Different Takes: Best Ways To Get Control Of COVID; Worry About Vaccines Extends Beyond Anti-Vaxxers

Fox News: Controlling Coronavirus — This Plan Could Allow Us To Safely Reopen By Oct. 1 
The U.S. is experiencing a significant resurgence of COVID-19 this summer, especially in the South and possibly now the Midwest. We have a path to contain the virus, reset the nation and renew American optimism. The summer of 2020 saw a dramatic surge in COVID-19 across the Southern United States. By July, more than 20 percent of the new confirmed daily global COVID-19 cases occurred across the southern states from Florida to California. The deaths are also increasing, so that in some states COVID-19 has become a leading cause of daily deaths – a situation similar to what we saw in New York and New Jersey last spring. (Peter Hotez and Anne Rimoin, 7/29)

The Washington Post: Here’s What It Could Look Like If Schools Reopened Today
The novel coronavirus is spreading uncontrolled in more than 20 states. Let’s say that the prevalence of the virus in a community is 1 in 100. A school with 1,000 students could have 10 people walk in on day one who are unknowingly infecting others. Many who favor on-time reopening cite a recent large study from South Korea that found that children younger than 10 are half as likely to spread the coronavirus as adults. But half of a lot of transmission is still a lot. And the same study found that kids older than 10 transmit the virus at the same rate as adults. If one person spreads it to two or three others who then spread it to contacts at school and at home, there will almost certainly be outbreaks within a matter of weeks. (Leana S. Wen, 7/28)

Bloomberg: Coronavirus: It’s Not Just Anti-Vaxxers Who Worry About Vaccines
With any luck, one of the handful of promising Covid-19 vaccines currently going through human trials will meet with regulatory approval, maybe even in time for winter. One thing worrying public health officials, though, is what happens if a significant number of people don’t want to be vaccinated. Vaccines are responsible for saving millions of lives every year, and yet there has always been a small but hardcore contingent of anti-vaxxers that rejects the science or buys into conspiracy theories about immunizations. Unfortunately, their ranks are growing during the current crisis. National health authorities, along with the World Health Organization, are engaged in a furious game of whack-a-mole as they try to knock down the conspiracy theories and correct misinformation. (Therese Raphael, 7/29)

The New York Times: Remdesivir Could Be In Short Supply. Here’s A Fix. 
Remdesivir is no Covid-19 miracle cure. We do not even know yet if it saves lives, but clinical trials do show that it can shorten hospital stays, and right now it’s the only drug known to interfere with coronavirus activity in the body. Doctors everywhere rightly want to give it to severely ill patients. Yet as coronavirus cases surge, we’re facing critical supply and distribution problems. Hospitals in hot spots like Florida and Texas report having little or no remdesivir on hand while the drug sits on shelves elsewhere. And without government action to ensure an adequate supply, we will most likely face worse shortages by September. (Amy Kapczynski, Paul Biddinger and Rochelle Walensky, 7/28)

Stat: Telehealth Makes Me Aspire To Be The Kind Of Physician I Used To Be 
In my nearly quarter-century as a primary care pediatrician, I have always aspired to be present and complete. I do my best to keep my eyes on the patient, to listen to every concern, to examine each child from head to toe, and to communicate as clearly as possible. Covid-19 has forced me to practice a different kind of medicine — the kind where you keep your distance and do exactly what is “essential,” but no more. These changes have been necessary, for now, but there is much we have yet to learn about their long-term implications. (Dorothy Novick, 7/29)

Des Moines Register: Patricia Quinlisk Explains Why She Favors An Iowa Mask Mandate
This morning, I got up early, as I often do on Sunday morning, so that I could go and do my grocery shopping during the special hour reserved for those at high risk of serious disease and death from COVID-19. Unfortunately, being 65, I am old enough to be at high risk.When I got there, with my mask securely in place, I walked in past the signs strongly encouraging everyone to wear a mask, and offering a mask to anyone who didn’t have one. As I shopped, I noticed that all the employees were wearing masks. (Thanks, grocery store!) Then, as I shopped, two groups of young people entered; none were wearing masks. A few minutes later, several bicyclists arrived; they were not wearing masks either. Nor did I see any of them — at any point — put on masks while they shopped. By the time I left the store, which was before the special hour was over, more than half of the customers were not wearing masks around us high-risk folks. (Patricia Quinlisk, 7/28)

Stat: Quality Issues May Be A Stumbling Block For Contact Tracing Apps 
The world is in a rush to find ways to fight Covid-19. This urgency makes sense for a pandemic that has killed more than a half-million people since it began in late December. But if the quality of these solutions is subpar, then users may turn away not only from these faulty solutions but may lose confidence in broader efforts and scientific development to combat Covid-19, putting public health at significant risk. (Elissa M. Redmiles, 7/28)

CNN: How Covid-19 Death Rates Can Be Dangerously Misleading
An interesting moment in Fox News reporter Chris Wallace's memorable interview of President Donald was a confusing back and forth about Covid-19 related deaths. The President claimed that the US had the "number one low mortality rate" in the world -- whereas Wallace insisted the US had little to crow about. Though it is clear that Trump is completely wrong, comparing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the mortality of each affected country turns out be a very tricky business. Because no one metric is perfect, especially when used to compare impact across countries, there is a large corner of epidemiology dedicated to how to most accurately tabulate death. (Dr. Kent Sepkowitz, 7/28)

Stat: Pandemics Wreak Devastation — But Spark Biomedical Innovation 
There are no “silver linings” in the dark cloud of Covid-19. Yet if history repeats itself, substantial biomedical innovation will emerge from this pandemic, as necessity fosters innovation. (Valdas Jurkauskas, 7/29)