Articles: pandemics.
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The type of pneumonia (coronavirus disease 2019, COVID-19) that is caused by the new coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2) is now spreading across the world in a pandemic. Many patients with COVID-19 were admitted to the University Hospital Aachen during an outbreak that first struck the Heinsberg district in February 2020. ⋯ This initial description of a cohort of COVID-19 patients with and without ARDS in Germany reveals that those with ARDS more commonly have preexisting respiratory diseases and obesity, as well as persistently elevated inflammatory markers. COVID-19 patients without ARDS may likewise require prolonged hospitalization because of persistently elevated inflammatory values with a simultaneous need for supplemental oxygen.
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MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. · Apr 2020
Timing of Community Mitigation and Changes in Reported COVID-19 and Community Mobility - Four U.S. Metropolitan Areas, February 26-April 1, 2020.
Community mitigation activities (also referred to as nonpharmaceutical interventions) are actions that persons and communities can take to slow the spread of infectious diseases. Mitigation strategies include personal protective measures (e.g., handwashing, cough etiquette, and face coverings) that persons can use at home or while in community settings; social distancing (e.g., maintaining physical distance between persons in community settings and staying at home); and environmental surface cleaning at home and in community settings, such as schools or workplaces. Actions such as social distancing are especially critical when medical countermeasures such as vaccines or therapeutics are not available. ⋯ This report presents initial data from the metropolitan areas of San Francisco, California; Seattle, Washington; New Orleans, Louisiana; and New York City, New York* to describe the relationship between timing of public policy measures, community mobility (a proxy measure for social distancing), and temporal trends in reported coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases. Community mobility in all four locations declined from February 26, 2020 to April 1, 2020, decreasing with each policy issued and as case counts increased. This report suggests that public policy measures are an important tool to support social distancing and provides some very early indications that these measures might help slow the spread of COVID-19.
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Editorial
Coping with COVID: How a Research Team Learned To Stay Engaged in This Time of Physical Distancing.
Physical distancing imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic has led to alterations in routines and new responsibilities for much of the research community. We provide some tips for how research teams can cope with physical distancing, some of which require a change in how we define productivity. Importantly, we need to maintain and strengthen social connections in this time when we can't be physically together.