positive for the T-cells that identify and destroy SARS-CoV-2, BBC News reported. These T-cells were found in individuals who had mild or asymptomatic cases of COVID-19. 

Like antibodies, T-cells identify certain pathogens and then hold onto that memory so that when those intruders pop up again the specific T-cells can target the virus and kill it, BBC News reported. The researchers aren't sure why individuals with negative antibody tests were showing such T-cells, but they speculated that perhaps the patients had mounted an antibody response that had since faded to at least the point where the antibodies weren't detectable. 

The researchers also aren't sure what kind of immunity these T-cells might provide to individuals who are not also carrying SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies. It's likely that the individuals are protected from reinfection. However, the researchers noted that further studies are needed to figure out whether the T-cells provide what is called sterilizing immunity — meaning they block the virus completely so that not only is the person protected from getting sick but they also can't transmit the virus.

So what does this all mean? "Our results indicate that roughly twice as many people have developed T-cell immunity compared with those who we can detect antibodies in," study researcher Marcus Buggert, assistant professor at the Center for Infectious Medicine at the Karolinska Institute, said in a statement from the institute. The study was published to the preprint server bioRxiv, meaning it has yet to be peer-reviewed by others in the field. 

COULD SMELL TESTS HELP FLAG EARLY COVID-19 INFECTIONS?

From daycares to some workplaces to airports, many reopened establishments are using temperature checks to help identify those infected with COVID-19 before they spread it to others, However, as reported by Stat News, these checks are like "trying to catch tennis balls in a soccer net: way too many can get through." That's because a good chunk of those with the disease show no symptoms at all. In addition, those with fevers might not have the disease at all. Some scientists are suggesting that adding a smell test to these routine screenings could help to identify "My impression is that anosmia is an earlier symptom of Covid-19 relative to fever, and some infected people can have anosmia and nothing else," said Dr. Andrew Badley, head of a virus lab at the Mayo Clinic. "So it's potentially a more sensitive screen for asymptomatic patients." 

In a study published to the preprint server medrXiv, Badley and colleagues found that people infected with COVID-19 were 27 times more likely than non-infected individuals to have lost their sense of smell, Stat News reported. Even so, these individuals were just 2.6 times more likely than the non-infected to have a fever or chills.

Here's why loss of smell may be an early sign of infection: Cells in the tissue that lines the nasal passages are covered with the receptors that the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) grabs onto in order to enter those cells. In that way, these nasal cells would be some of the first to be exposed to the virus and become infected before the virus enters the body and triggers an immune response that would cause a fever, Stat News reported.


"These support cells either secrete molecules that shut down the olfactory receptor neurons, or stop working and starve the neurons, or somehow fail to support the neurons," said Danielle Reed, associate director of Monell Chemical Senses Center, Stat News reported. Then, these olfactory neurons "either stop working or die."

SECRET SERVICE AGENTS, NASCAR DRIVER AND 89 FRATERNITY STUDENTS TEST POSITIVE

—U.S. Vice President Mike Pence decided to forgo his travel on Tuesday (June 30) to Arizona due to factors related to the coronavirus, according to someone familiar with the situation, The New York Times reported. The decision came after Secret Service agents who were slated to accompany Pence tested positive for COVID-19 or were showing symptoms, according to the Times. Pence was expected to headline a "Faith in America" campaign rally in Tucson, Arizona, followed by a tour of Yuma, the Times said. Instead, he made a shorter visit, participating in a public health briefing at an international airport in Phoenix. To date, the state has logged 91,858 cases and 1,788 related deaths, according to Worldometer. The state is one of the hot spots in the U.S. where cases have surged after early reopenings.

—NASCAR racer Jimmie Johnson reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 and will therefore miss Sunday's Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, The Washington Post reported. He is the first NASCAR racer to test positive. Though he wasn't showing any symptoms, he got a test after his wife showed allergy-like symptoms, according to the Post. The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion won't be able to race again until he is symptom-free, has two negative COVID-19 tests 24 hours apart and he is cleared by a doctor, the Post said.


—At least 89 students at the University of Washington in Seattle have tested positive for COVID-19, NBC News reported. The students are part of the school's fraternities. That number could be higher, as at least 117 students living in 15 of the school's fraternity houses have reported that they have the virus. The school is trying to verify those cases. None of the students have been hospitalized, NBC News reported. "While we were pleased to see most of the houses had previously taken measures to reduce resident capacity by up to 50 percent this summer in response to COVID-19, those measures are not sufficient without vigilant, daily preventive measures, such as wearing face coverings, physical distancing and hand hygiene," said Dr. Geoffrey Gottlieb, chair of the university's Advisory Committee on Communicable Diseases, NBC News reported.

UK TO OPEN PUBS, TEXAS HEALTH SYSTEM BURSTING AT SEAMS WITH SURGE IN COVID-19

—Britain's prime minister Boris Johnson announced that bars (i.e. pubs) will open beginning at 6 a.m. Saturday (July 4), though he urges people not to "overdo it," The New York Times reported. Along with restaurants, hair salons and some other businesses that are also reopening, pubs will have to keep a 21-day record of all customers. In the instance of new cases, the government will be able to trace contacts and hopefully contain the outbreaks. About 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of London, Leicester will remain closed for business due to a regional outbreak of COVID-19, the Times said. The U.K. has the third highest death toll — 44,080 deaths — related to the coronavirus pandemic and the sixth highest case count in the world, with the country logging 285,268 COVID-19 cases to date, according to the Johns Hopkins virus dashboard.

—Nursing home residents will get COVID-19 tests every month in the U.K., the Times reported, while staff will be tested weekly. About 5,126 of the country's nursing homes (or 56%) have reported at least one case of the virus and 20% of residents — and 7% of staff — at those facilities have been infected with the coronavirus, according to a survey by the country's Office for National Statistics. At least 15,500 nursing home residents have died from COVID-19 to date, according to the survey. 


—The state of Texas is dealing with a health care system now bursting at the seams, after cases have surged there. The number of new daily cases is three times higher in Texas than it was in April. Over the past week, the state has been averaging nearly 6,300 cases a day, The Washington Post reported. To date, 183,044 Texans have tested positive for COVID-19 and 2,585 have died as a result, according to Worldometer, which collects data on coronavirus cases. According to the Post, the surge in Texas has led to "overwhelmed testing centers, lines at emergency rooms and crowded intensive care units, where it is difficult to maintain adequate numbers of specialized staff."

FLORIDA RECORDED MORE THAN 10,000 NEW CASES IN A DAY, SHATTERING RECORDS

— Florida recorded more than 10,000 new COVID-19 cases in a day, the highest the state has ever recorded, according to Reuters. In June, Florida reported over 95,000 new infections, a rise of 168%. The state has reported more new daily coronavirus cases than any European country at the height of their outbreak and more than any state besides New York, according to Reuters. New York had recorded 12,847 new infections on April 10, according to Reuters. Florida has closed bars and some beaches but Gov. Ron DeSantis has resisted enacting a statewide mask mandate or another lockdown, according to Reuters.


— Moderna's phase 3 trial of its potential coronavirus vaccine, expected to begin next week, has been delayed, according to STAT News. The company is making changes to the trial protocol, according to investigators, STAT reported. But it's possible that the trial, which will involve 30,000 people, will still begin in July, according to STAT. "Moderna has previously disclosed that the Phase 3 trial of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate mRNA-1273 is expected to begin in July," Moderna wrote in a statement on Twitter. "The trail is still expected to begin in July and we expect to be the first to start a Phase 3 trial. We have worked closely with NIH/OWS to align on the final protocol in order to begin the trial on time." Meanwhile, Pfizer and the German firm BioNTech plan to start a 30,000 patient trial of its coronavirus vaccine later this month, AstraZeneca and Oxford University plan to begin a similar size trial in August and Johnson & Johnson plans to begin such a trial in September. 

MORE THAN 50,000 NEW CORONAVIRUS CASES WERE REPORTED IN A SINGLE DAY IN THE U.S.

— For the first time, more than 50,000 new coronavirus cases were reported in a single day on Wednesday in the U.S., according to NPR. The U.S. has now reported more than 2.6 million cases of COVID-19 and 128,062 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins dashboard. If the outbreak continues at this pace, the U.S. could eventually reach 100,000 cases a day, Dr. Anthony Fauci the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said on Tuesday in a testimony before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, according to NPR and CNBC.

— People in West Hollywood who don't wear masks will be fined $300, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's West Hollywood station announced today, according to NBC Los Angeles. The fine itself is $250 but it includes a fee of $50, which comes out to be $300 for the first offense. "Beginning this month, we will start issuing Administrative Citations for people who are not conforming to the order to wear a face cover/mask in public," LASD West Hollywood said on Twitter. "Our last option was to conduct enforcement by issuing an Administrative Citation, but the risk to the Community health is too great." 


— There are now more than 10.7 million cases of COVID-19 worldwide and more than 516,700 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins dashboard. Brazil has reported more than 1.4 million COVID-19 cases and 60,600 deaths; Russia has reported more than 660,200 COVID-19 cases and 9,600 deaths; India has reported more than 604,600 COVID-19 cases and more than 17,800 deaths; the United Kingdom has reported more than 314,900 COVID-19 cases and more than 43,900 deaths, according to the dashboard.

NYC POSTPONES PLANS TO RESUME INDOOR DINING, UNITED AIRLINES ADDS NEARLY 25,000 FLIGHTS TO ITS AUGUST SCHEDULE, SCIENTISTS IDENTIFY NEW FLU VIRUS IN PIGS IN CHINA
— New York City is postponing plans to resume indoor dining, according to The Washington Post. “Indoor dining in NYC will be postponed until the facts change and it is safe and prudent,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today. Originally, NYC was going to reopen indoor dining on Monday, but officials decided against it amid the surges of coronavirus cases across the U.S., according to the Post. On June 29, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy also announced that indoor dining will no longer resume as planned this week due to spikes in other states. 

— United Airlines will add nearly 25,000 domestic and international flights to its schedule in August, according to USA Today. That’s still 40% of the amount of flights United Airlines scheduled in August last year, according to USA Today. "We’re taking the same data-driven, realistic approach to growing our schedule as we did in drawing it down at the start of the pandemic," Ankit Gupta, United’s vice president of Domestic Network Planning, said in a statement, according to USA Today. "Demand is coming back slowly and we’re building in enough capacity to stay ahead of the number of people traveling."


— Scientists in China identified a new flu virus in pigs that they warned could possibly cause a future flu pandemic, according to a Live Science report. The virus, called G4 EA H1N1, is a genetic mix of the H1N1 "swine flu," which caused a flu pandemic in 2009, and other flu viruses, the scientists reported in a new study published Monday (June 29) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The scientists found evidence that G4 EA H1N1 has infected workers on pig farms in China. But there’s nothing to indicate that the virus spreads between people, according to the report. The authors caution that the virus is not an immediate health threat, but that controlling this virus in pig populations and monitoring for signs of it in humans "should be urgently implemented,” according to the report.

09:14:34 EDT - July 01, 2020
NEW CORONAVIRUS CASES CONTINUE TO SURGE ACROSS THE U.S., BREAKING RECORDS IN SIX STATES.
— There are now more than 2.6 million people who have been infected with the coronavirus in the U.S. and more than 127,400 people who have died, according to the Johns Hopkins dashboard.  There are now 45 states that are reporting seven-day averages that are higher than a week ago, according to The Washington Post. In Texas, Arizona, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Idaho and Alaska, the number of new cases has been the highest it’s ever been, according to the Post. Yesterday, there were 44,474 new COVID-19 cases reported across the U.S., according to The Washington Post.

— A new study conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that more than half of U.S. COVID-19 patients in a recent survey couldn’t identify another person with the disease whom they had close contact with before getting sick, according to a Live Science report. In other words, many Americans with COVID-19 don’t know how they were infected. The survey was conducted as a telephone interview with 350 adults in nine states who tested positive for COVID-19 between March 31 and May 10, according to the report. The findings suggest that many people may be getting infected through community transmission and not from a familiar person in their lives, the CDC said, according to the report. This "underscores the need for isolation of infected persons, contact tracing and testing … and prevention measures, including social distancing and use of cloth face coverings," while community transmission is ongoing, the authors said. 

— The total number of people who died in Scotland from any cause has returned back to normal levels,  according to the BBC. Between June 22 and June 28, a total of 1,006 people died which was slightly lower than the average 1,036 deaths recorded in the same time period for the past five years, The National Records of Scotland said, according to the BBC. Scotland reported 35 COVID-19 related deaths last week, the lowest death rate since the middle of March, according to the BBC. In fact, the country’s coronavirus death rate has fallen for nine weeks in a row. However, 2,417 more people died at home in Scotland during the pandemic than expected based on the average from the past five years, the figures show. In total, Scotland has reported 4,155 deaths known or suspected to be tied to the coronavirus, according to the BBC.


18:07:19 EDT - June 30, 2020

NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY AND CONNECTICUT ADD SIX MORE STATES TO THEIR QUARANTINE LIST

— There are now more than 10.3 million cases of COVID-19 worldwide and more than 508,400 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins dashboard. In the U.S., there are more than 2.6 million cases and more than 127,200 deaths; in Brazil there are more than 1.3 million cases and more than 58,300 deaths; in Russia there are more than 646,900 cases and more than 9,300 deaths; and in India there are more than 566,840 cases and more than 16,800 deaths, according to the dashboard.

— New York, New Jersey and Connecticut now require anyone traveling from Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah to quarantine for 14 days, according to CNBC. That's double the number of states on the original list announced last week, according to CNBC. "Our numbers have come way down, probably as much as any American state, but we paid a huge price," Gov. Phil Murphy said on "TODAY" Tuesday according to CNBC. "We've gone through hell. The last thing we want to do is go through hell again."

— There have been zero new deaths in Massachusetts for the first time in over three months, according to The Boston Herald. The state has had a total of 8,054 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, a drop of about 41 deaths from yesterday's report due to "data cleaning," the Massachusetts Department of Public Health said, according to the Herald. "Due to ongoing data cleaning which identifies and removes duplicate reports, the number of both confirmed and probable deaths has decreased as of today’s report,” the department said in a report. Massachusetts has reported more than 108,800 cases of COVID-19. Currently, there are 733 people hospitalized in the state from the coronavirus, 120 patients in the ICU and 63 intubated, according to the Herald.

14:21:44 EDT - June 30, 2020
NEW CORONAVIRUS CASES IN THE U.S. COULD SURPASS 100,000 A DAY IF THE OUTBREAK CONTINUES AT THIS PACE, FAUCI SAYS

— New coronavirus cases in the U.S. could surpass 100,000 a day if the outbreak continues at this pace, Dr. Anthony Fauci the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said today, according to CNBC. The U.S., which is currently tallying nearly 40,000 new cases a day, is "not in total control" of the pandemic, he said. About 50% of cases are coming from Florida, California, Texas and Arizona, he said. “I can’t make an accurate prediction but it’s going to be very disturbing,” Fauci said in a hearing held by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, according to CNBC. “We are now having 40-plus-thousand new cases a day. I would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around, and so I am very concerned.”

— It's been six months since China first reported a cluster of mysterious pneumonia cases in the city of Wuhan, according to a Live Science report. The virus brought months of chaos, heartbreak and loss, while also sparking an unprecedented global effort to find vaccines and treatment, according to the report. We don't yet have a vaccine, but we've learned a lot about what the coronavirus and how to slow its spread, according to the report. Experts are hopeful that the next six months will bring some new or repurposed treatments to help fight the infection — and might even bring the first doses of a vaccine, according to the report.

— Philadelphia is pausing reopening plans and will no longer allow indoor dining or gyms and fitness centers to open at the end of the week as planned, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. In the past day, 142 new cases were reported in Philadelphia, Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said, according to the Inquirer. This raised concerns about an increase in cases, especially in teens who have been socializing or traveling to the Jersey Shore, according to the Inquirer. Still, indoor shopping malls, casinos, museums and libraries will be allowed to open starting on Friday with requirements to wear masks and with other health precautions put in place, Farley said, according to the Inquirer. There have been a total of 26,133 COVID-19 cases confirmed in Philadelphia and 1,584 deaths from the virus, according to the city's Department of Public Health.


10:10:26 EDT - June 30, 2020

THE EUROPEAN UNION BARS TRAVELERS FROM U.S., RUSSIA AND BRAZIL AS IT REOPENS ITS BORDERS TOMORROW

— The European Union will allow visitors from 15 countries including Australia, Canada and New Zealand, inside its borders starting Wednesday (July 1) but will not allow travelers from the United States, Brazil or Russia, according to The New York Times. It will allow travelers from China if China opens its borders to them, according to the Times. The travelers' country of residence and not their nationality will determine whether or not they will be able to travel to the European Union countries, according to the Times.

— Texas, Arizona, Nevada, South Carolina, Montana, Georgia and California have all had seven-day averages of new hospitalizations from COVID-19 that are up at least 25% from last week, according to data from The Washington Post.


— The Paycheck Protection Program, the government's relief program for small businesses, is ending today after giving $520 billion in loans , according to The New York Times. But the program is closing with about $130 billion left over, according to the Times.