People sit in circles to observe social distance in Domino Park amid the coronavirus pandemic on May 21, 2020 in New York City. New research says preventative measures such as social distancing and wearing face masks should not be relaxed as temperatures warm up. Alexi Rosenfeld / Getty Images
Researchers have found that warm temperatures in the U.S. this summer are unlikely to stop the coronavirus that causes the infectious disease COVID-19, according to a new study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Disease.
<p>The findings of the scientists refute <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/08/health/coronavirus-stays-warmer-weather/index.html" target="_blank">President Trump's claim</a> in March that "when it gets a little warmer [the virus] miraculously goes away." It also refutes his insistence in April, when he cited <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-says-coronavirus-could-be-thwarted-by-summer-heat-citing-dhs-study-2020-04-23" target="_blank">Department of Homeland Security data</a>, that summer heat will kill the virus, which led him to wonder about shining a UV light inside the body or injecting disinfectant into the bloodstream, both of which are extremely dangerous.</p>
<p>While the flu is seasonal, researchers who have tested the coronavirus in the lab found that the coronavirus is sensitive to heat and light, but those are at extremes. Summer temperatures may account for a slight decline in cases, but nothing that will allow us to return to normal or kill the virus, as <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/coronavirus-spread-warm-summer-weather-america-study-1507994" target="_blank">Newsweek</a> reported.</p><p>"There is an association between temperature and rate of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 virus which may result in modest decline in the community transmission of SARS-CoV-2 with warmer weather," the researchers wrote in their conclusion, according to <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/coronavirus-spread-warm-summer-weather-america-study-1507994" target="_blank">Newsweek</a>. "This effect is modest, however, and is unlikely to slow down disease spread if containment measures are relaxed."</p>
<p>Higher humidity and warmer temperatures seem to make the virus less stable. In warmer temperatures, the small virus-bearing droplets sent into the air by a cough or sneeze are more likely to attract water vapor, become heavier and drop out of the air before infecting someone. The opposite happens during colder, drier conditions when the droplets are lighter and stay airborne for longer, as <a href="https://www.pix11.com/news/coronavirus/harvard-study-says-warm-weather-probably-wont-slow-covid-19-transmission" target="_blank">WPIX</a> in New York reported.</p>
<p>Co-author Dr. Shiv T. Sehra, assistant professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, said in a statement, according to <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/coronavirus-spread-warm-summer-weather-america-study-1507994" target="_blank">Newsweek</a>: "While the rate of virus transmission may slow down as the maximum daily temperature rises to around 50 degrees [Farenheit], the effects of temperature rise beyond that don't seem to be significant.</p><p>"Based on our analysis, the modest association suggests that it is unlikely that disease transmission will slow dramatically in the summer months from the increase in temperature alone."</p><p>The team, led by Harvard researchers, says the findings are evidence we should not forego preventative measures such as social distancing and wearing face masks just because the temperature has warmed up, as the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-8380465/Warmer-weather-NOT-stop-spread-virus-without-social-distancing.html" target="_blank">Daily Mail</a> reported.</p>
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Protesters gather to protest the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota by police, on May 27, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
The glaring numbers that show how disproportionately racial minorities have been affected by the coronavirus and by police brutality go hand-in-hand. The two are byproducts of systemic racism that has kept people of color marginalized and contributed to a public health crisis, according to three prominent medical organizations — the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association and American College of Physicians, as CNN reported.
<p>"Racism is a public health issue," the American Academy of Pediatrics wrote on Twitter. "The AAP condemns violence, especially when perpetrated by authorities, and calls for a deep examination of how to improve the role of policing. Systemic violence requires systemic response."</p><p>The tweet linked to the <a href="https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/144/2/e20191765" target="_blank">organization's 2019 statement</a> on the impact of racism on child and adolescent health.</p>
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<p>"The same broad-sweeping structural racism that enables police brutality against black Americans is also responsible for higher mortality among black Americans with COVID-19," said Maimuna Majumder, a Harvard epidemiologist working on the COVID-19 response, to <a href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2020/6/1/21276828/pandemic-protests-police-public-health-black-lives-matter" target="_blank">Vox</a>.</p><p>"One in every 1,000 black men and boys can expect to be killed by police in this country," she said "To me, this clearly illustrates why police brutality is a public health problem; anything that causes mortality at such a scale is a public health problem."</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.apha.org/news-and-media/news-releases/apha-news-releases/2020/racism-is-a-public-health-crisis" target="_blank">statement</a>, the American Public Health Association (APHA) also drew attention to the health challenges that systemic and institutional racism cause. "Racism attacks people's physical and mental health. And racism is an ongoing public health crisis that needs our attention now," said the APHA. The group went on to say discrimination can be seen in all aspects of life, including housing, education, the criminal justice system, and employment and it has been amplified during this pandemic as communities of color face inequities "in everything, from a greater burden of COVID-19 cases to less access to testing, treatment, and care."</p>
<p>Last week, the American Medical Association's (AMA) president and board chair teamed up to issue a joint <a href="https://www.ama-assn.org/about/leadership/police-brutality-must-stop" target="_blank">statement</a> that "police brutality must stop," as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/01/health/racism-public-health-issue-police-brutality-wellness-bn/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>"AMA policy recognizes that physical or verbal violence between law enforcement officers and the public, particularly among Black and Brown communities where these incidents are more prevalent and pervasive, is a critical determinant of health and supports research into the public health consequences of these violent interactions," the <a href="https://www.ama-assn.org/about/leadership/police-brutality-must-stop" target="_blank">statement</a> said.</p><p>"Recognizing that many who serve in law enforcement are committed to justice, the violence inflicted by police in news headlines today must be understood in relation to larger social and economic arrangements that put individuals and populations in harm's way leading to premature illness and death," they wrote, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/01/health/racism-public-health-issue-police-brutality-wellness-bn/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported. "Police violence is a striking reflection of our American legacy of racism — a system that assigns value and structures opportunity while unfairly advantaging some and disadvantaging others based on their skin color."</p>
<p>The statement also cited studies that people of color can suffer mental health consequences and feelings of trauma just by knowing that unarmed black men were victims of police brutality. "Racism as a driver of health inequity is also particularly evident in <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31130-9/fulltext" target="_blank">findings from a 2018 study showing that law enforcement-involved deaths</a> of unarmed black individuals were associated with adverse mental health among Black American adults — a spillover effect on the population, regardless of whether the individual affected had a personal relationship with the victim or the incident was experienced vicariously," the AMA <a href="https://www.ama-assn.org/about/leadership/police-brutality-must-stop" target="_blank">statement</a> said.</p><p>"The trauma of violence in a person's life course is associated with chronic stress, higher rates of comorbidities and lower life expectancy, all of which bear extensive care and economic burden on our healthcare system while sapping the strength of affected families and communities," the <a href="https://www.ama-assn.org/about/leadership/police-brutality-must-stop" target="_blank">statement</a> continued, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/01/health/racism-public-health-issue-police-brutality-wellness-bn/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p>
<p>In a similar vein, the American College of Physicians (ACP) released a <a href="https://www.acponline.org/acp-newsroom/internists-gravely-concerned-about-discrimination-and-violence-by-public-authorities-and-others" target="_blank">statement</a> on Friday that its members are terribly concerned about "discriminatory enforcement and violence."<br></p><p>"ACP has long held that hate crimes, prejudice, discrimination, harassment and violence against any person based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, or country of origin is a public health issue," wrote Dr. Heather Gantzer, chair of the board of regents for the American College of Physicians, in the <a href="https://www.acponline.org/acp-newsroom/internists-gravely-concerned-about-discrimination-and-violence-by-public-authorities-and-others" target="_blank">statement</a>, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/01/health/racism-public-health-issue-police-brutality-wellness-bn/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported. "The issue of how to ensure that policing does not result in discriminatory enforcement and violence is a multifaceted and complex one."</p>
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Coronavirus patients wait to be evacuated on Tuesday ahead of Cyclone Nisarga in Mumbai. Ashish Vaishnav / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images
At least 100,000 people were evacuated along India's west coast as the country's financial capital of Mumbai awaits its first cyclone in more than 70 years.
<p>Cyclone Nisarga comes as Mumbai struggles to contain the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> pandemic. The city is the worst hit in India, with more than 40,000 confirmed cases and almost 1,400 deaths, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-52900967" target="_blank">BBC News reported</a>.</p><p>"Everything we didn't want to happen right now is happening," one city official said on TV, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/03/cyclone-nisarga-india-evacuates-100000-as-mumbai-braces-for-historic-storm" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>.</p>
<p>The storm made landfall around 1 p.m. local time with wind speeds of up to 68 miles per hour, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said, as <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/03/asia/cyclone-nisarga-mumbai-india-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>. Before making landfall, it strengthened over the Arabian Sea into to a Severe Cyclonic Storm in the West Pacific, the equivalent of slightly less than a Category 1 Atlantic <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricanes" target="_self">hurricane</a>. The biggest threat from the storm is likely to be <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a>. It is projected to rain heavily and could produce a storm surge of up to 3.3 to 6.6 feet that could swamp parts of Mumbai, Thane and Raigad districts.</p><p>The storm made landfall in Alibag town, south of Mumbai. Alibag is "Mumbai's answer to Martha's Vineyard," a beach-side town where many of Mumbai's wealthy have vacation homes, The Guardian pointed out.</p><p>The storm is the first cyclone to hit Mumbai since 1948, when a storm killed 12 and injured more than 100.</p>
<p>However, scientists say the historically calm Arabian Sea is spawning more cyclones because of changes wrought by the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>, <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/news-analysis/story/as-cyclone-nisarga-eyes-mumbai-blame-is-on-climate-change-1684690-2020-06-02" target="_blank">India Today reported</a>.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/" target="_blank">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a> (IPCC) found that the Arabian Sea's surface temperature was rising. Tropical cyclones tend to form over waters 30 to 33 degrees Celsius, and that was around the surface temperature of the Arabian Sea when Nisarga consolidated.</p><p>IMD also noted that the sea spawned more storms than normal in 2019.</p><p>"During 2019, 8 cyclonic storms formed over the Indian seas. Arabian Sea contributed 5 out of these 8 cyclones against the normal of 1 per year, which equals the previous record of 1902 for the highest frequency of cyclones over the Arabian Sea. This year also witnessed development of more intense cyclones over the Arabian Sea," IMD <a href="https://mausam.imd.gov.in/backend/assets/press_release_pdf/Statement_on_Climate_of_India_during_2019.pdf" target="_blank">wrote</a>.</p>
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<p>These changes are now likely to have real consequences for Mumbai and the surrounding region. BBC correspondent Janhavee Moole said it had been raining in the city since Tuesday.</p><p>"I can see the trees shaking violently," Moole said. "All beaches in the city are closed to the public and a police patrol van is making announcements, asking people to stay indoors. All safety precautions possible are being taken, but I do feel worried because the city is also in the grip of a pandemic."</p>
<p>Coronavirus patients were among those evacuated ahead of the storm. Around 150 were moved from a newly-built field hospital to a place with a concrete roof that could better withstand high wind speeds, The Guardian reported.</p><p>In addition to Mumbai, the storm also threatens people living in shacks or shanties near the coast of the state of Maharashtra, where Mumbai is located. More than 21,000 villagers were evacuated in the state's Palghar district.</p><p>The entire state is also the hardest hit in India by the coronavirus pandemic, CNN reported, with more than 72,300 cases and more than 2,400 deaths.</p><p>The storm also threatens the state of Gujarat, the Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. In Gujarat, more than 50,000 people living along the coast have been evacuated.</p><p>"In wake of the coronavirus outbreak all standard operating procedures are being followed at the temporary shelters which have been sanitised and instructions have been issued on following safe distancing," Arpit Sagar, an official in Valsad, Gujarat said, according to The Guardian.</p>Cyclone Nisarga strikes about two weeks after <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/cyclone-amphan-india-bangladesh-2646063894.html" target="_self">Cyclone Amphan</a> walloped part of India's east coast, as well as neighboring Bangladesh, killing more than 100, BBC News reported. Cyclone Amphan also intensified over warm ocean surface waters.
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Several drugmakers and research institutions are working on vaccines, antivirals and other treatments to help people infected with COVID-19. krisanapong detraphiphat / Moment / Getty Images
Researchers at the pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly announced yesterday that it will start a trial on a new drug designed specifically for COVID-19, a milestone in the race to stop the infectious disease, according to STAT News.
<p>The early-stage trial is the world's first for an antibody treatment that specifically targets the novel coronavirus. Eli Lilly is one of the several drugmakers and research institutions working on <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/vaccines" target="_self">vaccines</a>, antivirals and other treatments to help people infected with the virus that has already killed over 370,000 worldwide, as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-lilly-treatments/eli-lilly-starts-human-study-of-potential-covid-19-treatment-idUSKBN23825Y" target="_blank">Reuters</a> reported.</p><p>The treatment that Eli Lilly will test uses an antibody that was developed using a blood sample from one of the first U.S. patients to recover from coronavirus. As <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/500425-eli-lilly-gives-patients-first-doses-in-trial-of-new-coronavirus-treatment" target="_blank">The Hill</a> noted, antibody treatments that are developed specifically to fight COVID-19 show promise as effective treatments. The drug remdesivir, which has been touted as a potential treatment, already existed and was repurposed to help patients with COVID-19. In trials so far, it has shown moderate results as it slightly shortened the time that patients were infected.</p>
<p>The first phase of the trial will test if the therapy is safe and well-tolerated with results expected later this month. The first COVID-19 patients to receive the new drug are hospitalized at New York University's Grossman School of Medicine in New York, Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, and Emory University in Atlanta, Eli Lilly told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/01/health/eli-lilly-antibody-therapy-human-trial-covid-19/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>.</p><p>The trial will test for side effects and is only being tested in 32 people at the various sites.</p><p>The company said that if the trial shows the medicine is effective against COVID-19, it may be fast tracked through the regulatory process and be available by the autumn, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/01/health/eli-lilly-antibody-therapy-human-trial-covid-19/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p>
<p>"Until now, scientists have been trying to repurpose medicines, drugs, that were designed for new diseases to see if they work in COVID-19, but as soon as this epidemic started, we got to work making a new medicine against this disease," said Dr. Dan Skovronsky, Eli Lilly's senior vice president and chief scientific officer, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/01/health/eli-lilly-antibody-therapy-human-trial-covid-19/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported. "Now we're ready and testing it in patients."</p><p>While Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly is developing the drug, the medicine was actually discovered by a Vancouver company, AbCellera. Other companies are also working on developing an antibody drug, too. Biotech firm Regeneron expects to begin a test soon as does a partnership of Vir Biotechnology and GlaxoSmithKline, according to <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2020/06/01/eli-lilly-begins-first-human-tests-of-an-antibody-drug-against-covid-19/" target="_blank">STAT News</a>.</p><p>"We're not racing against each other," said Skovronsky of the other companies, as <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/STAT%20News" target="_self">STAT News</a> reported. "We're racing against the death toll from the virus. I hope there will be multiple successful [antibody drugs]. I expect there will be."</p>
<p>Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has said it plans to start clinical studies in June to test its antibody cocktail treatment and is aiming to have hundreds of thousands of preventative doses available by the end of August, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-lilly-treatments/eli-lilly-starts-human-study-of-potential-covid-19-treatment-idUSKBN23825Y" target="_blank">Reuters</a>.</p><p>Lilly's treatment is designed to block it from locking on to human cells, thus neutralizing the virus, as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-lilly-treatments/eli-lilly-starts-human-study-of-potential-covid-19-treatment-idUSKBN23825Y" target="_blank">Reuters</a> reported.</p><p>Scientists at AbCellera and the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases selected the specific antibodies they thought would be most potent. Then Lilly scientists engineered the treatment, known as a monoclonal antibody therapy. Monoclonal antibodies have an approach has worked to treat other illnesses. There are monoclonal antibody therapies that treat HIV, asthma, lupus, Ebola and some forms of cancer, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/01/health/eli-lilly-antibody-therapy-human-trial-covid-19/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p>
<p>"Ultimately, what we would hope is that this would be an effective treatment that would provide very strongly neutralizing antibodies to lower the virus and help patients recover," said Mark Mulligan, the director of the vaccine center at New York University Langone Health, who is one of the doctors working in the study that Lilly is funding, as <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2020/06/01/eli-lilly-begins-first-human-tests-of-an-antibody-drug-against-covid-19/" target="_blank">STAT News</a> reported.</p><p>"It feels it feels like we're making history," said Skovronsky, according to <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2020/06/01/eli-lilly-begins-first-human-tests-of-an-antibody-drug-against-covid-19/" target="_blank">STAT News</a>. Just three months after Covid-19 became a global pandemic, the pharmaceutical industry has been able to confront it, he said. "This has got to be a new phase in the fight."</p>
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The Sumatran rhino is one of 515 endangered species of land animals on the brink of extinction. Mark Carwardine / Photolibrary / Getty Images
The sixth mass extinction is here, and it's speeding up.
<p>A new study, <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/05/27/1922686117" target="_blank">published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Monday</a>, found that 515 land <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/animals/" target="_self">animals</a> are currently on the brink of extinction. That's slightly less than the at least 543 species that disappeared last century. However, these extremely <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/endangered-species" target="_self">endangered species</a> are expected to disappear in the next two decades, <a href="https://news.stanford.edu/press/view/34340" target="_blank">Stanford University explained in a press release</a>.</p><p>"When humanity exterminates populations and species of other creatures, it is sawing off the limb on which it is sitting, destroying working parts of our own life-support system," study coauthor and Stanford University biologist Paul Ehrlich said in the press release. "The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation" target="_self">conservation</a> of endangered species should be elevated to a national and global emergency for governments and institutions, equal to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate</a> disruption to which it is linked."</p>
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<p>Ehrlich helped to write a 2015 study confirming that a sixth mass extinction had begun, and he now says the extinction rate is likely higher than previously thought. Species are going extinct at rates hundreds or thousands of times faster than the "background" rate for the last tens of millions of years, and are being killed off by one overriding factor: us. Several specific human actions are behind these losses, including habitat loss, hunting, the introduction of invasive species, pollution, the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife" target="_self">wildlife</a> trade and the climate crisis.</p><p>"The massive losses that we are experiencing are being caused, directly or indirectly, by the activities of <em>Homo sapiens,</em>" the study authors wrote.</p>
<p>To draw their conclusions, the researchers looked at data on 29,400 land vertebrate species compiled by the <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/" target="_blank">IUCN Red List of Threatened Species</a> and <a href="https://www.birdlife.org/" target="_blank">BirdLife International</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/01/sixth-mass-extinction-of-wildlife-accelerating-scientists-warn?CMP=twt_a-environment_b-gdneco" target="_blank">The Guardian explained</a>. Of those species, 515 had populations of fewer than 1,000, and about half of the 515 were down to less than 250 individuals.</p><p>Most of the at-risk species live in the tropics or subtropics. They include the Sumatran rhino, the Clarión wren, the Española giant tortoise and the harlequin frog.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzM2NjEyOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMTE4NDI1MX0.2WWSb0c89DNXcCCPJ1goB36-HAqJ3BcWogNMRMHbSL8/img.jpg?width=980" id="18b32" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0d1e4850694f3b468f7ee20744b33763" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Terrestrial vertebrates on the brink (i.e., with 1,000 or fewer individuals) include species such as (A) Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis; image credit: Rhett A. Butler [photographer]), (B) Clarion island wren (Troglodytes tanneri; image credit: Claudio Contreras Koob [photographer]), (C) Española Giant Tortoise (Chelonoidis hoodensis; image credit: G.C.), and (D) Harlequin frog (Atelopus varius; the population size of the species is unknown but it is estimated at less than 1,000; image credit: G.C.).
<p>Because ecosystems are so interconnected, the disappearance of any of these at-risk species would put other species at risk. For example, when sea otters were overhunted in the Bering Sea, the population of sea urchins bloomed, devouring kelp forests and driving the Steller's sea cow to extinction. Eighty-four percent of species with populations under 5,000 live in the same regions as species with populations under 1,000, making such a domino effect more likely.</p><p>"Extinction breeds extinction," the researchers wrote.</p>
<p>The eradication of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity" target="_self">biodiversity</a> is also a major threat to human civilization. The most timely example is the spread of the new <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a>, which originated in bats and is believed to have passed to humans through another animal at a wildlife market, the press release explained.</p><p>"Based on our research and what we're seeing, the extinction crisis is so bad that whatever we do in the next 10 to 50 years is what will define the future of humanity," study coauthor professor Gerardo Ceballos of the National University of Mexico in Mexico City told <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52881831" target="_blank">BBC News</a>.</p><p>The researchers called for a ban on the international wildlife trade, according to Stanford. They have also started an initiative called <a href="https://stopextinctions.org/" target="_blank">Stop Extinction</a> to raise awareness of the biodiversity crisis.</p><p>"In view of the current extinction crisis and the lack of widespread actions to halt it, it is very important that scientists should metaphorically take to the streets," they wrote.</p>
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People are having a hard time trying to understand what information is reliable and what information they can trust. Aekkarak Thongjiew / EyeEm / Getty Images
By Cathy Cassata
With more than 1.7 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States and more than 100,000 deaths from the virus, physicians face unprecedented challenges in their efforts to keep Americans safe.
They also encounter what some call an "infodemic," an outbreak of misinformation that's making it more difficult to treat patients.
<p>"The most prevailing theme regardless of misinformation on a website or someone sharing a Facebook post is eroding trust. Medical experts and doctors who are trying to help patients, whether in general or in the office, [are seeing] the doctor-patient relationship being broken down over time and especially during this pandemic," <a href="https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/find-a-doctor/profiles/david-r-stukus" target="_blank">Dr. David Stukus</a>, associate professor of pediatrics in the division of allergy and immunology at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, told Healthline.</p><p>Stukus says people are having a hard time trying to understand what information is reliable and what information they can trust.</p><p>"Oftentimes their personal doctor may give them information that contradicts what they heard online or from someone else, and that really puts the patient in a tough position as they try to determine the best path forward for their own health," he said.</p><p>While misinformation online has been around for a while, Stukus says it has increased during the pandemic.</p>
<p>"Previously, there were different focuses of misinformation, such as anti-vaccine groups or conspiracy theorists or unsubstantiated claims about supplements. Now all those different areas are focused on one area, and that's COVID-19," he said.</p><p><a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/experts/joe-pierre-md" target="_blank">Dr. Joseph M. Pierre</a>, health sciences clinical professor of psychiatry at University of California, Los Angeles, says the damage that misinformation can have depends on how much people's belief in the misinformation leads to behaviors that increase the risk of infection, worsen the course of the illness, or pose other risks in their own right.</p><p>"Most of the evidence falls into the first category: By not observing proper social distancing and not wearing masks, the risk of infection is greater. More cases mean more morbidity and more death and the potential to overwhelm medical resources," Pierre told Healthline.</p><p>Lack of understanding when it comes to proper use of masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers poses a challenge.</p><p>"If some people are not wearing masks, but others are stockpiling N95 masks and other PPE, that puts healthcare workers at risk," Pierre said.</p>
When Leaders and Doctors Spread Misinformation
<p>When people in charge of towns, cities, states, and countries spread misinformation, the potential for belief in misinformation to result in policies can have harmful effects.</p><p><a href="https://www.northwell.edu/find-care/find-a-doctor?q=Bruce+E.+Hirsch%2C+MD&insurance=&location=&query_type=provider&physician_partners=false&default_view=list&gender=&language=&sort=relevancy" target="_blank">Dr. Bruce E. Hirsch</a>, attending physician and assistant professor in the infectious disease division of Northwell Health in Manhasset, New York, says an example of this is when President Trump informed the public he was taking hydroxychloroquine as a preventive measure.</p><p>"To approach this enormous challenge, we need some intellectual honesty and clarity, and to disregard expertise and to make decisions and model decisions based on hunches is inviting us to handle challenges on the basis of rumor and uninformed opinion. The magnitude of that error is epic," Hirsch told Healthline.</p><p>Stukus agrees, noting that the harm of this proclamation is documented.</p><p>"Early on when the president touted the benefits of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, people started to hoard this medicine, and state boards had to shut it down because they were getting so many prescriptions for this unproven therapy that it was not available for those who truly needed it, such as those who have lupus and autoimmune conditions," Stukus said.</p><p>He adds that calls to poison control centers increased after the president suggested using disinfectant to prevent contracting the new coronavirus.</p><p>"When people in charge who have large platforms make recommendations regarding treating and/or public health policies, their words absolutely matter because people will follow their advice. It's imperative that they base their recommendations upon evidence and expertise of doctors and other medical professionals," Stukus said.</p><p>Same goes for doctors spreading information that's contrary to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH).</p><p>Stukus says as videos and dialogue from naysayer doctors spread on social media, it can be difficult to navigate.</p><p>"This is the next wave of misinformation. Certain political ideologies are using doctors to promote their agendas, so now you have someone who is qualified, and maybe they are giving information to counteract the CDC for instance. It's hard to reconcile that," he said.</p><p>His best suggestion is to research what studies and data they're sharing. Ensure that the studies are peer reviewed or published, and that the medical experts don't have a financial motive.</p><p>"If the source of information is also selling a product and/or service, they are by definition conflicted, so that should be a giant red flag. There are well-established tricks and marketing ploys that people will use often in the realm of pseudoscience where they will offer these explanations that aren't backed by evidence," Stukus said.</p><p>"As a general rule, if information is an extreme outlier, it's probably not accurate, or if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't," he added.</p>
Listen to Science, Even When it Changes
<p>When recommendations change or evidence flip-flops, skepticism may arise. However, Stukus says change is the beauty of science.</p><p>"That shows us that we can evolve, and if the evidence shows that our prior thoughts were incorrect, we need to be able to change our recommendations and advice based upon the best quality of evidence at the time," he said.</p><p>Pierre agrees.</p><p>"Science is an iterative process, whereby we arrive at facts and truth through repeated and controlled observations. That means that it's inherently self-correcting as we revise conclusions based on ongoing research. Scientific facts aren't immutable dogma chiseled on a tablet. They change based on the best available evidence we have at a given point in time," he said.</p><p>Because research of COVID-19 has only been underway for 6 months, information is evolving rapidly, and new information may contradict old.</p><p>"There's still much we don't know about exactly how [COVID-19] spreads, what effects it has on the body, or how to best treat it. That means that the best available evidence is preliminary, but that doesn't mean that we should ignore it or turn to other sources of information or opinion as if they're just as valid," Pierre said.</p><p>He explains that conspiracy theories based on mistrust lead to vulnerability to misinformation.</p><p>If people mistrust science because it sometimes "changes its mind," Pierre said, "that shouldn't be used to embrace other opinions based on no evidence at all, which are typically selected based on confirmation bias: what we want to believe rather than what the objective evidence supports."</p>Where to Find the Best Information
<p>Stukus says to start with the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html" target="_blank">CDC</a> and <a href="https://www.nih.gov/health-information/coronavirus" target="_blank">NIH</a>. Then check with your local health officials, because COVID-19 guidelines may vary depending on where you live.</p><p>If you can't find information you need or have questions specifically related to you, call your primary care doctor.</p><p>"Your personal doctor should always be a resource for individual specific questions because they know best how to apply all the nuances retaining to your health, and how to incorporate all the other general [COVID-19] recommendations," Stukus said.</p><p><a href="https://www.eehealth.org/find-a-doctor/b/boyd-laura-b/" target="_blank">Dr. Laura Boyd</a>, primary care physician at Edward-Elmhurst Health Center in Elmhurst, Illinois, says her clinic receives a lot of calls about COVID-19.</p><p>"Most doctors' offices are receiving calls and answering questions, and doing phone or video visits to help clarify and/or order testing over the phone based on patients' symptoms. It is always best to call your doctor's office first instead of worrying about symptoms and waiting too long to seek treatment," she told Healthline.</p><p>If your primary care doctor has limited testing, she suggests looking on your state's public health website for available testing sites.</p><p>With a lot of unknowns related to this virus and disease, Boyd says many patients are feeling overwhelmed and anxious for a treatment.</p><p>"Unfortunately, there is no specific medication recommended for COVID for outpatient. There are a lot of ongoing studies with various drugs going on within the hospital setting. Patients should always contact their doctors about their specific symptoms as they can treat the symptoms that go along with COVID, but there is no cure," Boyd said.</p><p>While we wait for treatment and a vaccine, Hirsch, who treats patients hospitalized for COVID-19 complications on a daily basis, says everyone can do their part by washing hands, wearing a mask, and staying 6 feet apart.</p><p>"As an infectious disease doctor working in the hospital, I see the damage of the pandemic and the worst cases of what's happening. We are trying to get the best possible outcome and confronting this overwhelming biologic reality of this terrible epidemic the best we can," Hirsch said.</p><p>Everyone at home can help in the fight too, he adds.</p><p>"Follow information that is science- and evidence-based, and avoid that which is not," he said.</p>From Your Site Articles
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A crowd of protestors on May 31, 2020 in Washington, DC. Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images
The nationwide horror at the killing of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police has triggered protests in 75 cities. People are demonstrating against the systemic racism that has made people of color targets of lethal actions by law enforcement. In response, elected officials and public health experts are walking a fine line of affirming the rights of protestors while simultaneously worrying that the protests will lead to a new wave of coronavirus infections.
<p>It is worth noting that unlike the protests against stay-at-home orders and mask wearing, many of the demonstrators against racial injustice were wearing masks and gloves.</p><p>"All things considered, there's little doubt that these protests will translate into increased risk of transmission for COVID-19," said Maimuna Majumder, a computational epidemiologist at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, to <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/06/protests-pandemic/612460/" target="_blank">The Atlantic</a>. However, she added the protests are important and necessary.</p><p>"Structural racism has been a public-health crisis for much longer than the pandemic has," she said.</p>
<p>The protests over the injustice of police officers disproportionately killing people of color have coincided with how COVID-19 deaths disproportionately hit racial minority communities. That phenomenon exposed huge disparities in resources and access to care in a country without universal healthcare.</p><p>As <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/06/protests-pandemic/612460/" target="_blank">The Atlantic</a> noted, the pandemic and unrest together have trapped the country in a bind. The demonstrations oppose police brutality. But peaceful, masked protesters — and the journalists covering them — have sometimes been met with an overly aggressive police response. Yet, the demonstrations and the aggressive response by police are likely to exacerbate the spread of the coronavirus.</p>
<p>The scenes of protestors holding hands, or shouting in the face of police, or singing in close quarters has raised concern that the protests will act as super spreaders.</p><p>"If you were out protesting last night, you probably need to go get a COVID test this week," said Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms at a news briefing Sunday, as <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/protests-could-accelerate-spread-coronavirus-public-health-experts-say-n1220551" target="_blank">NBC News</a> reported. "[B]ecause there's still a pandemic in America that's killing black and brown people at higher numbers."</p><p><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/06/protests-pandemic/612460/" target="_blank">The Atlantic</a> noted the aspects of the protests and the police response that may contribute to a spread of the coronavirus. "The virus <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/how-will-we-ever-be-safe-inside/611953/" target="_blank">seems to spread</a> the most when people yell (such as to chant a slogan), sneeze (to expel pepper spray), or cough (after inhaling tear gas). It is transmitted most efficiently <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-japan-tackled-coronavirus-without-a-lockdown-2020-5" target="_blank">in crowds and large gatherings</a>, and research has found that just a few contagious people <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/why-do-some-covid-19-patients-infect-many-others-whereas-most-don-t-spread-virus-all" target="_blank">can infect</a> hundreds of susceptible people around them. The virus can spread especially easily in small, cramped places, such as police vans and jails."</p>
<p>Public health experts have urged demonstrators to take precautions so they mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.</p><p>"Crowded protests, like any large gathering of people in a close space, can help facilitate the spread of covid-19, which is why it's so important participants wear masks, eye protection and bring hand-gel," Saskia Popescu, an infectious-disease epidemiologist at George Mason University's Schar School of Policy and Government, wrote in an email to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/crowded-protests-spark-concerns-about-fresh-outbreaks-of-the-deadly-coronavirus/2020/05/31/27397194-a364-11ea-b473-04905b1af82b_story.html" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>. "Shouting and screaming, as some studies have shown with singing, can project droplets farther, which makes the use of masks ... and eye protection ... that much more important."</p><p>While masks will reduce the spread of airborne droplets, their effectiveness is limited, unless they are N95 masks, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/crowded-protests-spark-concerns-about-fresh-outbreaks-of-the-deadly-coronavirus/2020/05/31/27397194-a364-11ea-b473-04905b1af82b_story.html" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>. However, N95 masks are in short supply and should be reserved for frontline clinicians.</p>
<p>"The question is: how do we do protesting safely?" Dr. Ashish Jha, the director of the global health institute at Harvard's TH Chan School of Public Health, told CNN, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/31/fears-grow-of-surge-in-us-coronavirus-cases-from-george-floyd-protests" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported. "I think masks are a critical part of it."</p><p>Some public health experts take solace that the protests are outdoors where droplets containing the virus are diluted in the air. Also, studies have shown that the virus is seldom transmitted in open-air situations.</p><p>"Yes, the protests are outside, but they are all really close to each other, and in those cases, being outside doesn't protect you nearly as much," said Howard Markel, a medical historian who studies pandemics, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/health/protests-coronavirus.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported. "Public gatherings are public gatherings — it doesn't matter what you're protesting or cheering. That's one reason we're not having large baseball games and may not have college football this fall."</p><p>Furthermore, he noted, that many of the protestors are young and he worries that they will be asymptomatic, but bring home the virus to elderly relatives. Also, aggressive police tactics for crowd control, like using tear gas and pepper spray, increase respiratory secretions from the eyes, nose and mouth. Police also corral crowds, penning people together in small spaces.</p>
<p>Dr. Theodore Long, who is leading New York City's contact tracing efforts, echoed the mayor of Atlanta, urging anyone who had been involved in the protests to get tested for the virus and to protect themselves.</p><p>"We strongly encourage anybody who is out in the protests to wear a mask, practice proper hand hygiene and to the extent possible, socially distance, though we know that's not always going to be feasible," Dr. Long said, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/nyregion/coronavirus-new-york-live-updates.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported.</p>
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While it's often dismissed as stuff for kids, a lot of grownups secretly savor it. TheCrimsonMonkey / Getty Images
By Jeffrey Miller
In January 2015, food sales at restaurants overtook those at grocery stores for the first time. Most thought this marked a permanent shift in the American meal.
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<p>Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, that trend took a U-turn. <a href="https://www.restaurant.org/articles/news/restaurant-sales-and-job-losses-are-widespread" target="_blank">Restaurant revenue cratered</a>, while shoppers emptied grocery shelves stocking up on food to cook at home. And with sales of pantry items soaring, shoppers found themselves reaching for an old reliable.</p><p>In April, sales of Kraft macaroni and cheese <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/business/2020/04/09/we-cant-make-enough-mac-and-cheese-processed-food-is-undergoing-a-renaissance/" target="_blank">were up 27%</a> from the same time last year. General Mills, the maker of Annie's mac and cheese, <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/processed-foods-see-sales-boost-during-coronavirus-pandemic" target="_blank">has seen a similar bump</a>.</p><p>The cheap, boxed meal has long been a poster child for processed food. While it's often dismissed as stuff for kids, a lot of grownups secretly savor it. As I tell my own students, we love to bad mouth processed foods – usually while our mouths are full of it. It's also played an important role in kitchen science, wars and women's liberation.</p>
Solving the Age-Old Problem of Spoiled Cheese
<p>People have eaten pasta and cheese together for hundreds of years. Clifford Wright, the doyen of Mediterranean food history, says <a href="http://www.cliffordawright.com/caw/food/entries/display.php/topic_id/16/id/105/" target="_blank">the first written recipe</a> for macaroni and cheese was created in the court of the king of Naples in the 13th century, while <a href="https://food52.com/blog/9916-the-history-of-macaroni-and-cheese" target="_blank">the first reference</a> in an English language cookbook likely appeared in Elizabeth Raffald's 1769 book "The Experienced English Housekeeper."</p><p><span></span>An internet search for macaroni and cheese recipes will turn up over 5 million hits, but many still prefer to get theirs in a box – the kind with pasta that comes in shapes ranging from shells to Pokemon characters, accompanied by a packet of powdered cheese sauce.</p><p>Boxed macaroni and cheese was one outcome of the quest for ways to keep cheese longer. Some cheese gets better as it ages – a well-aged cheddar is one of life's delights – but once most cheeses hit their prime, <a href="https://www.dairyfoods.com/articles/91548-how-to-maximize-cheese-shelf-life" target="_blank">they tend to quickly go bad</a>. Before household refrigeration became common, many retailers wouldn't even stock cheese in the summer because it spoiled so quickly.</p><p>Processed cheese solved this age-old problem.</p><p>Credit for inventing processed cheese should go to a pair of Swiss food chemists named Walter Gerber and Fritz Stettler who, in 1913, were looking for a way to improve the shelf life of Emmenthaler cheese using sodium citrate. When they heated up the treated cheese, they noticed it <a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-03-27/what-exactly-processed-cheese-anyway" target="_blank">melted better as well</a>. But Chicago cheese salesman James L. Kraft was awarded the first patent for processed cheese in 1916.</p><p>Kraft understood the spoilage problem and had tried various solutions to it. He tried putting it tin foil packages, sealing it in jars, even canning it. But none of these solutions caught on with the public.</p><p>He eventually realized that the same bacteria that made cheese age nicely was also the bacteria that ultimately caused it to go bad. So he took some cheddar cheese scraps, heated them to kill the bacteria, ground them up with some sodium phosphate as an emulsifier and voila – <a href="https://www.inventionandtech.com/content/cheese-cheese-food-1" target="_blank">Kraft processed cheese was born</a>.</p><p>These early processed cheeses were similar to the processed American cheese slices we see in the stores today, though wrapping slices individually didn't happen for another 40 years. Kraft's first big customer was the U.S. Army, which <a href="https://www.wired.com/2015/08/us-military-helped-invent-cheetos/" target="_blank">bought more than 6 million pounds of the stuff to feed soldiers in World War I</a>. A number of variations appeared in the following years, including Velveeta and Cheez Whiz.</p>
<p>The product was a hit, but Kraft wanted to find more ways to sell processed cheese, and eventually came up with the idea to make a powdered base. The packet in the box of macaroni and cheese is essentially a cheese sauce that has been partially defatted and dehydrated. When you make it, you're adding back the fat and the liquid when you mix in the milk and butter.</p><p>In 1937, Kraft debuted its boxed macaroni and cheese, <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/marvelous-macaroni-and-cheese-30954740/" target="_blank">which it sold for 19 cents and contained four servings</a>. Its slogan was "make a meal for four in nine minutes," and the product got a big lift with American consumers during World War II because you could get two boxes and spend only one ration point. With meat hard to come by, the cheap main dish substitute was a hit.</p>
When Natural Was Nasty
<p>Today, food that's simple, pure and natural is <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-was-french-cuisine-toppled-as-the-king-of-fine-dining-66667" target="_blank">all the craze</a>, while <a href="https://apnews.com/c06a1200807c4b82a03452d08d480692" target="_blank">disdain for processed foods</a> is practically a credo among sophisticated consumers.</p><p>But when Kraft's different forms of processed cheese came out, they found widespread acceptance despite their strange textures. The fact that it wasn't natural didn't seem to bother consumers at all. In fact, as international food historian Rachel Laudan <a href="https://online.ucpress.edu/gastronomica/article/1/1/36/93394/A-Plea-for-Culinary-Modernism-Why-We-Should-Love" target="_blank">has noted</a>, back then, "natural was something quite nasty." She describes fresh milk as warm and "unmistakably a bodily secretion." Throughout the history of cookery, most recipes aimed to transform an unappetizing raw product into something delightful and delectable.</p><p>So for most consumers, processed foods were a godsend. They kept well, tended to be easily digestible and, most importantly, they tasted good. Many of them could be easily prepared, freeing women from spending entire days cooking and giving them more time to pursue professions and avocations.</p><p>In some ways, processed foods were also healthier. They could be fortified with vitamins and minerals, and, in an era before everyone had access to mechanical refrigeration, the fact that they kept well meant consumers were less likely to contract diseases from spoiled, rotten foods. Pasteurization of dairy products virtually <a href="https://www.the-scientist.com/foundations/rethinking-raw-milk--1918-65126" target="_blank">eliminated diseases like undulant fever</a>, while foods processed and canned in large factories were less likely to harbor food-borne illnesses that could crop up due to faulty or improperly sanitized equipment used by home canners.</p><p>Given today's marketing emphasis on the fresh, local and natural, one might think that processed foods are going the way of the dinosaur. But this isn't the case. Almost all the processed foods invented in the 20th century are still being produced <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-spam-became-one-of-the-most-iconic-american-brands-of-all-time-80030" target="_blank">in one form or another</a>. While you may not see much Tang on American shelves, it's <a href="https://fortune.com/2011/11/29/what-ever-happened-to-tang/" target="_blank">hugely popular</a> in the Middle East and Central and South America.</p><p>And mac and cheese – with roughly 7 million boxes of Kraft's version <a href="https://www.mashed.com/123963/untold-truth-kraft-macaroni-cheese/" target="_blank">sold each week</a> – continues to be devoured in good times and bad. Whether it recalls <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-diets-whats-behind-the-urge-to-eat-like-little-kids-137864" target="_blank">happier, simpler times</a> or feeds a family on a shoestring budget, the Day-Glo orange dinner is here to stay. </p>
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<em>Jeffrey Miller is an Associate Professor, Hospitality Management at Colorado State University.<br/>
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<em>Disclosure statement: </em><em>Jeffrey Miller does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</em>
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<em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/an-ode-to-mac-and-cheese-the-poster-child-for-processed-food-137973" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
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A man observes the damages caused to his neighborhood from Tropical Storm Amanda on May 31, 2020 in San Salvador, El Salvador. Guillermo Martínez / APHOTOGRAFIA / Getty Images
At least 14 people were killed when Tropical Storm Amanda walloped El Salvador Sunday, Interior Minister Mario Duran said.
<p>Four people are missing, according to Noticias El Salvador, and around 200 homes were damaged by falling trees, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a> and mudslides, <a href="https://www.afp.com/en/news/15/deadly-tropical-storm-amanda-hits-el-salvador-guatemala-doc-1sm7hb5" target="_blank">AFP reported</a>.</p><p>"We lost everything, we've been left with nowhere to live," San Salvador resident Isidro Gomez, whose home was destroyed when a river overflowed its banks, told AFP.</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1267252232036253698" id="twitter-embed-1267252232036253698" lazy-loadable="true" src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1267252232036253698&created_ts=1590971451.0&screen_name=NotiblogSV&text=%23%C3%9ALTIMAHORA+%7C+El+Ministro+de+Gobernaci%C3%B3n+%40marioduran+informa+que+asciende+a+14+los+fallecidos+a+causa+de+la+Torment%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FbHXoL0p0Ab&id=1267252232036253698&name=Noticias+El+Salvador" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="fe922b1aa97cd20dc72bb695657386cc"></iframe>
<p>San Salvador, the nation's capital, saw half of the nation's total fatalities, its Mayor Ernesto Muyshondt said. He said the storm had forced 4,200 people into government shelters in the midst of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> pandemic.</p><p>"We are experiencing an unprecedented situation: one top-level emergency on top of another serious one," he told AFP, referring to the pandemic.</p><p>The government of El Salvador has <a href="https://covid19.gob.sv/" target="_blank">reported</a> a total of 2,582 coronavirus cases. Forty-six people have died, and 1,063 have recovered.</p><p>Amanda strengthened into a tropical storm before making landfall Sunday, making it the first named storm of the East Pacific 2020 <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricanes" target="_self">hurricane</a> season, <a href="https://www.accuweather.com/en/hurricane/amanda-makes-landfall-threatens-major-flooding-in-central-america/749982" target="_blank">AccuWeather reported</a>. It later weakened into a tropical depression and then a tropical rainstorm, but forecasters say its heavy rainfall still poses a major risk to Central America early this week.</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1267264251581943808" id="twitter-embed-1267264251581943808" lazy-loadable="true" src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1267264251581943808&created_ts=1590974316.0&screen_name=hurrtrackerapp&text=Here%E2%80%99s+a+beautiful+animation+of+the+last+24+hours+as+Tropical+Storm+%23Amanda+developed.+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FxlDatuM64g&id=1267264251581943808&name=Hurricane+Tracker+App" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="b8546e9f31d7afef93b2841bc4a9e000"></iframe>
<p>Because of its heavy rainfall, it was forecast to be a 1 on the <a href="https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/accuweathers-new-realimpact-scale-for-hurricanes-will-revolutionize-damage-predictions-for-greater-public-safety/329657" target="_blank">AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale for Hurricanes</a>.</p><p>"Heavy rainfall will be the greatest threat over Central America, particularly in the higher terrain or Guatemala and El Salvador where rainfall totals of 18-24 inches are possible," AccuWeather senior meteorologist Randy Adkins said.</p>
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<p>In El Salvador, that rainfall has already turned deadly in the form of floods and landslides. One person drowned in a flooding river, while another was crushed by a collapsing wall, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-storm-amanda/tropical-storm-amanda-kills-at-least-seven-people-in-el-salvador-idUSKBN2370MF" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>. An eight-year-old boy was killed when his house collapsed.</p><p>"We've seen people asking for help, asking for the government. We haven't deployed everywhere, the situation is overwhelming," Duran said Sunday, as Reuters reported.</p><p>The storm is estimated to have caused $200 million in damage to El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele said, according to AFP. He declared a 15-day state of emergency to recover from the storm.</p><p>Amanda weakened as it passed on to Guatemala, where it caused flooding and at least five landslides that blocked roads. However, no one had to be evacuated.</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1267269457711333376" id="twitter-embed-1267269457711333376" lazy-loadable="true" src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1267269457711333376&created_ts=1590975558.0&screen_name=NWSWPC&text=This+GOES-16+clean+IR+loop+shows+the+remnants+of+eastern+Pacific+Tropical+Storm+Amanda%2C+located+over+northern+Guate%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2F9Xp0pfCiuB&id=1267269457711333376&name=NWS+WPC" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="2d4f5af75055c85e63564fe851af244a"></iframe>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> is making hurricanes <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-crisis-hurricanes-wetter-2639175731.html" target="_self">wetter</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change-extreme-weather-2639274656.html" target="_self">extreme precipitation events </a>more likely. A storm does not have to be a hurricane to cause damage. In 2019, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/houston-imelda-flooding-2640449818.html" target="_self">Tropical Storm Imelda</a> swamped Houston with a 1-in-1,000-year flood event just two years after Hurricane Harvey did the same.</p>
<p><em>Correction: </em><em>This piece has been updated to clarify that all the deaths reported by Reuters took place in El Salvador.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Mourners after a mass burial of coronavirus victims in Brazil, which now has the world's second largest outbreak after the U.S. Andre Coelho / Getty Images
The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases passed six million Sunday, even as many countries begin to emerge from strict lockdowns.
<p>As of Monday morning, the total global tally of cases was at 6,172,448, with 372,136 deaths, according to <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html" target="_blank">Johns Hopkins University</a>. The U.S. still leads the world for both caseloads and deaths, with nearly 1.8 million cases and 104,383 fatalities. Brazil now has the second-highest number of cases, at 514,849.</p><p>Combatting the outbreak has become a charged political issue in Brazil, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/31/global-report-coronavirus-cases-pass-6-million-as-donald-trump-postpones-g7" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>, as governors and mayors impose lockdown measures while rightwing President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/jair-bolsonaro" target="_self">Jair Bolsonaro</a> rails against the "tyranny of total quarantine."</p><p>The country's health ministry said it had no idea when the outbreak would peak, and experts say its caseload could be much higher than reported because there has not been widespread testing.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, U. S. President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Donald Trump</a> announced Saturday that the G7 meeting he had wanted to host in Washington, DC in late June would be postponed until September, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/31/donald-trump-postpones-g7-summit-and-signals-wider-attendance-list-in-future" target="_blank">The Guardian reported further</a>. The decision reverses an intention laid out in a May 20 tweet.</p><p>"Now that our Country is 'Transitioning back to Greatness', I am considering rescheduling the G-7, on the same or similar date, in Washington, D.C., at the legendary Camp David. The other members are also beginning their COMEBACK. It would be a great sign to all - normalization!" he wrote.</p>
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<p>His reversal came days after German Chancellor Angela Merkel told him in a phone call that she thought holding the summit was a health risk. Her office said on Saturday she would not attend the meeting unless the coronavirus situation had changed substantially, <a href="https://apnews.com/5ee3a0ae2216bf696561729cd08e8ad9" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a> reported.</p><p>"As of today, given the overall pandemic situation, she cannot commit to participating in person," her office said, according to The Associated Press.</p>
<p>However, in other ways many countries are moving back towards normalcy. Here are some of the restrictions being eased, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/world/coronavirus-news.amp.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> and <a href="https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/world-covid-19-cases-top-6-million-as-leaders-disagree-on-pandemic-response/" target="_blank">EURACTIV</a>:<span></span></p><ul><li>Greece: To boost tourism, the country is reopening to all international travelers. Two airports will handle international travel from June 15 to June 30, while international flights will resume for all airports July 1, along with international arrivals by sea.</li><li>Norway and Denmark: The two Scandinavian countries will allow travel between each other.</li><li>The Middle East: Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque reopened for prayers Sunday, while Iran announced that collective prayers would begin again in mosques.</li><li>Europe: Parks and the Galeries Lafayette department store reopened in Paris Saturday, as did Italy's Tower of Pisa. In Austria, hotels and movie theaters opened to customers provided they wear masks.</li><li>The U.S.: Washington, DC allowed outdoor dining again while Los Angeles reopened restaurants and hair salons. Hard-hit New York City will start reopening the week of June 8.</li><li>The UK: More stores and English primary schools will reopen Monday, and small groups will be able to gather outdoors. Professional sports will also begin June 1.</li></ul>
<p>However, not all <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-health" target="_self">public health</a> experts think it is wise to ease lockdown measures.</p><p>Experts on the UK's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) urged caution, as <a href="https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/29/covid-19-spreading-too-fast-to-lift-uk-lockdown-sage-adviser?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other&__twitter_impression=true" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>. There are still 8,000 new coronavirus cases in England a day, and that figure does not include hospitals and care homes.</p><p>"Covid-19 spreading too fast to lift lockdown in England," SAGE member Jeremy Farrar tweeted.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Covid-19 spreading too fast to lift lockdown in England. Agree with John & clear science advice. TTI has to be in place, fully working, capable dealing any surge immediately, locally responsive, rapid results & infection rates have to be lower. And trusted <a href="https://t.co/ZmYKs4Go3W">https://t.co/ZmYKs4Go3W</a></p>— Jeremy Farrar (@JeremyFarrar) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeremyFarrar/status/1266470822564200456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 29, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>And not every country is joining the race to reopen. In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Sunday he would ask Parliament to extend the state of emergency until June 21, The New York Times reported.</p><p>"We cannot throw away all the work that we have done," he said.</p>
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Dr. Mark Brunswick (2R), Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Quality, walks through the lab at Sorrento Therapeutics in San Diego, California on May 22. ARIANA DREHSLER / AFP / Getty Images
By Julia Ries
Around the world, there have been several cases of people recovering from COVID-19 only to later test positive again and appear to have another infection.
<p>Such cases have had doctors and researchers puzzling over whether recovered people continue to be contagious, and if they could get a second infection.</p><p>Now, new <a href="https://www.cdc.go.kr/board/board.es?mid=a30402000000&bid=0030" target="_blank">research</a> published by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that recovered COVID-19 patients who test positive again aren't infectious.</p><p>The study also found that most patients who recover have neutralizing antibodies — the type of antibody that confers immunity and protects people from getting sick again.</p><p>"This study addresses the question of whether patients who have recovered from COVID-19 are still infectious, and which is a question that has been troubling us for some time," said <a href="https://www.yalemedicine.org/doctors/heidi_zapata/" target="_blank">Dr. Heidi J. Zapata</a>, a Yale Medicine infectious disease doctor. "This study suggests that patients that are recovered are no longer contagious."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from </em><a href="https://www.healthline.com/" target="_blank"><em>Healthline</em></a><em>. For detailed source information, please view the original article on </em><em><a href="https://www.healthline.com/health-news/people-reinfected-with-covid-19-werent-infectious" target="_blank">Healthline</a></em><em>.</em></p>
The Viral Material in Re-Positive Cases Isn’t Infectious
<p>The Korean study examined 285 patients who tested positive again for the new coronavirus after they recovered from COVID-19, which had been confirmed via a negative test result.</p><p>The researchers swabbed the patients and examined the viral material to determine whether it was still actively infectious.</p><p>The team was unable to isolate live viral material, indicating that the positive diagnostic tests were picking up dead virus particles.</p><p>"[This] may speak for the fact that the virus may be dead or not be fit enough to grow — therefore the virus may not be fit enough to infect a new host," said <a href="http://www.providence.org/doctors/profile/1099717-andres-romero" target="_blank">Dr. Andres Romero</a>, an infectious disease specialist at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California.</p><p>The researchers also tested 790 people who'd been in close contact with the "re-positive" patients. Of the 27 who tested positive, no cases appeared to be caused from exposure to someone who appeared to have a reinfection.</p><p>The report also found that the vast majority of recovered patients (96 percent) had neutralizing antibodies, indicating that they conferred immunity.</p><p>"Whether this is indicative of a completely protective response remains to be proven. If this study holds true, then people who have recovered can get back to work," Zapata said.</p><p>In response to the new findings, South Korea eliminated a policy requiring discharged patients to isolate for 2 weeks.</p>Conducting and Interpreting PCR Tests
<p>The tests widely used to diagnose COVID-19 are called polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.</p><p>The tests swab a person's nose or throat and try to pick up the virus's genetic material, or RNA.</p><p>According to <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/faq.html" target="_blank">guidance</a> from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a positive result on a PCR test doesn't "necessarily mean infectious virus is present or that the patient is contagious."</p><p>Infectious disease experts have suspected that the test kits aren't picking up actively infectious viral material in recovered patients who test positive again, but rather dead remnants of the virus.</p><p>We see this occur with other viruses, too.</p><p>"We know other viruses like parainfluenza, human metapneumovirus, or RSV [respiratory syncytial virus] may linger for months in certain patients, and that does not represent infectious state," Romero said. "Coronavirus may be the same."</p>We Still Need to Practice Caution
<p>While the findings are promising, infectious disease experts say we still need to practice caution.</p><p>More research is needed to validate these findings and determine whether they apply to distinct parts of the population, such as those who are immunocompromised.</p><p>It's common for immunocompromised patients — such as those with cancer — to continue testing positive for a virus for longer, since it takes their immune system more time to clear the virus out of their body.</p><p>"I don't think we can be 100 percent certain of whether each recovered person is no longer contagious. Again, this may differ with distinct population groups," Zapata said.</p><p>Physicians are seeing some hospitalized patients testing positive for a month after they were first swabbed for COVID-19. It's unclear whether these patients still shed infectious virus, according to Zapata.</p><p>Everyone's body mounts a distinct immune response based on their age and overall health. Different individuals will clear the virus out at different speeds, according to Zapata.</p><p>Until we have more data and a preventive vaccine, it's crucial to continue adhering to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html" target="_blank">safety precautions</a> laid out by the CDC.</p><p>"The reality is that moving forward, the best approach will be keeping social/physical distancing, wearing a mask, and frequent hand hygiene in order to control the spread of the virus," Romero said.</p>The Bottom Line
<p>Doctors and researchers have been unsure whether people who recover from COVID-19 who test positive again continue to be contagious, or if they could get a second infection.</p><p>New <a href="https://www.cdc.go.kr/board/board.es?mid=a30402000000&bid=0030" target="_blank">research</a> published by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that recovered COVID-19 patients who test positive again aren't infectious.</p><p>The study also found that most patients who recover have neutralizing antibodies that protect them from getting sick again.</p><p>Though the study is promising, health experts say we need more data to validate the findings and determine whether they apply to all patient populations.</p>From Your Site Articles
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