Scientists See Clear Seasonal Pattern To Where Outbreak Is Growing Fastest, But Warn Not To Pin Hopes On Summer

The New York Times: Warmer Weather May Slow, But Not Halt Coronavirus
Communities living in warmer places appear to have a comparative advantage to slow the transmission of coronavirus infections, according to an early analysis by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The researchers found that most coronavirus transmissions had occurred in regions with low temperatures, between 37.4 and 62.6 degrees Fahrenheit (or 3 and 17 degrees Celsius). While countries with equatorial climates and those in the Southern Hemisphere, currently in the middle of summer, have reported coronavirus cases, regions with average temperatures above 64.4 degrees Fahrenheit (or 18 degrees Celsius) account for fewer than 6 percent of global cases so far. (Sheikh and Londono, 3/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Outbreaks Could Become Seasonal Woe, Some Researchers Find
As Covid-19 circles the globe, the most severe outbreaks so far clustered in areas of cool, dry seasonal weather, according to four independent research groups in the U.S., Australia and China that analyzed how temperature and humidity affect the coronavirus that causes the disease. If their conclusions are borne out, sweltering summer months ahead might offer a lull in new cases across the heavily populated temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, they said. Even so, several of the scientists predicted that the disease would resurge in autumn, when cooler temperatures and low humidity again favor survival and transmission of the SARS-CoV2 coronavirus responsible for the illness. (Hotz, 3/23)

The Associated Press: COVID-19 Lung Patterns Show Few Clues For Treating Pneumonia
Scans of the lungs of the sickest COVID-19 patients show distinctive patterns of infection, but so far those clues offer little help in predicting which patients will pull through. For now, doctors are relying on what’s called supportive care that’s standard for severe pneumonia. Doctors in areas still bracing for an onslaught of sick patients are scouring medical reports and hosting webinars with Chinese doctors to get the best advice on what works and what hasn’t. (Neergaard, 3/22)

The New York Times: Lost Sense Of Smell May Be Peculiar Clue To Coronavirus Infection
A mother who was infected with the coronavirus couldn’t smell her baby’s full diaper. Cooks who can usually name every spice in a restaurant dish can’t smell curry or garlic, and food tastes bland. Others say they can’t pick up the sweet scent of shampoo or the foul odor of kitty litter. Anosmia, the loss of sense of smell, and ageusia, an accompanying diminished sense of taste, have emerged as peculiar telltale signs of Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and possible markers of infection. (Rabin, 3/22)

ProPublica: A Medical Worker Describes Terrifying Lung Failure From COVID-19 — Even In His Young Patients
As of Friday, Louisiana was reporting 479 confirmed cases of COVID-19, one of the highest numbers in the country. Ten people had died. The majority of cases are in New Orleans, which now has one confirmed case for every 1,000 residents. New Orleans had held Mardi Gras celebrations just two weeks before its first patient, with more than a million revelers on its streets. I spoke to a respiratory therapist there, whose job is to ensure that patients are breathing well. (Presser, 3/21)

CNN: 12-Year-Old Girl Hospitalized And On A Ventilator 
Emma, a 12-year-old girl, is "fighting for her life" in an Atlanta hospital after testing positive for the coronavirus, according to her cousin. Justin Anthony told CNN that Emma was diagnosed with pneumonia on March 15 and tested positive for coronavirus on Friday night. As of Saturday, she was on a ventilator and is currently in stable condition, Anthony said. Emma had no pre-existing conditions. She has not traveled recently and it's unknown how she contracted the virus, according to Anthony. (Walker, Spells and Alonso, 3/22)

Los Angeles Times: How Do You Get Coronavirus?
The new coronavirus has traveled unseen paths from Wuhan, China, to virtually all corners of the globe. Evidence of its movements abounds, from the proliferation of people wearing face masks to the sudden absence of toilet paper on store shelves. How did a virus that didn’t even exist just a few months ago manage to infect more than 300,000 people and cause more than 13,000 deaths? How exactly does this pathogen spread? (Lin, 3/22)

The Wall Street Journal: In The Coronavirus ‘Infodemic,’ Here’s How To Avoid Bad Information
The same coronavirus post kept popping up on my Facebook FB -2.22% feed last week. People in my network—a friend’s mom, a college classmate and another “friend,” who I’m not sure I’ve even met in person—had somehow obtained identical symptom and treatment guidance from Stanford University. There were details about an at-home testing technique involving breath holding, as well as something truly dubious about sipping water every 15 minutes. On March 12, the university said the text was “not from Stanford.” (Nguyen, 3/22)

ABC News: White Supremacists Encouraging Their Members To Spread Coronavirus To Cops, Jews, FBI Says 
Racist extremist groups, including neo-Nazis and other white supremacists, are encouraging members who contract novel coronavirus disease to spread the contagion to cops and Jews, according to intelligence gathered by the FBI. In an alert obtained by ABC News, the FBI’s New York office reports that "members of extremist groups are encouraging one another to spread the virus, if contracted, through bodily fluids and personal interactions." (Margolin, 3/22)

Stat: Coronavirus Strikes At The Vulnerablity Of People With Health Conditions
An infection from the coronavirus can be a formidable threat to anyone. But it is especially pernicious for people whose health is vulnerable, even in the best of conditions. For Andrea Pietrowsky, that means her husband is not coming home. (Joseph, 3/23)

The Hill: Language Barriers Hamper Coronavirus Response 
Non-English-speaking communities are increasingly concerned that coronavirus information is being communicated to them after the rest of the country and in less detail, creating a divide that could put minority groups at greater risk of contracting the virus. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has Spanish and Simplified Chinese translations for its main COVID-19 website, but without all the resources that are available on the English-language site. And public service announcements produced by the federal government that come out in English sometimes aren’t followed by a Spanish translation until the following day. (Moreno and Bernal, 3/22)

Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus Outbreak May Be Over Sooner Than You Think
Michael Levitt, a Nobel laureate and Stanford biophysicist, began analyzing the number of COVID-19 cases worldwide in January and correctly calculated that China would get through the worst of its coronavirus outbreak long before many health experts had predicted. Now he foresees a similar outcome in the United States and the rest of the world. (Mozingo, 3/22)

Stat: I Asked Eight Chatbots If I Had Covid-19. The Answers Varied Widely
U.S. hospitals, public health authorities, and digital health companies have quickly deployed online symptom checkers to screen patients for signs of Covid-19. The idea is simple: By using a chatbot powered by artificial intelligence, they can keep anxious patients from inundating emergency rooms and deliver sound health advice from afar. Or at least that was the pitch. (Ross, 3/23)

The Associated Press: Grieving And Saying Goodbye In The Time Of Coronavirus
Tucked deep in the obituary for Charles Recka was an announcement that a Mass celebrating his 87 years of life “will be held at a later date.” Such notices are increasing amid the coronavirus pandemic, as an untold number of burials around the globe go forward with nothing more than a priest, a funeral home employee and a single loved one. (Babwin and Taxin, 3/23)