Welcome to the newly revamped Key Developments, now twice weekly and with non-COVID news. Right now, it’s actually still just COVID news, but we’ll be slowly morphing it into something broader as we go.
The world has over 30.3 million cases. The world has added 2 million cases since last Thursday. There have been over 950,000 deaths. The US has nearly 6.9 million cases and has had over 202,000 deaths. Nearly 800 Americans have died from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. The US has gained over 41,000 new cases since yesterday. India is first in the world for daily case growth, with over 96,000 new cases. India has had over 1,100 deaths in the last 24 hours.
The Novovax phase 3 vaccine trial will begin this month. Novovax is the furthest along in its vaccine development among the all-protein vaccines. Novovax plans to supply 100 million doses to the US government should trials be successful.
The new Apple watch has a blood O2 sensor–just FYI:
The new #Apple Watch Series 6 features additional colors, a blood O2 sensor and an A13 based dual-core SOC that's 20% faster than Series 5. Prices starts at $399/$499. There's also a new mid-level SE model available at $279, and a bunch of new watch band styles. pic.twitter.com/AKaR3Bw9ur
— Jim Norris (@MisterSeven) September 15, 2020
The majority of business closures caused by the pandemic will be permanent. According to a Yelp Economic Impact Report, over 163,000 business have reported pandemic-related closures to the company, with only 40% of those businesses anticipating reopening. Restaurants and bars have been hardest hit.
Go-bags and prepping are becoming increasingly mainstream: USA Today offers some tips and rationale for doing disaster planning or creating a go-bag.
The Environmental Protection Agency has approved three more products from the maintenance and cleaning company Zep that kill coronavirus. Two different disinfectant cleaners and one detergent cleaner have been shown to kill the virus within 60 seconds of application. Zep has 17 other products that have been previously approved to do the same. Many well-known household products (like bleach) also kill the virus, but it’s good to see companies do the research and make their findings known.
Pfizer says its phase 3 vaccine trials show mild to moderate side effects, and says that the side effect profile is similar to placebo.
Here’s an interesting (and disconcerting) case study and thread—Parkinson’s Disease after COVID-19 infection. There’s no definitive connection at this point, but it’s something to keep an eye on:
Parkinson's disease diagnosed after #SARSCoV2 in a 45 year-old-man https://t.co/SPLKDm1A2U @TheLancetNeuro
This has been reported with many other viruses but appears to be the 1st case with covid, very extensive workup pic.twitter.com/AtQfQXxjtm— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) September 17, 2020
After six months of living with the virus in real life, it looks like droplet and airborne transmission of the virus are bigger problems than surface contamination. Mask wearing and hand washing probably have more impact on safety than washing or disinfecting your groceries.
