Dr. Stuart Weiss: COVID-19 Update Wednesday 22-July-2020
By Dr. Stuart Weiss, Intelligent Crowd Solutions
Dr. Stuart Weiss, FACEP, FAAP, CBCP
July 22, 2020
Today’s topics: Three interesting questions for today on Masks, herd immunity and sperm counts.
There was a typo in the US stats yesterday. Thanks for noticing and sending me email.
| Today, I want to address three questions that were submitted to me over the past day. Q1: If we are wearing face masks, do we still need to be outside and social distance? So the short answer is yes! There has been a disturbing trend recently that I have been seeing here in NYC. Almost everyone I see on the street is wearing a face covering (not to be confused with an N-95 or surgical mask). People have gotten used to wearing them and have now begun to forget about the other equally important actions to stop the spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus. And then someone asked me this very question. It is important to remember that face coverings stop some of the large particles from flying out of your mouth and nose when you are talking or sneezing or coughing, etc.. It doesn’t stop all of the larger particles and it especially doesn’t stop the really small aerosol particles that we now know spread the virus as well. But it does stop some of them and it will decrease the number of particles in the air you breathe. Remember that in order to get an infective dose of virus particles into your body to make you sick, it depends on the virus concentration in the air x how long you breathe that air. If we can reduce the virus concentration, it makes things better. But even with that reduction, if you are close to an infected person or spend a long time inside with them, you will reach the infective dose and get sick. That is the reason that outdoors is safer and social distancing is still really important. Its the combination of these strategies that will knock down the viral spread. So we mustn’t get complacent about social distancing and taking it outside. Face coverings alone will not get us to where we need to be. Q2: Isn’t lock-down bad, don’t we want herd immunity? This question was sent to me earlier this week and a letter to the editor in the New England Journal of Medicine came out yesterday that addressed this. This was a letter to the editor and not a peer reviewed study so we need more research on this topic. In this “mini-study” the researchers looked at 34 participants with mild CoViD-19 disease. There were 20 women and 14 men and the average age was 43 years (range 21-68). They checked these folks for anti-SARS-CoV-2 Spike receptor binding IgG. They took measurements at around 37 days after onset of illness and 86 days. They found that antibody levels drops by half at 73 days and if that were continued, people wouldn’t be protected very long. We don’t know exactly how much antibody you need to be protected but this rapid decrease means that the idea of herd immunity or immunity passports won’t work. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first report of rapid decline in antibody levels.We have to hope we have a better and longer lasting response from the vaccines that are being developed. In fact, the Oxford vaccine is important because it stimulates both antibodies and killer T-cells which may help to keep us immune longer. Q3: If my college age son get CoViD-19, will it affect his fertility? This question came from a concerned parent who admitted that her son and most of his friends probably are not worried about their long term fertility but I guess she wants grandchildren someday. I hadn’t read anything about this and I looked at a couple of sources. What I found is that there are many ACE-2 receptor sites on cells in the testicles so there definitely would be a theoretical risk of orchitis (inflammation of the testes) and possible damage. I did read a report of some testicular inflammation noted in people who had died of SARS-1 virus ten years ago. But I couldn’t find anything definitive about SARS-CoV-2. So there is no good answer that I can find. If anyone has seen some good literature about this, please forward it to me. Be well and take care of yourself. There are storm clouds on the horizon. –Dr. Stu |
COVID-19 HEADLINES FOR TODAY
| Coronavirus update for July 22, 2020 World Wide Updates Covid-19 will spread to schools in areas where there is community transmission, WHO official says At least 153 coronavirus cases among US military bases in Japan Brazil’s president again tests positive for Covid-19 Stern warnings issued to fans amid Liverpool’s historic Premier League trophy presentation Nearly one in four people in Delhi may have contracted Covid-19, study reveals Hong Kong mandates masks in public indoors areas, requires some travelers to test negative before flying India records 37,724 new coronavirus cases, bringing total to just under 1.2 million Japan reports 633 new virus cases Brain fog, fatigue, breathlessness. Rehab centers set up across Europe to read long-term effects of coronavirus The Australian state of Victoria suffers worst day for new coronavirus cases, despite two weeks of lockdown Indonesia reports 1,655 new Covid-19 cases, total number nears 90,000 Argentina sees record new coronavirus cases and deaths Mexico surpasses 40,000 Covid-19 deaths Colombia’s coronavirus death toll surpasses 7,000 Brazil reports more than 41,000 new coronavirus cases EU leaders strike ‘historic’ $2 trillion deal to rebuild Europe’s economy Spain sees worrying uptick in coronavirus outbreaks as lockdown eases Africa’s confirmed Covid-19 cases exceed 750,000 Total Cases Worldwide: 15,232,783 Total Deaths Worldwide: 622,556 Total Recovered: 9,196,995 US Updates At least 53 hospital ICUs are out of beds in Florida New York’s MTA: Covid-19 pandemic has created “the most challenging” budget crisis Illinois reports highest daily total of new Covid-19 cases this month New Jersey reports nearly 400 new Covid-19 cases Massachusetts governor says state’s positivity rate is lower than it was prior to reopening United Airlines says it has banned fewer than 30 passengers for mask violations Baltimore mandates face coverings and suspends indoor dining Young people are driving the spread of Covid-19 cases in Los Angeles Schumer slams Republicans’ “disarray” on next Covid-19 relief bill Florida reports more than 9,700 additional Covid-19 cases More than 100,000 people have signed up for Covid-19 vaccine clinical trials, Fauci says Citing safety, Lowe’s will not require employees to enforce customer mask mandate ICU beds in Florida’s Broward County are at 90% capacity, mayor says FEMA chief says agency has “a ways to go” on PPE, but current supply is “healthy” 47% of Covid-19 deaths in Florida linked to long-term care facilities US commercial labs won’t be able to cope with a testing surge during flu season, Quest executive warns Vaccines sponsored by the US government will be free or affordable, health secretary says There’s a “tsunami” of patients in Hidalgo County in South Texas, a Covid-19 hot spot Fairfax County Public Schools will begin it’s fall with online-only classes US lawmakers perplexed by billions in unspent Covid-19 testing money Indianapolis 500 to require fans wear face coverings UC Berkeley to begin fall semester online only US signs contract with Pfizer for 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses 13 nuns at the same Michigan convent dead from COVID- 19 Judge denies blanket motion to release families from ICE custody due to the pandemic Total US cases: 4,062,293 Total US deaths: 145,405 Total Recovered: 1,897,680 Total Tested in US: 47,224,382 Total cases in NY: 436,379 Total deaths in NY: 32,609 Total cases in CA: 413,576 Total deaths in CA: 7,891 Total cases in FL: 379,619 Total deaths in FL: 5,347 Total cases in TX: 357,127 Total deaths in TX: 4,299 |
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