Coronavirus Breaking News

The UAE's Health minister Abdulrahman Al-Owais announced on September 14, 2020, the vaccine would be available for “first-line-of-defense heroes, who are most at risk of catching COVID-19, protecting them from any danger that they may be exposed to due to the nature of their work," reported Arab News.

Al-Owais added the results of the third phase trials 'showed that the vaccine is safe, effective, and resulted in a strong response through the generation of antibodies against the virus, and about 31,000 volunteers had taken part in the clinical trials.'

The New Crown COVID-19 is an inactivated vaccine that is made of virus particles that are grown in culture and lack disease-producing capability.

India's Mateon Therapeutics announced on September 14, 2020, that its global study based on its ARTI-19 protocol for Artemisinin Intervention against COVID-19 has been cleared for patient enrollment in India. This trial will compare the efficacy of oral doses with standard-of-care versus SOC alone.

Artemisinin is reported to target multiple viral threats including COVID-19 by suppressing both viral replication and clinical symptoms that arise from viral infection. Viral replication cannot occur without TGF-β.

Artemisinin, purified from a plant Artemisia annua, is able to inhibit TGF-β activity and is able to neutralize SARS-CoV-2 in vitro at an EC50 of 0.45 ug/ml, and a Safety Index of 140, which is better than remdesivir and chloroquine, stated the company.

In a research letter published by the JAMA Cardiology on September 11, 2020, researchers performed cardiac MRIs on college athletes (20 years of age; 58% men) who were referred to the sports medicine clinic after testing positive for COVID-19 between June and August 2020. None of the patients required hospitalization or were treated with antiviral therapy for COVID-19.

Of 26 competitive athletes, 4 (15%) had cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) findings suggestive of myocarditis, and 8 additional athletes (30.8%) exhibited late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) without T2 elevation, which is suggestive of prior myocardial injury.

These researchers concluded saying 'cardiac magnetic resonance imaging has the potential to identify a high-risk cohort for adverse outcomes and may, importantly, risk stratify athletes for safe participation because CMR mapping techniques have a high negative predictive value to rule out myocarditis.'

This analysis is important since previous studies have identified myocarditis is a significant cause of sudden cardiac death in competitive athletes and can occur with normal ventricular function.

India's health minister Harsh Vardhan said on September 14, 2020, the 'government is considering issuing emergency authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine, so that it can be made available at the earliest date for those in high-risk groups, including senior citizens, and healthcare workers reported the Times of India.

Minister Vardhan added: 'no date has been fixed for the vaccine's launch.'

A new study published by the JAMA on September 3, 2020, provides the first assessment of the association of vitamin D deficiency and potentially insufficient treatment with testing positive for COVID-19. This multivariable analysis suggests that persons who are likely to have deficient vitamin D levels at the time of COVID-19 testing were at substantially higher risk of testing positive for COVID-19 than were persons who were likely to have sufficient levels.

These researchers stated 'Vitamin D modulates immune function through effects on dendritic cells and T cells,40 which may promote viral clearance and reduce inflammatory responses that produce symptoms.'

<<Test for Vitamin D levels >>

However, since vitamin D deficiency may be increased by many factors that could be associated with COVID-19 risk, including age, obesity, diabetes, and chronic illness more generally, observed associations of vitamin D with outcomes in almost any observational study may fail to accurately reflect any potential causal effects of vitamin D on outcomes.

In summary, this study suggests 'randomized clinical trials are needed to determine whether broad population interventions and interventions among groups at increased risk of vitamin D deficiency and COVID-19 could reduce COVID-19 incidence.'

New quarantine recommendations have been issued by the Ingham County Health Department on September 12, 2020, for all local Michigan State University (MSU) students due to an alarming surge in COVID-19 cases. The health department strongly recommends all local MSU students immediately self-quarantine in their campus-area home or residence hall for the next 2-weeks.

As of August 30, 2020, there were 124 MSU students who tested positive for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 pneumonia. These off-campus student cases do not appear to be linked to a particular event.

Based in East Lansing, Michigan, MSU reported it's Fall 2020 student population has reached 49,809.

As of September 12, 2020, the state of Michigan reported a 5.9% COVID-19 case fatality rate during 2020, with the majority of Michigan's 123,000 coronavirus cases confirmed in Wayne (33,276), Oakland (19,348), and Macomb (13,917) counties, which are located near the city of Detroit, over 90 miles from the MSU campus.

Israel's increasing rate of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection is inching hospitals closer to maximum capacity, says a report by the military Coronavirus Command and Control Center on September 13, 2020. This new report said that the coronavirus is rapidly spreading in Israel, adding that the rate of infection is the highest recorded since the outbreak began.

In response, the Israeli government is considering a 2-week lockdown, reported Haaretz.

According to the pending proposal, the education system will cease its activities as early as September 16th, besides distance learning.

During the lockdown, the entire country of Israel will be considered a "red" zone, and people will be restricted to a 500-meter radius from their place of residence. All businesses, commerce, domestic tourism, places of entertainment, and government offices that serve people in person will be closed, with the exception of essential services, grocery stores, and supermarkets, pharmacies, hardware stores, medical supply stores, and computer and cellphone stores and repair facilities. And, restaurants will be limited to delivery and takeout service.

One month after being formed, the Israel Defense Forces’ Coronavirus Command recently began its 2nd stage of operations, taking over epidemiological tracking efforts nationwide.

According to the “traffic light” model, Israeli cities have been divided into red, orange, yellow, and green categories with different restrictions applied in light of each locale’s infection rate, as epidemiological testing has begun nationwide.