Daily Dose - 4/1/2020
A rundown of science news from across disciplines
The most dangerous game is man. The most joyful game is baby pangolin. The most terrifying game is RNA virus, followed by fledgling bird. The most acrimonious game is otter vs mollusk. The weirdest, most frustrating game is also man. The most soothing game is fern. Welcome to the Daily Dose.
Sorry for being gone so long my sweet nerds, but *gestures vaguely at the world* you know.
In today’s news: COVID-19 update (obvi)
COVID-19 Update
Iceland has been enacting a massive effort to test a huge sample of its population for COVID-19—more than 10,000 out of its population of ~364,000, including people who show no symptoms. While this large-scale testing effort would be much less feasible in other nations with larger and less concentrated populations, the data it has yielded has provided the global community with crucial information about the disease, most crucially, that over half of people who tested positive for COVID-19 in Iceland were asymptomatic. You can read more on their data here.
As most of us have heard by now, COVID-19 has a markedly more significant risk of fatality for the elderly. A recent study has shown that compared to the 0.3% fatality rate in patients in their 40s, 4% of patients in their 60s have died from COVID-19, and that rate only increases as patients get older, more than doubling to an 8.6% fatality rate for patients in their 70s, and jumping to 13.4% for patients 80 and older. However, chronic illness and comorbid conditions resulting from age may be only partially responsible for this dramatic increase in susceptibility. Some experts think that the natural decline in the body’s immune system in relation to aging may help explain why older patients are less able to stave off the virus.
A study out yesterday from Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report has shown that almost 80% of intensive-care cases of people diagnosed with COVID-19 in the US had pre-existing underlying conditions that have been shown to contribute to hospitalization and poor health outcomes. The study also found that these patients with reported underlying health conditions also made up 71% of patients hospitalized.
Two models out from the Imperial College in London have shown that: 1) COVID-19 could have had the potential to infect upwards of 90% of the world’s population had infection-control measures not been put in place, and 2) that mitigation measures such as national lockdowns may have prevented anywhere from 21,000 to 120,000 additional deaths across Europe. You can read the reports from both modeling projects here and here.
Financial Times has modeled the number of daily cases of COVID-19 over time in various countries using data from the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention. See more in the article for more comprehensive modelings of case timelines and response measures across the globe.
In today’s personal news: Social distancing is hard, but I’d like to give a quick shoutout to all my friends and loved ones and how we’ve found the most creative ways to connect while maintaining social distance. From frequent FaceTimes, to group online Killer Queen tournaments while Zooming, to simul-streaming the same Netflix movie, to my first ever Zoom birthday party, to long sunny walks together yet 6 feet apart, we’ve been finding ways to make it work and keep each other sane and supported. I love y’all. You’re all so hot and so funny and so great. Mostly hot though.
Also, here’s a photo of my cat smelling my foot like the perv he is.
Anyways, that’s it nerds. Love ya stay safe and stay well and remember to check-in on your friends and loved ones xoxo
Happy birthday bb