Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Bart S · Post by **Bart S** » 17 Apr 2020 21:23

Trikaal wrote: One of the reasons for Govt being the biggest hoarder in India is the MSP policy. MSP forces govt to buy at higher rates. Then, if govt tries to sell this stock, they will have to recognize a loss on their Balance Sheets. As such, hoarding indefinitely and releasing only the minimum required amount is their solution to postpone loss recognition and hence, keep fiscal deficit artificially low.

This Covid pandemic gives them an opportunity to use up this stock and recognize it as a relief package rather than loss.

Absolutely! It makes sense from every perspective, does not impact the fiscal deficit, and politically nobody can complain.

syam · Post by **syam** » 17 Apr 2020 21:50

The secret behind mumbai success story(new cases dropped to double digits now)

Devendra Fadnavis
@Dev_Fadnavis
· 3h
My letter to Hon CM Uddhav Thackeray ji,
ICMR testing guidelines for #Covid_19 should be strictly followed.
Changes made by @mybmc may bring down the number of positive patients artificially but may result into subsequent spread in community
Pls adhere strictly to ICMR guidelines

Should we worry about this new development?

DrRatnadip · Post by **DrRatnadip** » 17 Apr 2020 22:11

14 new cases in Malegaon.. Total 61 cases till now..It will be one of biggest hotspots in country..

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 17 Apr 2020 22:20

syam wrote:
Deans wrote: What is important is tests per positive case. In that respect we are up there with the best countries.
We are up there with the best countries even with total testing numbers. Till yesterday, we had done 302,956 tests. We are at 13th place in total tests done list. If we continue current trend, we are going to leap frog french by end of tomorrow.

Correct. India has also implemented Pool Testing.

Mollick.R · Post by **Mollick.R** » 17 Apr 2020 22:21

What's wrong with mother Russia ???

They were doing pretty good initially. Grandmaster Putin closed China border, strict enforcement of law of (bear) land.
But current stat is 32008 Infected & 273 deaths.
Vast geographically spread out nation, still 32k in the early stage (as such it begin later there) is a bigggg number.

Israel also, considering total population, small size and military discipline of Yehudii desh they do have quite high numbers (12855 & 148).

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 17 Apr 2020 22:22

Pool testing video with explanation:

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 17 Apr 2020 22:44

Mollick.R wrote:What's wrong with mother Russia ???

They were doing pretty good initially. Grandmaster Putin closed China border, strict enforcement of law of (bear) land.
But current stat is 32008 Infected & 273 deaths.
Vast geographically spread out nation, still 32k in the early stage (as such it begin later there) is a bigggg number.

Israel also, considering total population, small size and military discipline of Yehudii desh they do have quite high numbers (12855 & 148).

Russia has an older population, not as old as Italy and other parts of the EU, but still older than India. They have higher risk factors including alcohol use, smoking and obseity.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 17 Apr 2020 22:48

https://twitter.com/ShamikaRavi/status/ ... 1250081792

Prof Shamika Ravi @ShamikaRavi

#DailyUpdate #Covid19India
While the Total Confirmed cases are rising, Active cases are now growing at 8.9% - so doubling every 8 days.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 17 Apr 2020 22:52

https://twitter.com/ABPNews/status/1250989261345570817

ABP News @ABPNews

#NamasteBharat | राजस्थान का रामगंज बना कोरोना का हॉटस्पॉट, एक संक्रमित शख्स से 300 से ज्यादा लोगों में फैला कोरोना

Translated from Hindi by Google

#NamasteBharat | Ramganj in Rajasthan becomes Corona's hotspot, Corona spread to more than 300 people from an infected person

Seems like single source zone.

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 17 Apr 2020 23:56

Vitamin D and Coronavirus Disparities

Researchers last week released the first data supporting this link. They found that the nations with the highest mortality rates—Italy, Spain and France—also had the lowest average vitamin D levels among countries affected by the pandemic.

As an Indian-American, my skin type is Fitzpatrick IV, or “moderate brown.” Compared with my white friends, I need double or triple the sun exposure to synthesize the same amount of vitamin D, so I supplement with 5,000 international units of vitamin D3 daily, which maintains my level in the normal range.

A 2009 study examined sun exposure and fatality rates during the 1918-19 Spanish flu pandemic, which killed an estimated 50 million world-wide.

Camp Brooks Open Air Hospital in Massachusetts, had the unique distinction of being an outdoor recovery unit. The mortality rate for patients there fell from 40% to 13% when they were moved outside. Sunlight might have proved to be literally the best disinfectant.

sudarshan · Post by **sudarshan** » 18 Apr 2020 01:06

Vivek Kumar wrote:I live in NYC. As of April 16, 1,397 of the 2,535 people tested had a positive result in my ZIP code.

...

I go for long walks in the evenings on almost deserted streets. All but a few grocery stores and pharmacies are now closed in my area. All stores and pharmacies are strictly enforcing social distancing. Almost al the lines outside fast food joints are of Uber Eats drivers picking up deliveries. Otherwise not much happening in the name of economic activity.

Hang in there sir, I know it sounds scary. Please be careful walking alone long distance on deserted streets, muggers and robbers are not going to bother about silly things like COVID.

Your post contains lots of detail, it's possible to piece together a mathematical picture just from those details. Just from naive analysis, some semi-educated guesses (of course, the truth is nobody really knows what's going on):

* About 3.5% of your ZIP code has been sampled, that's a hefty sample size, statistically speaking
* The infection rate among those samples is ~55% - close to herd immunity range already
* Based on your figures of population density, number of blocks (you said 4-5 blocks in your neighborhood), considering average size blocks in Manhattan, with some hopefully reasonable assumptions:
------ The mortality rate so far (could increase of course, and of course you might not be aware of all deaths in your neighborhood) seems to be 0.6% of those infected, or about 0.3% of the full population

Your post did scare me, but it seems there is some hope. We will have to wait for full antibody testing, it's currently going on in LA, need to wait and see what the results are. In a town in northern Italy (Robbia), antibody testing has revealed that >22% of the population has already been infected (after sampling nearly 1/6th of the town's population, which again, is a hefty sample). In a small town (Gangelt) in Germany, it was about 15%. My guess is (hope to be right, but of course I have no way of knowing) that the virus has already rampaged through NYC, and done maybe 50% of the full scale of damage that it is capable of.

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 18 Apr 2020 01:21

Mollick.R wrote:What's wrong with mother Russia ???

They were doing pretty good initially. Grandmaster Putin closed China border, strict enforcement of law of (bear) land.
But current stat is 32008 Infected & 273 deaths.
Vast geographically spread out nation, still 32k in the early stage (as such it begin later there) is a bigggg number.

Israel also, considering total population, small size and military discipline of Yehudii desh they do have quite high numbers (12855 & 148).

Could be they are warming up as spring sets in?

There was a Chinese study that estimated floor and ceiling values for the ambient temperature in which the virus spreads the best. Most of Russia would have been below the floor value in winter..

Jay · Post by **Jay** » 18 Apr 2020 01:30

Mollick.R wrote:What's wrong with mother Russia ???

They were doing pretty good initially. Grandmaster Putin closed China border, strict enforcement of law of (bear) land.
But current stat is 32008 Infected & 273 deaths.
Vast geographically spread out nation, still 32k in the early stage (as such it begin later there) is a bigggg number.

Israel also, considering total population, small size and military discipline of Yehudii desh they do have quite high numbers (12855 & 148).

Apart from blocking some border region, Russia moved very late on every other metric and some of their leaders acted like Bolsonaro and tried to minimize the potential impact of COVID.

g.sarkar · Post by **g.sarkar** » 18 Apr 2020 02:19

https://www.ft.com/content/f3435779-a70 ... efbdd7777b
Countries reject China pandemic product batches
The Netherlands, Spain and Turkey question quality of face masks and tests
Michael Peel in Brussels, Mehreen Khan in London, Daniel Dombey in Madrid, Laura Pitel in Ankara MARCH 29 2020
Several countries in or neighbouring the EU have rejected Chinese-made coronavirus testing kits and protective equipment as substandard, raising concerns about the quality of supplies.
The Netherlands, Spain and Turkey have all claimed there have been problems with products including masks and tests, as rising confirmed cases of Covid-19 infection in Europe increase dependence on Chinese imports. The claims come as tensions grow over what the EU’s top diplomat has branded Beijing’s use of the “politics of generosity” in a “battle of narratives” over who were the most reliable international partners in the global crisis.
The Dutch health ministry said at the weekend it was forced to recall 600,000 face masks shipped from China on March 21 after they were found to be defective. The faults, which included the masks failing to fit the mouth and having insufficient filters, were found during inspections after some masks had already been distributed to hospitals, the government said.
......
Gautam

vijayk · Post by **vijayk** » 18 Apr 2020 02:28

https://www.financialexpress.com/lifest ... s/1930933/

Great step! Uttar Pradesh becomes first state in India to start pooled testing for Coronavirus

Uttar Pradesh has become the first state in India to start pool testing for Covid-19 infection. The state health department has tested 30 pools of five samples in Agra, one of the Covid-19 hotspots in the country and all tested negative, news agency ANI reported quoting UP Principal Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad today. There are as many as 14 testing labs in the state and all of them are conducting a test of over 2,000 samples every day, the report further stated. As of now, UP has 773 positive Covid-19 cases spread across 48 districts. The state health department has been able to cure 68 patients until today in the state, the report further said.

vijayk · Post by **vijayk** » 18 Apr 2020 06:09

https://spectator.us/stanford-study-sug ... -realized/
Stanford study suggests coronavirus is more widespread than realized

Another day, and yet more evidence has appeared that could indicate the number of people who have been infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, might be vastly higher than official figures suggest. This time a Californian study suggests the figure in one county could be more than 50 times the number who knew they had had the virus.

RohitH · Post by **RohitH** » 18 Apr 2020 06:10

Georgia State University virologist Mukesh Kumar ramped up a testing protocol in February just after reports emerged of the first U.S. cases of COVID-19, and on April 15, he released his findings about a promising candidate called auranofin.

Auranofin is a compound that contains gold and has been used since 1985 to treat rheumatoid arthritis (although it has been largely replaced by newer drugs). In tests in his high-level biosafety lab, Kumar and his colleagues found auranofin reduced the amount of coronavirus in infected cells by 95 percent just 48 hours after they were treated with one dose.

The drug also dramatically lowered the release of cytokines, proteins that send signals to the body’s immune system, summoning a response to an infection. When cytokines become overactive, COVID-19 patients sometimes suffer from severe lung damage caused by a “cytokine storm.”

https://www.atlantamagazine.com/health/ ... -covid-19/

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 18 Apr 2020 07:15

This looks like bad news in that there will be another spike in positive cases once testing ramps up in states that are not testing enough.

Wildly varying data across states makes comparisons difficult

In states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and a few others, roughly 80% of the active Covid-19 cases are asymptomatic, according to data collated by TOI. However, seven large states – including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Punjab – and all of those in the North-east have recorded zero asymptomatic cases.

Avarachan · Post by **Avarachan** » 18 Apr 2020 08:16

rohithome wrote:Georgia State University virologist Mukesh Kumar ramped up a testing protocol in February just after reports emerged of the first U.S. cases of COVID-19, and on April 15, he released his findings about a promising candidate called auranofin.

Auranofin is a compound that contains gold and has been used since 1985 to treat rheumatoid arthritis (although it has been largely replaced by newer drugs). In tests in his high-level biosafety lab, Kumar and his colleagues found auranofin reduced the amount of coronavirus in infected cells by 95 percent just 48 hours after they were treated with one dose.

The drug also dramatically lowered the release of cytokines, proteins that send signals to the body’s immune system, summoning a response to an infection. When cytokines become overactive, COVID-19 patients sometimes suffer from severe lung damage caused by a “cytokine storm.”

https://www.atlantamagazine.com/health/ ... -covid-19/

Thank you for posting this. Very interesting.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 18 Apr 2020 08:20

At least 20 Indian Navy personnel test positive for Covid-19

The navy men have been admitted in naval hospital INHS Asvini in Mumbai’s Colaba after testing positive for the novel coronavirus, informed two navy officials on the condition of anonymity.

"We have only eight positive cases in the entire Indian Army. Of the eight, two are doctors and one nursing assistant. Four are responding well to the treatment,” Army Chief General M.M Naravane said on Friday.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 18 Apr 2020 08:21

No mutation found in three virus strains in India: ICMR

“The initial samples had a virus sequence similar to what was found in Wuhan, China (where the outbreak began in December); the second sequence was what was circulating in Iran and has similarities to the Wuhan virus; and the third strain is what has been found in people infected in the United States or the United Kingdom,” he said at a press conference.

Avarachan · Post by **Avarachan** » 18 Apr 2020 08:42

Regarding the change in testing protocol in Mumbai, I recommend reading this article. It seems fair and even-handed.

https://indianexpress.com/article/coron ... l-6366146/

It appears that the problem is this: there are not enough testing kits. So, Mumbai has to prioritize whom to test. Before, the authorities were testing all close contacts of positive cases, whether they were symptomatic or not. Now, they will test everyone who is symptomatic, regardless of whether they had contact with a tested-positive person or not.

As per fresh guidelines issued Thursday, the BMC will test only symptomatic people (suffering from cough, cold, fever, breathlessness), pregnant women, dialysis patients, patients on chemotherapy, healthcare workers, senior citizens, symptomatic high-risk contacts, and some asymptomatic high risk-contacts.

BMC Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani said the testing protocol was modified to “better utilise” manpower and resources. “Earlier, only 4.5% of those tested in Mumbai came out positive.” On Wednesday, with narrower testing protocols, the positivity rate stood at 11%.

The ICMR had earlier advised testing for symptomatic people with travel history, contacts of confirmed cases, health workers and respiratory distress patients. On April 9, it widened the scope to symptomatic people in COVID-19 hotspots and migrant clusters.

There's another way of looking at this: essentially, the authorities are now admitting that there is community spread in Mumbai.

This is also interesting:

Auditing and then reporting a death [which is the new procedure in Mumbai] was also done during dengue and H1N1 outbreaks.

There is a debate on in other countries as well, including the US, UK and Spain, regarding how to count COVID-19 deaths. In the US, all deaths with coronavirus are being counted as COVID-19 deaths, with New York’s fatalities shooting up after it included several “presumed” cases as well in its toll. Spain is in the process of recounting its dead.

Avarachan · Post by **Avarachan** » 18 Apr 2020 08:45

Regarding Mumbai, this is a Twitter thread criticizing the change in testing protocol: https://twitter.com/MukulAgarwal66/stat ... 2192354304

This is a tweet from BMC (the authority in Mumbai) defending it:
https://twitter.com/mybmc/status/1250856201719615489

g.sarkar · Post by **g.sarkar** » 18 Apr 2020 09:11

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/17/worl ... dates.html
Nairobi’s governor falsely touts Cognac as a coronavirus cure.
The latest fake cure for the coronavirus making the rounds: drinking Cognac. This week, Mike Mbuvi Sonko, the governor of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, included small bottles of the alcoholic drink as part of care packages delivered to the city’s poor.
Mr. Sonko, who is known for his flamboyant lifestyle and was arrested last year over a multimillion-dollar corruption scandal, falsely argued that research by the World Health Organization had shown that alcohol played a “very major role” in killing the coronavirus.
Cognac, which he said would be distributed only to adults, “should act as a throat sanitizer. It kills the virus,” he said in a video while wearing sunglasses, a mask, a cap and a shield.
The local operation of Hennessy, the French Cognac distiller, rebutted Mr. Sonko’s claim in a statement, saying that its alcoholic beverages do not protect against the virus. The company urged people to wash their hands, practice social distancing and stay at home.
.....
Gautam
Drinking Cognac is a good idea any time and should be emulated everywhere. It might even act as a throat sanitizer, who knows?

Avarachan · Post by **Avarachan** » 18 Apr 2020 09:15

nam wrote:I so wish ICMR runs a study on the HCQ used by the medical professionals, police and contacts to see if it has helped to contain the viral load.

These are high probability cases and given the size, would give us a fairly good data.

Really don't know why we are not doing it.

Anyone has data on any deaths of medical professionals in India?

This is a good suggestion. Most people around the world have good intentions. However, some do not. A pandemic is a huge opportunity to re-structure societies, so India should be wary. India must be careful to plot its own path in this pandemic. That means India should be willing to conduct its own studies, experiment with its own medicines, develop its own vaccines, etc.

Regarding the HCQ trial in Brazil, I'll echo what someone else said: that trial tested an extremely high dose of HCQ. Was someone trying to tarnish the reputation of HCQ for some reason?
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/13/heal ... index.html

srin · Post by **srin** » 18 Apr 2020 09:50

I just learned something: the RTPCR test will come out positive even for dead RNA. So, if someone has been exposed but has fought off the infection without showing symptoms then it is likely to be flagged as a positive result ?

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 18 Apr 2020 10:26

https://twitter.com/AstrodocSahil/statu ... 2470195202

Dr Sahil Raj Solanki @AstrodocSahil

That's why everybody is asking for HydroxyChloroquine!
This article is from Harrison's Internal Medicine.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 18 Apr 2020 10:33

https://twitter.com/writetake/status/12 ... 7828791303

Anantha Krishnan M @writetake

NAL & MAF Clothing have developed Polyproplylene spun laminated multi-layered non-woven fabric based coverall to ensure the safety of doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and healthcare workers working 24x7 fighting #COVID19. | Press Release

Good to see multiple effort to get PPE of good quality.

However, shouldn't we ultimately focus on the best of the lot, on price, quality & ease of manufacturing/scaling and make it the de-facto standard across manufacturers?

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 18 Apr 2020 10:45

https://twitter.com/ARanganathan72/stat ... 5409026048

Anand Ranganathan @ARanganathan72

Great news. Based on @dasgobardhan's idea and proposal - that M(w) strain provides an even better immune response than BCG - India begins clinical trial of M(w) for CoVID patients.

Would have been nice had @drharshvardhan at least thanked Prof Das for it.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cit ... 189263.cms
Clinical trial of anti-leprosy drug for Covid-19 at AIIMS-Bhopal

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 18 Apr 2020 11:08

https://twitter.com/iiscbangalore/statu ... 8281064448

A team of researchers from IISc & an IISc-incubated startup is working on designing and deploying mobile diagnostic labs for COVID-19, to cut down the time taken for testing samples.
https://covid19.iisc.ac.in/mobile-diagn ... -covid-19/

Gyan · Post by **Gyan** » 18 Apr 2020 11:52

srin wrote:I just learned something: the RTPCR test will come out positive even for dead RNA. So, if someone has been exposed but has fought off the infection without showing symptoms then it is likely to be flagged as a positive result ?

This is very well known. For Eg. In India 90% people will test positive to PCR test of TB.

Similarly, for Chinese virus experts feel that actual spread is 10x-20x more than reported but all of them are asymptomatic. This is v.v. good news. Means that death rate is not 3% but 0.3% to 0.15%. If Indian population young demographics & HCQ use is considered then it might be only 0.03% to .015% or even lower for India.

http://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/documen ... update.pdf

https://twitter.com/FareedZakaria/statu ... 94404?s=19

https://twitter.com/ScottGottliebMD/sta ... 60901?s=19

https://www.masslive.com/coronavirus/20 ... elter.html

Which also indicates that policies of mass testing, strict lockdown, aggressive qurantines etc may be wrong. We should treat it as Ordinary infectious disease with Social Distancing, early treatment & targeted testing. Patients should be quarantined & treated at home unless hospitalization is required. HCQ should be started early for symptomatic patients and as prophylaxis for their contacts.

https://twitter.com/niro60487270/status ... 80897?s=19

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 18 Apr 2020 13:33

Another positive news ..

https://twitter.com/chitraSD/status/1251126905329397760

Chitra Subramaniam @chitraSD

#COVID19: With its cost effectiveness, the kit can be set up even in district level laboratories with trained laboratory technicians writes
@Sarithasbalan

@thenewsminute #Kerala #diagnosis #kits

https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/s ... ter-122779
Sree Chitra Institute develops coronavirus diagnostic kit that’s cheaper and faster

While the cost of the test is Rs 1000, the total time taken to process results will be cut down to 2 hours using the reverse transcriptase loop-mediated amplification of viral nucleic acid (RT-LAMP).

The RT PCR or real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction kit is the only one so far that can detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes the COVID-19 disease. However, besides being expensive (Rs 4500 for a test at a private lab), the kit takes at least 24 hours to process the results.

Cain Marko · Post by **Cain Marko** » 18 Apr 2020 14:22

Superb interview with Dr. Raman Gangadharkar of ICMR.

https://youtu.be/gmXjg7_gACc

Manish_P · Post by **Manish_P** » 18 Apr 2020 14:54

Fighting the good fight.. (underscores why hands-on work, be it screwdriver-giri, is so important)

Mumbai Cop’s son designs hands-free sanitising chamber

A police constable’s son has designed a cost-effective sanitising chamber that does away with the need to touch anything for operating it. The unit, which has been made for a production cost of merely Rs 15,000, has already been installed at five police stations in the city, and orders for more are pouring in.

Devised by Amit Kolekar, a final year M-Tech student of Rajaram Bapu Institute of Technology in Sangli, the unit allows frontline workers to be disinfected from head to toe within seconds. And instead of requiring handheld operation which increases the risk of infection, all the users have to do is push a pedal with their foot to activate it. Two nozzles fitted inside the enclosure then spray a mist of sanitising liquid. A 10-second ‘sanitising bath’ is enough to disinfect any surface, Kolekar says.

Kolekar, who has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, got a pump from a nearby godown, a few nozzles, a pedal and a shower, and got down to work. “In college, we are taught how to work with boilers, pumps and hydraulics. I just pulled up some YouTube tutorials and other DIYs for help,” he said.

“My aim is not profit. I see my father and his colleagues risking their life for others. This is for their safety,” Kolekar added. “The Rs 15,000 I charge are fully utilised for buying the materials and equipment. Plus, I also have pay an electrician who helps me install the unit"

“I have received good feedback about the unit. It’s cheap and very effective. And it’s a matter of pride for us that our constable’s son has come up with such an innovation to reduce his father’s plight,” said DCP Amit Kale of Thane Traffic Division.

In fact, the enclosure is so cost-effective that after the Covid-19 threat subsides, the pump can be reused for farming or to water gardens in parks or housing societies.

Kolekar is now also being approached by several housing societies for his invention.

anmol · Post by **anmol** » 18 Apr 2020 15:53

Universal Screening for SARS-CoV-2 in Women Admitted for Delivery
April 13, 2020

[..]After these two cases were identified, we implemented universal testing with nasopharyngeal swabs and a quantitative polymerase-chain-reaction test to detect SARS-CoV-2 infection in women who were admitted for delivery.

Figure 1.

Symptom Status and SARS-CoV-2 Test Results among 215 Obstetrical Patients Presenting for Delivery.
Between March 22 and April 4, 2020, a total of 215 pregnant women delivered infants at the New York–Presbyterian Allen Hospital and Columbia University Irving Medical Center . All the women were screened on admission for symptoms of Covid-19. Four women (1.9%) had fever or other symptoms of Covid-19 on admission, and all 4 women tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (Figure 1). Of the 211 women without symptoms, all were afebrile on admission. Nasopharyngeal swabs were obtained from 210 of the 211 women (99.5%) who did not have symptoms of Covid-19; of these women, 29 (13.7%) were positive for SARS-CoV-2. Thus, 29 of the 33 patients who were positive for SARS-CoV-2 at admission (87.9%) had no symptoms of Covid-19 at presentation.

Of the 29 women who had been asymptomatic but who were positive for SARS-CoV-2 on admission, fever developed in 3 (10%) before postpartum discharge (median length of stay, 2 days). Two of these patients received antibiotics for presumed endomyometritis (although 1 patient did not have localizing symptoms), and 1 patient was presumed to be febrile due to Covid-19 and received supportive care. One patient with a swab that was negative for SARS-CoV-2 on admission became symptomatic postpartum; repeat SARS-CoV-2 testing 3 days after the initial test was positive.

Our use of universal SARS-CoV-2 testing in all pregnant patients presenting for delivery revealed that at this point in the pandemic in New York City, most of the patients who were positive for SARS-CoV-2 at delivery were asymptomatic, and more than one of eight asymptomatic patients who were admitted to the labor and delivery unit were positive for SARS-CoV-2. Although this prevalence has limited generalizability to geographic regions with lower rates of infection, it underscores the risk of Covid-19 among asymptomatic obstetrical patients. Moreover, the true prevalence of infection may be underreported because of false negative results of tests to detect SARS-CoV-2.3

The potential benefits of a universal testing approach include the ability to use Covid-19 status to determine hospital isolation practices and bed assignments, inform neonatal care, and guide the use of personal protective equipment. Access to such clinical data provides an important opportunity to protect mothers, babies, and health care teams during these challenging times.

anmol · Post by **anmol** » 18 Apr 2020 16:11

Mechanism of thrombocytopenia in COVID-19 patients
Panyang Xu1 & Qi Zhou2 & Jiancheng Xu1
Received: 20 March 2020 /Accepted: 30 March 2020

Abstract
Since December 2019, a novel coronavirus has spread throughout China and across the world, causing a continuous increase in confirmed cases within a short period of time. Some studies reported cases of thrombocytopenia, but hardly any studies mentioned how the virus causes thrombocytopenia. We propose several mechanisms by which coronavirus disease 2019 causes thrombocytopenia to better understand this disease and provide more clinical treatment options.

High risk of thrombosis in patients in severe SARS-CoV-2 infection: a multicenter prospective cohort study

Abstract:

Purpose: Little evidence of increased thrombotic risk is available in COVID-19 patients. Our purpose was to assess thrombotic risk in severe forms of COVID-19 infection.

Methods: All patients referred to 4 intensive care units (ICUs) from two centers of a French tertiary hospital for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) due to COVID-19 between March 3rd and 31st 2020 were included. Medical history, symptoms, biological data and imaging were prospectively collected. Propensity score matching was performed to analyze the occurrence of thromboembolic events between non- COVID-19 ARDS and COVID-19 ARDS patients.

Results: 150 COVID-19 patients were included (122 men, median age 63 [53;71] years old, SAPSII 49 [37;64] points). Sixty-four clinically relevant thrombotic complications were diagnosed in 150 patients, mainly pulmonary embolisms (16.7%). 28/29 patients (96.6%) receiving continuous renal replacement therapy experienced circuit clotting. Three thrombotic occlusions (in 2 patients) of centrifugal pump occurred in 12 patients (8%) supported by ECMO. Most patients (>95%) had elevated D-dimer and fibrinogen. No patient developed disseminated intravascular coagulation. Von Willebrand (vWF) activity, vWF antigen and FVIII were considerably increased and 50/57 tested patients (87.7%) had positive lupus anticoagulant. Comparison with non-COVID-19 ARDS patients (n=145) confirmed that COVID-19 ARDS patients (n=77) developed significantly more thrombotic complications, mainly pulmonary embolisms (11.7 versus 2.1%, p<0.008). Coagulation parameters significantly differed between the two groups.

Conclusion: Despite anticoagulation, a high number of patients with ARDS secondary to COVID-19 developed life-threatening thrombotic complications. Higher anticoagulation targets than in usual critically ill patients should therefore probably be suggested.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 18 Apr 2020 18:42

Govt of KAR has reduced prices for testing the chinese virus in private labs

Karnataka govt has fixed the price of COVID-19 sample testing at Rs. 2250 after discussions with pvt labs

Cyrano · Post by **Cyrano** » 18 Apr 2020 21:30

anmol wrote:
Universal Screening for SARS-CoV-2 in Women Admitted for Delivery
April 13, 2020

[..]After these two cases were identified, we implemented universal testing with nasopharyngeal swabs and a quantitative polymerase-chain-reaction test to detect SARS-CoV-2 infection in women who were admitted for delivery.

Figure 1.

Symptom Status and SARS-CoV-2 Test Results among 215 Obstetrical Patients Presenting for Delivery.
Between March 22 and April 4, 2020, a total of 215 pregnant women delivered infants at the New York–Presbyterian Allen Hospital and Columbia University Irving Medical Center . All the women were screened on admission for symptoms of Covid-19. Four women (1.9%) had fever or other symptoms of Covid-19 on admission, and all 4 women tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (Figure 1). Of the 211 women without symptoms, all were afebrile on admission. Nasopharyngeal swabs were obtained from 210 of the 211 women (99.5%) who did not have symptoms of Covid-19; of these women, 29 (13.7%) were positive for SARS-CoV-2. Thus, 29 of the 33 patients who were positive for SARS-CoV-2 at admission (87.9%) had no symptoms of Covid-19 at presentation.

Of the 29 women who had been asymptomatic but who were positive for SARS-CoV-2 on admission, fever developed in 3 (10%) before postpartum discharge (median length of stay, 2 days). Two of these patients received antibiotics for presumed endomyometritis (although 1 patient did not have localizing symptoms), and 1 patient was presumed to be febrile due to Covid-19 and received supportive care. One patient with a swab that was negative for SARS-CoV-2 on admission became symptomatic postpartum; repeat SARS-CoV-2 testing 3 days after the initial test was positive.

Our use of universal SARS-CoV-2 testing in all pregnant patients presenting for delivery revealed that at this point in the pandemic in New York City, most of the patients who were positive for SARS-CoV-2 at delivery were asymptomatic, and more than one of eight asymptomatic patients who were admitted to the labor and delivery unit were positive for SARS-CoV-2. Although this prevalence has limited generalizability to geographic regions with lower rates of infection, it underscores the risk of Covid-19 among asymptomatic obstetrical patients. Moreover, the true prevalence of infection may be underreported because of false negative results of tests to detect SARS-CoV-2.3

The potential benefits of a universal testing approach include the ability to use Covid-19 status to determine hospital isolation practices and bed assignments, inform neonatal care, and guide the use of personal protective equipment. Access to such clinical data provides an important opportunity to protect mothers, babies, and health care teams during these challenging times.

Perhaps tightened immune system response during pregnancy or increased hormone levels like progesterone may be helping in combating Covid efficiently ?

What about the newborn babies? Since they are not mentioned, can one could conclude that they are at least non-symptomatic and that the virus is not transmissible from mother to baby ?

It would be interesting to analyse the blood of mother and child to check viral loads and antibody levels using both the types of testing currently available.

madhu · Post by **madhu** » 18 Apr 2020 22:00

I think we need to observe sweden carefully. They are doing completely different from rest of the world. This is in line with what jayprakash is telling.

Swedish expert: why lockdowns are the wrong policy

UK policy on lockdown and other European countries are not evidence-based
The correct policy is to protect the old and the frail only
This will eventually lead to herd immunity as a “by-product”
The initial UK response, before the “180 degree U-turn”, was better
The Imperial College paper was “not very good” and he has never seen an unpublished paper have so much policy impact
The paper was very much too pessimistic
Any such models are a dubious basis for public policy anyway
The flattening of the curve is due to the most vulnerable dying first as much as the lockdown
The results will eventually be similar for all countries
Covid-19 is a “mild disease” and similar to the flu, and it was the novelty of the disease that scared people.
The actual fatality rate of Covid-19 is the region of 0.1%
At least 50% of the population of both the UK and Sweden will be shown to have already had the disease when mass antibody testing becomes available

Deans · Post by **Deans** » 18 Apr 2020 22:20

DrRatnadip wrote:https://m.timesofindia.com/world/china/ ... 193108.cms

China revised number of dead..
still I dont believe in Chinese number of COVID fatalities..

Its standard psychology of a crook. Admit to a lesser offense in the hope that the larger one will be ignored.