{"id":3426,"date":"2020-04-03T01:11:17","date_gmt":"2020-04-03T05:11:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/ellisrp\/?p=3426"},"modified":"2020-07-20T11:30:16","modified_gmt":"2020-07-20T15:30:16","slug":"favorite-articles-on-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/ellisrp\/2020\/04\/favorite-articles-on-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Randy’s favorite articles on COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"

July 20. 2020 Important update on superspreading events.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This article from the Washington Post provides a useful update about how superspreading events account for the vast majority of infection and are driving the pandemic. 3-5 minute read.<\/p>\n

Washington Post Ariana Eunjung Cha <\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span>July 18, 2020 at 1:58 p.m. EDT<\/p>\n

\u2018Superspreading\u2019 events, triggered by people who may not even know they are infected, propel coronavirus pandemic<\/a><\/strong>
\nhttps:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/health\/2020\/07\/18\/coronavirus-superspreading-events-drive-pandemic\/<\/a><\/p>\n

I also enjoyed the very accessible video link on the science of COVID-19 which is linked on the first page of this article. \u00a0(4 minutes.) I could not copy just its link\u2026<\/p>\n

The novel coronavirus is a master of disguise: Here’s how it works<\/strong><\/p>\n

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By<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

All is well in my household. Wishing you the same. Randy<\/p>\n

July 5, 2020 Hopeful news on speedy SARS-COV-2 testing!<\/strong><\/p>\n

The US federal government is doing a terrible job at tracking cases compared to many other countries. But if some of the fast, low cost technologies for individual testing mentioned in this NY Times Opinion piece<\/strong> actually work, it will make it a lot easier for individuals, schools, firms and motivated local governments to do so. The lead author is BU professor of economist. (5 minute read)<\/p>\n

A Cheap, Simple Way to Control the Coronavirus<\/a><\/h5>\n

With easy-to-use tests, everyone can check themselves every day.<\/p>\n

By Laurence J. Kotlikoff (BU)<\/span> and Michael Mina (HSPH), <\/span>July 3, 2020<\/p>\n

June 20, 2020 COVID-19 recovery
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What Does Recovery From COVID-19 Look Like?<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
By\u00a0<\/span> Carrie MacMillan,<\/a> Yale University, June 19, 2020<\/span><\/div>\n
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Yale Medicine physicians describe the recovery\u00a0path they\u2019ve seen for patients experiencing ‘mild to moderate’ forms of the disease.<\/p>\n

RE: I would have liked more details about the recovery of people who have more serious forms of COVID-19. This report from Kaiser Health News provides one such glimpse.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

ICUs become a ‘delirium factory’ for Covid-19 patients<\/a><\/h4>\n
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By Liz Szabo, Kaiser Health News\u00a0 <\/span>Updated 9:19 AM ET, Tue June 2, 2020<\/p>\n

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June 17, 2020 Honor roll of favorite COVID-19 web sites<\/strong><\/p>\n

I often blog about the most recent studies and news reports of interest, but usually it is worth focusing on the best ones. Below is my honor roll of favorite links on COVID-19, all from below.<\/p>\n

Sources we’re following<\/a>. <\/strong><\/b>Updated weekly blog by Vivian Ho and staff at the Baker Institute of Public Policy at Rice University <\/strong><\/p>\n

COVID-19: An illustrated scientific summary<\/b> <\/a>8 minute video by a Yale graduate student gives an excellent overview.<\/p>\n

The Risks – Know Them – Avoid Them<\/a><\/b>, by <\/span>Erin S. Bromage, Ph.D.<\/em><\/p>\n

Tomas Pueyo’s March 19 article in the Medium: Coronavirus: The Hammer and the Dance<\/a>. <\/strong>Dance sequel articles, full of figures are linked here<\/a> (warning: long, meaty reads).<\/p>\n

The best up-to-date statistics on COVID-19 is WorldoMeter.info\/coronavirus<\/a><\/b>.with daily updates and documented sources.<\/p>\n

New York Times <\/a>interactive figures are updated regularly for the countries of the world and individual US states and are still the best to me, using log scales.<\/p>\n

Covidtracking.com <\/a>summarizes\u00a0 raw data on COVID-19 for the US, and now includes a new tracking of cases and deaths by race<\/a>.<\/p>\n

July 17, 2020 Western Europe versus US<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just out from the New York Times.<\/p>\n

\"NYTimes<\/a><\/p>\n

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June 17, 2020 Current trends in cases around the world. <\/strong><\/p>\n

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Below are charts from 6\/16 from WorldoMeter.com\/coronavirus for a set of countries I am tracking. Each figure has a story. You can decide for yourself which ones you like.<\/p>\n

(Yes, I prefer tracking deaths, but there is also a bias to deaths as well, plus deaths lag reported cases by about two weeks (~12 days), and the last two weeks are informative in many countries, including the US and elsewhere. Rates of testing tend to change only slowly.)<\/p>\n

\"us\"<\/a>\"sweden\"<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

\"germany\"<\/a> \"italy\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Note that unlike the above, the Taiwan cases is not in hundreds or thousands. (Population 23 million)<\/p>\n

\"taiwan\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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It is the start of winter in most of Brazil and Chile. Not a good omen for this fall in the North.<\/p>\n

\"brazilr\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"chile\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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June 17, 2020 World War I and II comparisons <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Today\u2019s Boston Globe features the news<\/a> that COVID-19 deaths in the US \u00a0\u2013 currently 119,000 \u00a0\u2013 \u00a0now exceed those in World War I. Of course the US population was much lower then. During World War II there were 407,316 service men who died (0.29 percent of the US population). Think of all those flags for WWII veterans you saw on Memorial Day recently. \u00a0It will take real determination and action to keep US deaths from COVID-19 \u2013 currently about 800 per day, or 24,000 per month \u2013 below the tragic WWII levels.<\/p>\n

June 17, 2020 Be selfish and wear a mask!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yesterday I ate dinner outside on the main thoroughfare (Moody Street) in Waltham which has been converted into a massive pedestrian way to allow people to eat outside while more than 3 meters apart. I was sad to see dozens of people on the streets not properly wearing masks. I thought of a good selfish reason why everyone should want to do so. Just as high altitude dwellers develop stronger and larger lungs in order to get enough oxygen, securely wearing a high quality mask that cuts off the air flow a bit and results in slightly less oxygen reaching your lungs enables low altitude people to develop stronger and larger lung capacity. The extra effort it takes to breath is no different from lifting more weights or running a bit faster, and builds up your lungs at a time when you may really need them to fend of COVID-19 respiratory failure. I don\u2019t hear weightlifters or joggers complaining about their difficulties: they want the challenge. Wear a high quality mask for your own future health!<\/p>\n

June 11, 2020 Words from Michael Osterholm, epidemiologist
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I am sharing this informative interview with a very knowledgeable person, even though I disagree with his assessment on several important points.<\/p>\n

I have added my comments at the bottom of this summary from the article, while striking out three statements asserted there.<\/p>\n

COVID-19: Straight Answers from Top Epidemiologist Who Predicted the Pandemic<\/h3>\n

https:\/\/www.bluezones.com\/2020\/06\/covid-19-straight-answers-from-top-epidemiologist-who-predicted-the-pandemic\/<\/a><\/p>\n

By Dan Buettner<\/a>, Blue Zones Founder [Interview conducted on May 29, 2020. Published on June 6, 2020]<\/em><\/p>\n

Below is the summary from within that article.<\/p>\n

In short, Dr. Osterholm is arguably one of the most dependable, non-political sources for straight answers on what COVID-19 means to us and our world in the immediate future. In his 2017 book, Deadliest Enemy<\/em>,<\/a> he correctly foretells a global pandemic and offers the best strategy for fighting it now and avoiding it in the future.<\/p>\n

Here are the highlights of our conversation. But if you really want to understand this disease, read the whole interview.\u00a0 This disease may be the biggest event of our lifetimes.<\/p>\n