India has a sixth of the world's population and a sixth of the reported cases. However, it accounts for only 10% of the world's deaths from the virus, and its case fatality rate or CFR.

Coronavirus: India's fatality rate remains the lowest in the world

The COVID-19 (coronavirus pandemic) has an adverse effect on the world’s Economy and Trade. According to the reports, global economic growth is expected to see a contraction of over 3 percent in 2020.

Aviation industry is struggling globally | Is the worst over for aviation industry?

"The virus is spreading across France at a speed that even the most pessimistic did not predict... As elsewhere in Europe, we are overwhelmed by a second wave that will probably be more difficult and deadly than the first," Macron said.

'COVID-19's 2nd wave will be more difficult and deadly', says Emmanuel Macron

Britain's Prince William contracted COVID-19 in April at a similar time when his father Prince Charles did.

The British media reported late on Sunday, citing Kensington Palace sources, that William, grandson of Queen Elizabeth and second-in-line to the British throne, kept his diagnosis a secret because he did not want to alarm the country.

"There were important things going on and I didn't want to worry anyone," William was quoted by The Sun newspaper as having told an observer at an engagement.

According to BBC, he was treated by palace doctors and followed government guidelines by isolating at the family home Anmer Hall, in Norfolk. He still carried out 14 telephone and video call engagements during April.

"William was hit pretty hard by the virus - it really knocked him for six. At one stage he was struggling to breathe, so obviously everyone around him was pretty panicked," a source told The Sun.

The residence of William's father, Prince Charles, had said on March 25 that Charles tested positive for the coronavirus. The heir to the throne had self-isolated at his residence in Scotland for seven days with mild symptoms.

Britain has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak and has reported 46,717 COVID-19 deaths - defined as those dying within 28 days of a positive test. A broader measure of those with COVID-19 on their death certificates puts the toll at 58,925.&nbsp;

Britain's Prince William contracted COVID-19 in April at a similar time when his father Prince Charles did. The British media reported late on Sunday, citing Kensington Palace sources, that William, grandson of Queen Elizabeth and second-in-line to the British throne, kept his diagnosis a secret because he did not want to alarm the country.

Britain's Prince William contracted COVID-19 in April at a similar time when his father Prince Charles did. The British media reported late on Sunday, citing Kensington Palace sources, that William, grandson of Queen Elizabeth and second-in-line to the British throne, kept his diagnosis a secret because he did not want to alarm the country. "There were important things going on and I didn't want to worry anyone," William was quoted by The Sun newspaper as having told an observer at an engagement. According to BBC, he was treated by palace doctors and followed government guidelines by isolating at the family home Anmer Hall, in Norfolk. He still carried out 14 telephone and video call engagements during April. "William was hit pretty hard by the virus - it really knocked him for six. At one stage he was struggling to breathe, so obviously everyone around him was pretty panicked," a source told The Sun. The residence of William's father, Prince Charles, had said on March 25 that Charles tested positive for the coronavirus. The heir to the throne had self-isolated at his residence in Scotland for seven days with mild symptoms. Britain has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak and has reported 46,717 COVID-19 deaths - defined as those dying within 28 days of a positive test. A broader measure of those with COVID-19 on their death certificates puts the toll at 58,925.

Britain's Prince William contracted COVID-19 in April, reports say

The World Health Organisation (WHO) chief has self-quarantined&nbsp;after someone he had been in contact with tested positive for coronavirus. He informed about this late Sunday, but stressed he had no symptoms.

"I have been identified as a contact of someone who has tested positive for #COVID19," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a tweet.

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I have been identified as a contact of someone who has tested positive for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#COVID19</a>. I am well and without symptoms but will self-quarantine over the coming days, in line with <a href="https://twitter.com/WHO?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WHO</a> protocols, and work from home.
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) <a href="https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1323032927492542465?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 1, 2020</a></blockquote>
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"I am well and without symptoms but will self-quarantine over the coming days, in line with @WHO protocols, and work from home," he added.

Tedros has been at the forefront of the United Nations health agency's efforts to battle the pandemic,&nbsp;which has claimed nearly 1.2 million lives and infected over 46 million people worldwide since emerging in China late last year.

The WHO chief&nbsp;stressed that "it is critically important that we all comply with health guidance."

"This is how we will break chains of #COVID19 transmission, suppress the virus, and protect health systems."

The World Health Organisation (WHO) chief has self-quarantined after someone he had been in contact with tested positive for coronavirus. He informed about this late Sunday, but stressed he had no symptoms.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) chief has self-quarantined after someone he had been in contact with tested positive for coronavirus. He informed about this late Sunday, but stressed he had no symptoms. "I have been identified as a contact of someone who has tested positive for #COVID19," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a tweet. I have been identified as a contact of someone who has tested positive for #COVID19. I am well and without symptoms but will self-quarantine over the coming days, in line with @WHO protocols, and work from home. — Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) November 1, 2020 × "I am well and without symptoms but will self-quarantine over the coming days, in line with @WHO protocols, and work from home," he added. Tedros has been at the forefront of the United Nations health agency's efforts to battle the pandemic, which has claimed nearly 1.2 million lives and infected over 46 million people worldwide since emerging in China late last year. The WHO chief stressed that "it is critically important that we all comply with health guidance." "This is how we will break chains of #COVID19 transmission, suppress the virus, and protect health systems."

WHO chief in quarantine after contact tests positive for coronavirus

Real Madrid's defender Eder Militao has tested positive for coronavirus just hours ahead of their Champions League home game against Inter Milan.&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/premier-league-arsenal-register-an-away-win-against-manchester-united-339779" hreflang="en">Premier League: Arsenal register an away win against Manchester United</a>

The 22-year-old centre-back has featured in three matches in the league and Europe this season.&nbsp;

"All the other players and the technical staff from the first team, as well as all the employees of the club who work directly with them, tested negative in that same test," Real said in a statement.

"The club would like to confirm once again that everyone, with the exception of Eder Militao, tested negative in the antigen tests carried out that same morning."

As per UEFA guidelines, Militao has to test negative six hours before the game began. The game is set to take place in Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday.&nbsp;

Real Madrid has had a bad start to this year's Champions League after a stunning loss to Shakhtar Donetsk earlier this month before drawing at Borussia Moenchengladbach last week.

Militao's absence is a big loss to Madrid as his Dani Carvajal, Alvaro Odriozola and Nacho are all struggling with fitness issues.

Real Madrid's defender Eder Militao has tested positive for coronavirus just hours ahead of their Champions League home game against Inter Milan. Also read: Premier League: Arsenal register an away win against Manchester United The 22-year-old centre-back has featured in three matches in the league and Europe this season.

Real Madrid's defender Eder Militao has tested positive for coronavirus just hours ahead of their Champions League home game against Inter Milan. Also read: Premier League: Arsenal register an away win against Manchester United The 22-year-old centre-back has featured in three matches in the league and Europe this season. "All the other players and the technical staff from the first team, as well as all the employees of the club who work directly with them, tested negative in that same test," Real said in a statement. "The club would like to confirm once again that everyone, with the exception of Eder Militao, tested negative in the antigen tests carried out that same morning." As per UEFA guidelines, Militao has to test negative six hours before the game began. The game is set to take place in Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday. Real Madrid has had a bad start to this year's Champions League after a stunning loss to Shakhtar Donetsk earlier this month before drawing at Borussia Moenchengladbach last week. Militao's absence is a big loss to Madrid as his Dani Carvajal, Alvaro Odriozola and Nacho are all struggling with fitness issues.

Real Madrid lose another defender as Militao tests positive for COVID-19

New Yorkers these days are infusing positivity while battling the coronavirus pandemic. They are dancing and throwing away their anxiety

Infusing positivity while battling the coronavirus pandemic

When the coronavirus first erupted in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in the spring, Mayor Paul TenHaken arrived at work each morning with a clear mission: Stop the outbreak at the pork plant. Hundreds of employees, chopping meat shoulder to shoulder, had gotten sick in what was then the largest U.S. virus cluster.

That outbreak was extinguished months ago, and these days, when he heads into City Hall, the situation is far more nebulous. The virus has spread all over town.

“You can swing a cat and hit someone who has got it,” said TenHaken, who had to reschedule his own meetings to Zoom this past week after his assistant tested positive for the virus.

As the coronavirus soars across the country, charting a single-day record of 99,155 new cases on Friday and surpassing 9 million cases nationwide, tracing the path of the pandemic in the United States is no longer simply challenging. It has become nearly impossible.

Gone are the days when Americans could easily understand the virus by tracking rising case numbers back to discrete sources — the crowded factory, the troubled nursing home, the rowdy bar. Now, there are so many cases, in so many places, that many people are coming to a frightening conclusion: They have no idea where the virus is spreading.

“It’s just kind of everywhere,” said Crystal Watson, a senior scholar at the Center for Health Security at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who estimated that tracing coronavirus cases becomes difficult once the virus spreads to more than 10 cases per 100,000 people.

In some of the hardest-hit spots in the United States, the virus is spreading at 10 to 20 times that rate, and even health officials have all but given up trying to figure out who is giving the virus to whom.

There have been periods earlier in the pandemic when infections spread beyond large, well-understood clusters in prisons, business meetings and dinner parties, tearing through communities in ways that were nearly impossible to keep track of. But for the most part, that experience was isolated to hard-hit places like New York City in the spring and portions of the Sun Belt in the summer.

This time, the diffuse, chaotic spread is happening in many places at once. Infections are rising in 41 states, the country is recording an average of more than 79,000 new cases each day, and more Americans say they feel left to do their own lonely detective work.

“I was so careful,” said Denny Taylor, 45, who said he had taken exacting precautions — wearing a mask, getting groceries delivered — before he became the first in his family and among his co-workers to test positive for the virus.

Lying in a hospital bed in Omaha, Nebraska, this past week, he said he still had no idea where he caught it.

Uncovering the path of transmission from person to person, known as contact tracing, is seen as a key tool for containing the spread of the coronavirus. Within a day or two of testing positive, residents in many communities can expect to get a phone call from a trained contact tracer, who conducts a detailed interview before beginning the painstaking process of tracking down each new person who may have been exposed.

“We were pretty successful, and we were very proud of how the case numbers went down,” said Dr. Sehyo Yune, who supervised a team of contact tracers in Massachusetts this spring.

It was one of several strategies that helped tamp down earlier outbreaks in places like Massachusetts, New York and Washington, D.C.

But as cases skyrocket again in many states, many health officials have conceded that interviewing patients and dutifully calling each contact will not be enough to slow the outbreak.

“Contact tracing is not going to save us,” said Dr. Ogechika Alozie, chief medical officer at Del Sol Medical Center in El Paso, Texas, where hospitalizations in the county have soared by more than 400% and officials issued a new order for residents to stay at home.

The problem, of course, is that failing to fully track the virus makes it much harder to get a sense of where the virus is flourishing and how to get ahead of new outbreaks. But once an area spins out of control, trying to trace back each chain of transmission can feel like scooping cupfuls of water from a flood.

In some places, overwhelmed health officials have abandoned any pretense of keeping up.

In North Dakota, state officials announced they could no longer have one-on-one conversations with everyone who may have been exposed. Aside from situations involving schools and health care facilities, people who test positive were advised to notify their own contacts, leaving residents largely on their own to follow the trail of the outbreak.

In Philadelphia, where cases recently spiked to more than 300 per day, city officials acknowledged that they now must leave some cases untracked. Most people, they said, are catching the virus through family and friends.

“We weren’t supposed to get to this point,” said Dr. Arnold Monto, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan, who said the process of tracking cases and notifying people who may have been exposed is a gold standard of disease prevention but impractical after a certain level of infection.

“If you have five clusters going on at the same time,” he said, “it’s hard to say where it came from.”

When a first major outbreak hit Grand Forks, North Dakota, in April, the problem was clear: More than 150 employees of a wind turbine blade factory were infected. The factory shut its doors for several weeks, and public health officials tested and contact traced each case.

For the rest of the summer, Grand Forks, a college town of 56,000 on the border with Minnesota, saw almost no new infections. An uptick in August was quickly tied to students at the University of North Dakota and largely contained.

Now, though, any sense of control has vanished. Active cases of COVID-19 have quadrupled since the beginning of October to 912 in Grand Forks County, and about half the people contacted by the health department say they are not sure how they became infected.

“People are realizing that you can get it anywhere,” said Kailee Leingang, a 21-year-old nursing student who also works for the state as a contact tracer in Grand Forks.

Even Leingang has fallen ill, along with several of her colleagues. She traces her case to her parents, who first started showing symptoms. Beyond that, the trail goes cold.

“They have no idea,” she said of where her parents came in contact with the virus.

Leingang, isolating at her home with her cat, feels sicker by the day. Dishes have piled up in the sink — she is too weak to stand long enough to wash them. But she is still working, calling at least 50 people a day to notify them that their tests came back positive, although her job is no longer to track who else they may have infected.

“With the high number of cases right now,” she said, “our team can’t afford to have somebody not work.”

In earlier, quieter periods of the pandemic, the virus spread with some degree of certainty. In all but the hardest-hit cities, people could ask a common question — “Where did you get it?” — and often find tangible answers.

A popular college bar in East Lansing, Michigan, Harper’s Restaurant and Brewpub, became a hot spot this summer after dozens of people piled into the bar, drinking and dancing in close quarters. At least 192 people — 146 people at the bar and 46 people with ties to those at the bar — were infected. Afterward, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer shut down indoor dining in bars in parts of the state.

In Ingham County, which includes much of East Lansing, it is far harder to tell where the virus is spreading now. Of the county’s 4,700 reported cases over the course of the pandemic, more than 2,700 have come since the beginning of September.

Much of the new spread may be tied to students at Michigan State University, where students are living off campus and taking classes online. But every day, employers and residents call the Health Department to report random cases that defy easy explanation.

“It’s just a hodgepodge,” said Linda Vail, the Ingham County health officer.

Heidi Stevens is among the newly infected who considers her case a mystery. As a columnist at The Chicago Tribune, Stevens works from home. Her children attend school online. She wears a mask when she goes for a run, and she has not had a haircut since January.

So when she got a precautionary test a few weeks ago, with the hopes of inviting friends over to have cake for her daughter’s 15th birthday, Stevens was shocked to learn she was positive.

“I would drive myself crazy if I tried to really nail it down,” said Stevens, 46, who was hospitalized for three days and still wakes up with headaches.

Did she pick up an infected apple at the grocery store and somehow touch her eye? Should she have been wearing a face shield, in addition to her mask? The possibilities feel endless.

“It’s just out there,” she said.

When the coronavirus first erupted in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in the spring, Mayor Paul TenHaken arrived at work each morning with a clear mission: Stop the outbreak at the pork plant.

When the coronavirus first erupted in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in the spring, Mayor Paul TenHaken arrived at work each morning with a clear mission: Stop the outbreak at the pork plant. Hundreds of employees, chopping meat shoulder to shoulder, had gotten sick in what was then the largest U.S. virus cluster. That outbreak was extinguished months ago, and these days, when he heads into City Hall, the situation is far more nebulous. The virus has spread all over town. “You can swing a cat and hit someone who has got it,” said TenHaken, who had to reschedule his own meetings to Zoom this past week after his assistant tested positive for the virus. As the coronavirus soars across the country, charting a single-day record of 99,155 new cases on Friday and surpassing 9 million cases nationwide, tracing the path of the pandemic in the United States is no longer simply challenging. It has become nearly impossible. Gone are the days when Americans could easily understand the virus by tracking rising case numbers back to discrete sources — the crowded factory, the troubled nursing home, the rowdy bar. Now, there are so many cases, in so many places, that many people are coming to a frightening conclusion: They have no idea where the virus is spreading. “It’s just kind of everywhere,” said Crystal Watson, a senior scholar at the Center for Health Security at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who estimated that tracing coronavirus cases becomes difficult once the virus spreads to more than 10 cases per 100,000 people. In some of the hardest-hit spots in the United States, the virus is spreading at 10 to 20 times that rate, and even health officials have all but given up trying to figure out who is giving the virus to whom. There have been periods earlier in the pandemic when infections spread beyond large, well-understood clusters in prisons, business meetings and dinner parties, tearing through communities in ways that were nearly impossible to keep track of. But for the most part, that experience was isolated to hard-hit places like New York City in the spring and portions of the Sun Belt in the summer. This time, the diffuse, chaotic spread is happening in many places at once. Infections are rising in 41 states, the country is recording an average of more than 79,000 new cases each day, and more Americans say they feel left to do their own lonely detective work. “I was so careful,” said Denny Taylor, 45, who said he had taken exacting precautions — wearing a mask, getting groceries delivered — before he became the first in his family and among his co-workers to test positive for the virus. Lying in a hospital bed in Omaha, Nebraska, this past week, he said he still had no idea where he caught it. Uncovering the path of transmission from person to person, known as contact tracing, is seen as a key tool for containing the spread of the coronavirus. Within a day or two of testing positive, residents in many communities can expect to get a phone call from a trained contact tracer, who conducts a detailed interview before beginning the painstaking process of tracking down each new person who may have been exposed. “We were pretty successful, and we were very proud of how the case numbers went down,” said Dr. Sehyo Yune, who supervised a team of contact tracers in Massachusetts this spring. It was one of several strategies that helped tamp down earlier outbreaks in places like Massachusetts, New York and Washington, D.C. But as cases skyrocket again in many states, many health officials have conceded that interviewing patients and dutifully calling each contact will not be enough to slow the outbreak. “Contact tracing is not going to save us,” said Dr. Ogechika Alozie, chief medical officer at Del Sol Medical Center in El Paso, Texas, where hospitalizations in the county have soared by more than 400% and officials issued a new order for residents to stay at home. The problem, of course, is that failing to fully track the virus makes it much harder to get a sense of where the virus is flourishing and how to get ahead of new outbreaks. But once an area spins out of control, trying to trace back each chain of transmission can feel like scooping cupfuls of water from a flood. In some places, overwhelmed health officials have abandoned any pretense of keeping up. In North Dakota, state officials announced they could no longer have one-on-one conversations with everyone who may have been exposed. Aside from situations involving schools and health care facilities, people who test positive were advised to notify their own contacts, leaving residents largely on their own to follow the trail of the outbreak. In Philadelphia, where cases recently spiked to more than 300 per day, city officials acknowledged that they now must leave some cases untracked. Most people, they said, are catching the virus through family and friends. “We weren’t supposed to get to this point,” said Dr. Arnold Monto, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan, who said the process of tracking cases and notifying people who may have been exposed is a gold standard of disease prevention but impractical after a certain level of infection. “If you have five clusters going on at the same time,” he said, “it’s hard to say where it came from.” When a first major outbreak hit Grand Forks, North Dakota, in April, the problem was clear: More than 150 employees of a wind turbine blade factory were infected. The factory shut its doors for several weeks, and public health officials tested and contact traced each case. For the rest of the summer, Grand Forks, a college town of 56,000 on the border with Minnesota, saw almost no new infections. An uptick in August was quickly tied to students at the University of North Dakota and largely contained. Now, though, any sense of control has vanished. Active cases of COVID-19 have quadrupled since the beginning of October to 912 in Grand Forks County, and about half the people contacted by the health department say they are not sure how they became infected. “People are realizing that you can get it anywhere,” said Kailee Leingang, a 21-year-old nursing student who also works for the state as a contact tracer in Grand Forks. Even Leingang has fallen ill, along with several of her colleagues. She traces her case to her parents, who first started showing symptoms. Beyond that, the trail goes cold. “They have no idea,” she said of where her parents came in contact with the virus. Leingang, isolating at her home with her cat, feels sicker by the day. Dishes have piled up in the sink — she is too weak to stand long enough to wash them. But she is still working, calling at least 50 people a day to notify them that their tests came back positive, although her job is no longer to track who else they may have infected. “With the high number of cases right now,” she said, “our team can’t afford to have somebody not work.” In earlier, quieter periods of the pandemic, the virus spread with some degree of certainty. In all but the hardest-hit cities, people could ask a common question — “Where did you get it?” — and often find tangible answers. A popular college bar in East Lansing, Michigan, Harper’s Restaurant and Brewpub, became a hot spot this summer after dozens of people piled into the bar, drinking and dancing in close quarters. At least 192 people — 146 people at the bar and 46 people with ties to those at the bar — were infected. Afterward, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer shut down indoor dining in bars in parts of the state. In Ingham County, which includes much of East Lansing, it is far harder to tell where the virus is spreading now. Of the county’s 4,700 reported cases over the course of the pandemic, more than 2,700 have come since the beginning of September. Much of the new spread may be tied to students at Michigan State University, where students are living off campus and taking classes online. But every day, employers and residents call the Health Department to report random cases that defy easy explanation. “It’s just a hodgepodge,” said Linda Vail, the Ingham County health officer. Heidi Stevens is among the newly infected who considers her case a mystery. As a columnist at The Chicago Tribune, Stevens works from home. Her children attend school online. She wears a mask when she goes for a run, and she has not had a haircut since January. So when she got a precautionary test a few weeks ago, with the hopes of inviting friends over to have cake for her daughter’s 15th birthday, Stevens was shocked to learn she was positive. “I would drive myself crazy if I tried to really nail it down,” said Stevens, 46, who was hospitalized for three days and still wakes up with headaches. Did she pick up an infected apple at the grocery store and somehow touch her eye? Should she have been wearing a face shield, in addition to her mask? The possibilities feel endless. “It’s just out there,” she said.

How are Americans catching the virus? Increasingly, ‘they have no idea’

Sri Lanka is facing a challenging time due to the delay in receiving COVID-19 test results, following the breakdown of a key testing machine amid a surge in the coronavirus cases, officials said.

The island nation has so far recorded 10,663 COVID-19 cases and 20 deaths due to the disease.

Health Ministry spokesman Dr Jayaruwan Bandara on Saturday said the main PCR testing machine at the Base Hospital in Mulleriyawa that can test 500-1,000 samples daily broke down earlier this week. Foreign technical experts are rectifying the fault of the malfunctioning machine and it would resume operation soon.

Sri Lanka possesses 25 PCR (Polymerase chain reaction) test machines, which can test 8,000 samples daily.

However, the breakdown of the PCR machine at the Base Hospital has hindered the detection of COVID-19 patients.

Over 26,000 tests have been carried out so far in this laboratory. The laboratory, dedicated for COVID-19 testing, was built at a cost Rs 246 million with assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The breakdown has resulted in the backlog of 20,000 PCR tests by Thursday, with a delay of about five days to release test results.

"There is a delay in test reports, but it does not mean that the process has come to a halt,"&nbsp;Bandara said.

He said the country lacks a fully automated testing system.

"All tests are being done manually, virus separation takes about three hours and it takes another two hours to analyse the report. Then the printing -- all these take time," he said, explaining the reason for the delay.

Meanwhile, the Chinese embassy here said on Saturday that technical experts, who were rushed to Lanka from China, have identified the technical fault of the malfunctioning PCR testing machine after a 10-hour operation. The experts concluded that the machine would able to resume operation on Monday.

Bandara said the nationwide coronavirus tally crossing the 10,000-mark is an indicator that public needs to be more aware to practice health safety measures to avoid the pandemic being spread further.

Two big clusters, detected last month, have reported over 7,000 cases so far, he said.

Bandara ruled out a nationwide lockdown again and said the public must help themselves and others by restricting their movements. The 72-hour quarantine curfew imposed on Western province -- which is also home to the capital, Colombo -- will also end on Monday, he said.

Sri Lanka imposed a three-month lockdown until the end of June, with authorities lifting the restrictions after declaring that there was no community transmission of the virus.

Sri Lanka is facing a challenging time due to the delay in receiving COVID-19 test results, following the breakdown of a key testing machine amid a surge in the coronavirus cases, officials said.

Sri Lanka is facing a challenging time due to the delay in receiving COVID-19 test results, following the breakdown of a key testing machine amid a surge in the coronavirus cases, officials said. The island nation has so far recorded 10,663 COVID-19 cases and 20 deaths due to the disease. Health Ministry spokesman Dr Jayaruwan Bandara on Saturday said the main PCR testing machine at the Base Hospital in Mulleriyawa that can test 500-1,000 samples daily broke down earlier this week. Foreign technical experts are rectifying the fault of the malfunctioning machine and it would resume operation soon. Sri Lanka possesses 25 PCR (Polymerase chain reaction) test machines, which can test 8,000 samples daily. However, the breakdown of the PCR machine at the Base Hospital has hindered the detection of COVID-19 patients. Over 26,000 tests have been carried out so far in this laboratory. The laboratory, dedicated for COVID-19 testing, was built at a cost Rs 246 million with assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The breakdown has resulted in the backlog of 20,000 PCR tests by Thursday, with a delay of about five days to release test results. "There is a delay in test reports, but it does not mean that the process has come to a halt," Bandara said. He said the country lacks a fully automated testing system. "All tests are being done manually, virus separation takes about three hours and it takes another two hours to analyse the report. Then the printing -- all these take time," he said, explaining the reason for the delay. Meanwhile, the Chinese embassy here said on Saturday that technical experts, who were rushed to Lanka from China, have identified the technical fault of the malfunctioning PCR testing machine after a 10-hour operation. The experts concluded that the machine would able to resume operation on Monday. Bandara said the nationwide coronavirus tally crossing the 10,000-mark is an indicator that public needs to be more aware to practice health safety measures to avoid the pandemic being spread further. Two big clusters, detected last month, have reported over 7,000 cases so far, he said. Bandara ruled out a nationwide lockdown again and said the public must help themselves and others by restricting their movements. The 72-hour quarantine curfew imposed on Western province -- which is also home to the capital, Colombo -- will also end on Monday, he said. Sri Lanka imposed a three-month lockdown until the end of June, with authorities lifting the restrictions after declaring that there was no community transmission of the virus.

Sri Lanka faces challenging times due to breakdown of key PCR machine

Most people arriving in New York state must quarantine for at least three full days before taking a coronavirus test, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Saturday as he overhauled one of the strictest quarantine regimes for travellers in the United States. If that test comes back negative, the traveler can leave quarantine.

The requirements, which take effect on Wednesday, will not apply to residents of "contiguous" states, Cuomo told reporters, and there will be different requirements for New Yorkers who leave the state for less than 24 hours.

He named Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New Jersey as examples of contiguous states, home to many commuters to New York City. But it was unclear whether neighboring Vermont and Massachusetts would also be exempt from the new regime. His office did not reply to questions seeking clarification on Saturday.

People will also be required to take a test that comes back negative within the three days prior to heading to New York, the governor said.

If the second test taken at least four days after arrival is also negative, "you can go about your business," Cuomo said in a telephone conference with reporters. If it is positive, the person must remain in isolation, he said.

Those deemed essential workers by the state, from nurses to grocery store workers, are exempt from the rules.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says the virus can incubate for up to 14 days before someone becomes symptomatic and so recommends a 14-day quarantine period after a possible exposure.

Under New York`s rule, a traveler could end his or her quarantine just four days after a possible exposure – at the airport, for example, or during a plane flight – despite the CDC`s noting that coronavirus tests can return a false negative result if taken too early in an incubating infection.

Cuomo`s office did not respond to questions about how the rule squares with CDC guidance.

A New Yorker returning to the state within 24 hours of leaving need not quarantine but must take a test within four days of their return, Cuomo said, though his office later corrected that to say the test must not be taken sooner than four days after returning. If they are gone longer than 24 hours to non-contiguous states or in a trip abroad, then the general rules apply.

The new rules replace a previous arrangement under which people arriving in New York from a list of states with worsening coronavirus outbreaks had to quarantine in a home or hotel for 14 days, regardless of any test result. That list grew to encompass almost every state in the country.

Earlier this year, New York grappled with one of the world`s deadliest outbreaks of COVID-19, but now has one of the lowest rates of positive tests of any state in the country even as cases surge in other regions. The most recent statewide positive test rate was 1.49%, Cuomo said on Saturday.

Most people arriving in New York state must quarantine for at least three full days before taking a coronavirus test, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Saturday as he overhauled one of the strictest quarantine regimes for travellers in the United States.

Most people arriving in New York state must quarantine for at least three full days before taking a coronavirus test, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Saturday as he overhauled one of the strictest quarantine regimes for travellers in the United States. If that test comes back negative, the traveler can leave quarantine. The requirements, which take effect on Wednesday, will not apply to residents of "contiguous" states, Cuomo told reporters, and there will be different requirements for New Yorkers who leave the state for less than 24 hours. He named Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New Jersey as examples of contiguous states, home to many commuters to New York City. But it was unclear whether neighboring Vermont and Massachusetts would also be exempt from the new regime. His office did not reply to questions seeking clarification on Saturday. People will also be required to take a test that comes back negative within the three days prior to heading to New York, the governor said. If the second test taken at least four days after arrival is also negative, "you can go about your business," Cuomo said in a telephone conference with reporters. If it is positive, the person must remain in isolation, he said. Those deemed essential workers by the state, from nurses to grocery store workers, are exempt from the rules. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says the virus can incubate for up to 14 days before someone becomes symptomatic and so recommends a 14-day quarantine period after a possible exposure. Under New York`s rule, a traveler could end his or her quarantine just four days after a possible exposure – at the airport, for example, or during a plane flight – despite the CDC`s noting that coronavirus tests can return a false negative result if taken too early in an incubating infection. Cuomo`s office did not respond to questions about how the rule squares with CDC guidance. A New Yorker returning to the state within 24 hours of leaving need not quarantine but must take a test within four days of their return, Cuomo said, though his office later corrected that to say the test must not be taken sooner than four days after returning. If they are gone longer than 24 hours to non-contiguous states or in a trip abroad, then the general rules apply. The new rules replace a previous arrangement under which people arriving in New York from a list of states with worsening coronavirus outbreaks had to quarantine in a home or hotel for 14 days, regardless of any test result. That list grew to encompass almost every state in the country. Earlier this year, New York grappled with one of the world`s deadliest outbreaks of COVID-19, but now has one of the lowest rates of positive tests of any state in the country even as cases surge in other regions. The most recent statewide positive test rate was 1.49%, Cuomo said on Saturday.

Travellers to New York must quarantine for three days, then get coronavirus test

A record 90 million Americans have voted early in the U.S. presidential election, data on Saturday showed, as President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Biden campaigned across the country to try to sway the few remaining undecided voters.

Stanford study: Donald Trump rallies led to 30,000 new cases

United States President Donald Trump has falsely accused doctors of profitting from COVID-19 cases, saying doctors are somehow incentivised to drive up the death count -- even as cases, hospitalisations and deaths surge across the country.

"Our doctors get more money if someone dies from Covid. You know that, right? I mean our doctors are very smart people. So what they do is they say 'I'm sorry but everybody dies of Covid,' " Trump said at a rally in Waterford Township, Michigan.

There is undeniably no evidence for the president's claim as the country faces its worst public health emergency in more than 100 years.&nbsp;

The US recorded over 94,000 coronavirus cases on Friday, taking its Covid tally to more than 9 million.

In fact, according to a new research published this month, there were 20 per cent more deaths from March 1 through August 1 than normally would be expected.

At the rally, Trump claimed that other countries attribute deaths among coronavirus patients with underlying conditions to other factors, but in the United States, doctors choose Covid-19 because they get additional funds.

"In Germany and other places, if you have a heart attack, or if you have cancer, you're terminally ill, you catch Covid, they say you die of cancer, you died of heart attack. With us, when in doubt choose Covid. It's true, no, it's true. Now they'll say 'oh that's terrible what he said,' but that's true. It's like $2,000 more so you get more money," Trump said.

There is no evidence to this statement either.

The American Medical Association, without naming Trump, condemned claims that physicians inflate the number of Covid-19 patients they treat -- calling such rumors "malicious, outrageous, and completely misguided."

It's, however, not the first time that Trump has made such a stunning remark on the coronavirus situation in the US.

"We report them and you know -- doctors get more money, and hospitals get more money. Think of this incentive," Trump said last Saturday.

"This country and their reporting systems are really not doing it right."

At the rally, Trump also criticised Democratic governors who have imposed restrictions that aim to slow the virus's spread.

"You've got to open up your state and you've got to do it fast!" Trump said at a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with just four days to go before the election.

At a later event in Rochester, Minnesota, he greeted hundreds of supporters who were locked out of a rally that was limited to 250 participants by state authorities.

Trump, who recovered from COVID-19 weeks ago, has played down the health crisis for months, telling supporters in recent weeks that the country is "turning the corner" even as cases surge.

Democratic challenger Joe Biden leads Trump 52% to 42% in Reuters/IPSOS national opinion polling, partly because of widespread disapproval of his handling of the pandemic.&nbsp;Opinion polls show a closer contest in the most competitive states that will decide the election.

Biden leads Trump by 9 percentage points in Michigan and Wisconsin and 5 points in Pennsylvania, according to Reuters/IPSOS polling.

Meanwhile, the pandemic and an extraordinary level of enthusiasm have prompted Americans to vote early in unprecedented numbers.

More than 86 million votes have been cast either by mail or in person, roughly 63% of the total number of votes in the entire 2016 election, according to the US Elections Project at the University of Florida.

Trump has repeatedly claimed without evidence that mail-in ballots are susceptible to fraud, and has more recently argued that only the results available on election night should count.

Early voting data show that far more Democrats have voted by mail, while Republicans are expected to turn out in greater numbers on Tuesday.

(with inputs)

United States President Donald Trump has falsely accused doctors of profitting from COVID-19 cases, saying doctors are somehow incentivised to drive up the death count -- even as cases, hospitalisations and deaths surge across the country.

United States President Donald Trump has falsely accused doctors of profitting from COVID-19 cases, saying doctors are somehow incentivised to drive up the death count -- even as cases, hospitalisations and deaths surge across the country. "Our doctors get more money if someone dies from Covid. You know that, right? I mean our doctors are very smart people. So what they do is they say 'I'm sorry but everybody dies of Covid,' " Trump said at a rally in Waterford Township, Michigan. There is undeniably no evidence for the president's claim as the country faces its worst public health emergency in more than 100 years. The US recorded over 94,000 coronavirus cases on Friday, taking its Covid tally to more than 9 million. In fact, according to a new research published this month, there were 20 per cent more deaths from March 1 through August 1 than normally would be expected. At the rally, Trump claimed that other countries attribute deaths among coronavirus patients with underlying conditions to other factors, but in the United States, doctors choose Covid-19 because they get additional funds. "In Germany and other places, if you have a heart attack, or if you have cancer, you're terminally ill, you catch Covid, they say you die of cancer, you died of heart attack. With us, when in doubt choose Covid. It's true, no, it's true. Now they'll say 'oh that's terrible what he said,' but that's true. It's like $2,000 more so you get more money," Trump said. There is no evidence to this statement either. The American Medical Association, without naming Trump, condemned claims that physicians inflate the number of Covid-19 patients they treat -- calling such rumors "malicious, outrageous, and completely misguided." It's, however, not the first time that Trump has made such a stunning remark on the coronavirus situation in the US. "We report them and you know -- doctors get more money, and hospitals get more money. Think of this incentive," Trump said last Saturday. "This country and their reporting systems are really not doing it right." At the rally, Trump also criticised Democratic governors who have imposed restrictions that aim to slow the virus's spread. "You've got to open up your state and you've got to do it fast!" Trump said at a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with just four days to go before the election. At a later event in Rochester, Minnesota, he greeted hundreds of supporters who were locked out of a rally that was limited to 250 participants by state authorities. Trump, who recovered from COVID-19 weeks ago, has played down the health crisis for months, telling supporters in recent weeks that the country is "turning the corner" even as cases surge. Democratic challenger Joe Biden leads Trump 52% to 42% in Reuters/IPSOS national opinion polling, partly because of widespread disapproval of his handling of the pandemic. Opinion polls show a closer contest in the most competitive states that will decide the election. Biden leads Trump by 9 percentage points in Michigan and Wisconsin and 5 points in Pennsylvania, according to Reuters/IPSOS polling. Meanwhile, the pandemic and an extraordinary level of enthusiasm have prompted Americans to vote early in unprecedented numbers. More than 86 million votes have been cast either by mail or in person, roughly 63% of the total number of votes in the entire 2016 election, according to the US Elections Project at the University of Florida. Trump has repeatedly claimed without evidence that mail-in ballots are susceptible to fraud, and has more recently argued that only the results available on election night should count. Early voting data show that far more Democrats have voted by mail, while Republicans are expected to turn out in greater numbers on Tuesday. (with inputs)

Trump derides medical system, says doctors are inflating coronavirus death counts

Brazil has now come up with an unique solution where people will be able to enjoy the theatre performance & will same time stay safe from the COVID-19 infection. Watch the report to know more.

Theatres reopen with restrictions ; Actors wear face masks & do not touch each other

The United States hit a record number of new coronavirus cases on Friday for the second day in a row, topping 94,000 infections in 24 hours.

The country, which has seen a resurgence of its Covid-19 outbreak since mid-October, recorded 94,125 new cases in the 24 hours -- breaking the record of more than 91,000 cases set just one day earlier.

Moreover, the US passed 9 million reported coronavirus cases on Friday.

The US, which has seen a resurgence of its Covid-19 outbreak since mid-October, has now notched up 9,007,298 cases. More than 229,000 people have died of the virus in the US since the pandemic began.

With the virus spreading most rampantly in the Midwest and the South, hospitals are also filling up again, stretching the health care system just as the nation heads in to flu season.

Authorities in El Paso, Texas, imposed a curfew this week to protect "overwhelmed" health care workers and began setting up field hospitals.&nbsp;

Midwestern state Wisconsin has also set up a field hospital in recent weeks, and hospital workers in Missouri were sounding warning bells as cases there rise.

Hospitals in the western state of Utah were preparing to ration care by as early as next week as patients flood their ICUs, according to local media.

The state is so overwhelmed that earlier this month it told residents they have to do their own contact tracing, local media reported.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump, who has been campaigning for the November 3 vote, downplayed the virus -- yet again. He repeatedly told supporters that the country is "rounding the curve" on Covid infections.

(with inputs from agencies)

The United States hit a record number of new coronavirus cases on Friday for the second day in a row, topping 94,000 infections in 24 hours. The country, which has seen a resurgence of its Covid-19 outbreak since mid-October, recorded 94,125 new cases in the 24 hours -- breaking the record of more than 91,000 cases set just one day earlier.

The United States hit a record number of new coronavirus cases on Friday for the second day in a row, topping 94,000 infections in 24 hours. The country, which has seen a resurgence of its Covid-19 outbreak since mid-October, recorded 94,125 new cases in the 24 hours -- breaking the record of more than 91,000 cases set just one day earlier. Moreover, the US passed 9 million reported coronavirus cases on Friday. The US, which has seen a resurgence of its Covid-19 outbreak since mid-October, has now notched up 9,007,298 cases. More than 229,000 people have died of the virus in the US since the pandemic began. With the virus spreading most rampantly in the Midwest and the South, hospitals are also filling up again, stretching the health care system just as the nation heads in to flu season. Authorities in El Paso, Texas, imposed a curfew this week to protect "overwhelmed" health care workers and began setting up field hospitals. Midwestern state Wisconsin has also set up a field hospital in recent weeks, and hospital workers in Missouri were sounding warning bells as cases there rise. Hospitals in the western state of Utah were preparing to ration care by as early as next week as patients flood their ICUs, according to local media. The state is so overwhelmed that earlier this month it told residents they have to do their own contact tracing, local media reported. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump, who has been campaigning for the November 3 vote, downplayed the virus -- yet again. He repeatedly told supporters that the country is "rounding the curve" on Covid infections. (with inputs from agencies)

US registers 94,000 coronavirus cases in 24 hours; tally passes 9M

Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo has recovered from COVID-19, the club took to Twitter to share this news on Friday. It took 17 days for the Portuguese legend to recover from this virus.&nbsp;

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. <a href="https://twitter.com/Cristiano?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Cristiano</a> recovers from Covid-19<a href="https://t.co/4etecyAw0O">https://t.co/4etecyAw0O</a> <a href="https://t.co/YPZSm0My8A">pic.twitter.com/YPZSm0My8A</a>
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) <a href="https://twitter.com/juventusfcen/status/1322224770788872193?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The five-time Ballon D'Or winner first tested positive for COVID-19 just days after playing for Portugal against Spain and France in the Nations League. He missed out on many crucial fixtures including the much-anticipated Champions League clash against Barcelona.&nbsp;

Portugal’s Football Federation, after the footballer tested positive for the virus, issued a statement. According to the statement, the 35-year-old was "well" and had "no symptoms". It added that the player had gone into isolation.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, Ronaldo, who has shaved his head, has been seen training in his house as per Instagram activities while flexing his finely crafted physique.&nbsp;

Ronaldo and Messi, who ruled the last decade, have not faced each other in the UEFA Champions League since the semi-final between Real Madrid and Barcelona on 2011-12 season.

Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo has recovered from COVID-19, the club took to Twitter to share this news on Friday. It took 17 days for the Portuguese legend to recover from this virus.

Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo has recovered from COVID-19, the club took to Twitter to share this news on Friday. It took 17 days for the Portuguese legend to recover from this virus. . @Cristiano recovers from Covid-19https://t.co/4etecyAw0O pic.twitter.com/YPZSm0My8A — JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) October 30, 2020 × The five-time Ballon D'Or winner first tested positive for COVID-19 just days after playing for Portugal against Spain and France in the Nations League. He missed out on many crucial fixtures including the much-anticipated Champions League clash against Barcelona. Portugal’s Football Federation, after the footballer tested positive for the virus, issued a statement. According to the statement, the 35-year-old was "well" and had "no symptoms". It added that the player had gone into isolation. Meanwhile, Ronaldo, who has shaved his head, has been seen training in his house as per Instagram activities while flexing his finely crafted physique. Ronaldo and Messi, who ruled the last decade, have not faced each other in the UEFA Champions League since the semi-final between Real Madrid and Barcelona on 2011-12 season.

Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo recovers from COVID-19

Scientists have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) model that they say can distinguish asymptomatic COVID-19 patients from healthy individuals through their cough recordings, and show the results on a smartphone app.

Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US found that people who are asymptomatic may differ from healthy individuals in the way that they cough.

These differences are not decipherable to the human ear, but can be picked up by artificial intelligence, they said.

In a paper published in the IEEE Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology, the team described on an AI model that distinguishes asymptomatic people from healthy individuals through forced-cough recordings.

These recordings were submitted by people voluntarily through web browsers and devices such as cellphones and laptops, they said.

The researchers trained the model on tens of thousands of samples of coughs, as well as spoken words.

When they fed the model new cough recordings, it accurately identified 98.5 per cent of coughs from people who were confirmed to have COVID-19.

This included 100 per cent of coughs from asymptomatics -- who reported they did not have symptoms but had tested positive for the virus, according to the researchers.

The team is working on incorporating the model into a user-friendly app, which if approved and adopted on a large scale could potentially be a free, convenient, noninvasive pre-screening tool to identify people who are likely to be asymptomatic for COVID-19, the researchers said.

A user could log in daily, cough into their phone, and instantly get information on whether they might be infected and therefore should confirm with a formal test.

"The effective implementation of this group diagnostic tool could diminish the spread of the pandemic if everyone uses it before going to a classroom, a factory, or a restaurant," said Brian Subirana, a research scientist in MIT's Auto-ID Laboratory.

Prior to the pandemic's onset, research groups already had been training algorithms on cellphone recordings of coughs to accurately diagnose conditions such as pneumonia and asthma.

Similarly, the MIT team was developing AI models to analyse forced-cough recordings to see if they could detect signs of Alzheimer's, a disease associated with not only memory decline but also neuromuscular degradation such as weakened vocal cords.

In April, the team set out to collect as many recordings of coughs as they could, including those from COVID-19 patients.

They established a website where people can record a series of coughs, through a cellphone or other web-enabled device.

Participants also fill out a survey of symptoms they are experiencing, whether or not they have COVID-19, and whether they were diagnosed through an official test, by a doctor's assessment of their symptoms, or if they self-diagnosed.

They also can note their gender, geographical location, and native language.

To date, the researchers have collected more than 70,000 recordings, each containing several coughs, amounting to some 200,000 forced-cough audio samples, which Subirana said is "the largest research cough dataset that we know of."

The team used the 2,500 COVID-associated recordings, along with 2,500 more recordings that they randomly selected from the collection to balance the dataset.

They used 4,000 of these samples to train the AI model. The remaining 1,000 recordings were then fed into the model to see if it could accurately discern coughs from COVID patients versus healthy individuals.

The researchers were able to pick up patterns in the four biomarkers -- vocal cord strength, sentiment, lung and respiratory performance, and muscular degradation -- that are specific to COVID-19.

The model identified 98.5 per cent of coughs from people confirmed with COVID-19, and of those, it accurately detected all of the asymptomatic coughs.

"We think this shows that the way you produce sound, changes when you have COVID, even if you are asymptomatic," Subirana said.

Scientists have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) model that they say can distinguish asymptomatic COVID-19 patients from healthy individuals through their cough recordings, and show the results on a smartphone app.

Scientists have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) model that they say can distinguish asymptomatic COVID-19 patients from healthy individuals through their cough recordings, and show the results on a smartphone app. Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US found that people who are asymptomatic may differ from healthy individuals in the way that they cough. These differences are not decipherable to the human ear, but can be picked up by artificial intelligence, they said. In a paper published in the IEEE Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology, the team described on an AI model that distinguishes asymptomatic people from healthy individuals through forced-cough recordings. These recordings were submitted by people voluntarily through web browsers and devices such as cellphones and laptops, they said. The researchers trained the model on tens of thousands of samples of coughs, as well as spoken words. When they fed the model new cough recordings, it accurately identified 98.5 per cent of coughs from people who were confirmed to have COVID-19. This included 100 per cent of coughs from asymptomatics -- who reported they did not have symptoms but had tested positive for the virus, according to the researchers. The team is working on incorporating the model into a user-friendly app, which if approved and adopted on a large scale could potentially be a free, convenient, noninvasive pre-screening tool to identify people who are likely to be asymptomatic for COVID-19, the researchers said. A user could log in daily, cough into their phone, and instantly get information on whether they might be infected and therefore should confirm with a formal test. "The effective implementation of this group diagnostic tool could diminish the spread of the pandemic if everyone uses it before going to a classroom, a factory, or a restaurant," said Brian Subirana, a research scientist in MIT's Auto-ID Laboratory. Prior to the pandemic's onset, research groups already had been training algorithms on cellphone recordings of coughs to accurately diagnose conditions such as pneumonia and asthma. Similarly, the MIT team was developing AI models to analyse forced-cough recordings to see if they could detect signs of Alzheimer's, a disease associated with not only memory decline but also neuromuscular degradation such as weakened vocal cords. In April, the team set out to collect as many recordings of coughs as they could, including those from COVID-19 patients. They established a website where people can record a series of coughs, through a cellphone or other web-enabled device. Participants also fill out a survey of symptoms they are experiencing, whether or not they have COVID-19, and whether they were diagnosed through an official test, by a doctor's assessment of their symptoms, or if they self-diagnosed. They also can note their gender, geographical location, and native language. To date, the researchers have collected more than 70,000 recordings, each containing several coughs, amounting to some 200,000 forced-cough audio samples, which Subirana said is "the largest research cough dataset that we know of." The team used the 2,500 COVID-associated recordings, along with 2,500 more recordings that they randomly selected from the collection to balance the dataset. They used 4,000 of these samples to train the AI model. The remaining 1,000 recordings were then fed into the model to see if it could accurately discern coughs from COVID patients versus healthy individuals. The researchers were able to pick up patterns in the four biomarkers -- vocal cord strength, sentiment, lung and respiratory performance, and muscular degradation -- that are specific to COVID-19. The model identified 98.5 per cent of coughs from people confirmed with COVID-19, and of those, it accurately detected all of the asymptomatic coughs. "We think this shows that the way you produce sound, changes when you have COVID, even if you are asymptomatic," Subirana said.

This app can detect asymptomatic COVID-19 cases, scientists say

A Palestinian woman has come up with a solution in a bid to trying to halt the spread of COVID-19 infections in Gaza. Watch the report to know her story.

Gaza: Palestinian woman invents device to battle the COVID-19 pandemic

Taiwan is on a record-extending 200-day streak. Since April 12, the country has not reported a single case of locally transmitted COVID-19. While different countries are battling a second wave, how is Taiwan keeping the pandemic at bay? WION's Palki Sharma gets you a report.

Gravitas: Taiwan's 200-day streak without local transmission

US economy grew at a historic pace in the third quarter but the deep scars from the COVID-19 recession could take a year or more to heal.

World Business Watch: US economy rebounds at 33.1% in third quarter

There is some good news for President Donald Trump, something he is going to hit home upon. U.S. economy grew at a historic pace in the third quarter but the deep scars from the COVID-19 recession could take a year or more to heal.

US economy posts record growth in third-quarter at a historic pace

Russia will send army medics to a region in the Urals hit by a surge in COVID-19 cases. President Vladimir Putin described the situation in some regions as alarming, speaking at a meeting with senior officials on Wednesday.

COVID-19: Russia to send army medics to Ural region

Oxford is developing a COVID-19 vaccine with&nbsp;Serum Institute of India, and as the trials further, the CEO&nbsp;Adar Poonawalla has claimed that the vaccine will be available till the end of the year.

As per the CEO, the trials of the Covishield, the coronavirus vaccine, are showing promising results and may be available for production by December. However, he also added that the claim is being made on the basis of the data collected in the UK.

"A&nbsp;lot is subject to data from the UK and also a lot depends on the approvals coming through from the Drugs Controller General Of India," Poonawalla told an Indian media house.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/first-generation-of-coronavirus-vaccine-likely-to-be-imperfect-says-uk-taskforce-338477">Also read|&nbsp;First generation of coronavirus vaccine 'likely to be imperfect', says UK taskforce</a>

As per the statement, the researchers will apply for emergency authorisation with the&nbsp;Drugs Controller General Of India if the data from the trials show promising results. Whether or not there will be a need to apply for emergency authorisation will not be clear till the last stage.

He took to Twitter to share the "good news", saying "A lot of people were wondering and asking the question, will these early vaccines be effective for the elderly and most vulnerable, here is some preliminary good news."

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A lot of people were wondering and asking the question, will these early vaccines be effective for the elderly and most vulnerable, here is some preliminary good news. <a href="https://t.co/QEnuifxuiW">https://t.co/QEnuifxuiW</a>
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Findings on blood tests carried out on a subset of older participants echo data released in July that showed the vaccine generated robust immune responses in healthy adults ages 18 to 55, AstraZeneca said Monday.

“It is encouraging to see immunogenicity responses were similar between older and younger adults and that reactogenicity was lower in older adults, where the Covid-19 disease severity is higher,” AstraZeneca told an American local media channel. “The results further build the body of evidence for the safety and immunogenicity” of the vaccine candidate

The vaccine being developed by Oxford is one of the front runners in the race of several other vaccines being tested by Russia, China and few of the more first-world countries.

Oxford is developing a COVID-19 vaccine with Serum Institute of India, and as the trials further, the CEO Adar Poonawalla has claimed that the vaccine will be available till the end of the year.

Oxford is developing a COVID-19 vaccine with Serum Institute of India, and as the trials further, the CEO Adar Poonawalla has claimed that the vaccine will be available till the end of the year. As per the CEO, the trials of the Covishield, the coronavirus vaccine, are showing promising results and may be available for production by December. However, he also added that the claim is being made on the basis of the data collected in the UK. "A lot is subject to data from the UK and also a lot depends on the approvals coming through from the Drugs Controller General Of India," Poonawalla told an Indian media house. Also read| First generation of coronavirus vaccine 'likely to be imperfect', says UK taskforce As per the statement, the researchers will apply for emergency authorisation with the Drugs Controller General Of India if the data from the trials show promising results. Whether or not there will be a need to apply for emergency authorisation will not be clear till the last stage. He took to Twitter to share the "good news", saying "A lot of people were wondering and asking the question, will these early vaccines be effective for the elderly and most vulnerable, here is some preliminary good news." A lot of people were wondering and asking the question, will these early vaccines be effective for the elderly and most vulnerable, here is some preliminary good news. https://t.co/QEnuifxuiW — Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) October 26, 2020 × Findings on blood tests carried out on a subset of older participants echo data released in July that showed the vaccine generated robust immune responses in healthy adults ages 18 to 55, AstraZeneca said Monday. “It is encouraging to see immunogenicity responses were similar between older and younger adults and that reactogenicity was lower in older adults, where the Covid-19 disease severity is higher,” AstraZeneca told an American local media channel. “The results further build the body of evidence for the safety and immunogenicity” of the vaccine candidate The vaccine being developed by Oxford is one of the front runners in the race of several other vaccines being tested by Russia, China and few of the more first-world countries.

Oxford's COVID-19 vaccine will be ready by December: Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawalla

The population in America's big jails and state prisons plunged by 170,000 this spring amid the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters has found in a survey of facilities around the country. All told, localities and states held 11% fewer inmates in their custody.

US jails free thousands amid COVID-19, reform push takes root

Pope Francis on Wednesday described the COVID-19 pandemic as a tough "lady" taskmaster who must be obeyed, but he and most close aides did not wear masks at his general audience.

At the start of the indoor audience Francis apologised to people for not coming down from the marble stage.

"I will stay up here. I would very much like to come down and greet each of you but we have to keep our distances," he said to the crowd of several hundred, nearly all wearing masks.

"If I come down, immediately people will form groups ... and this is against the care, the precautions, we must have in the face of this lady named COVID, who is doing us much harm," he said.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/pope-francis-to-celebrate-christmas-without-congregation-report-338164" hreflang="en">Pope Francis to celebrate Christmas without congregation: Report&nbsp;</a>

The pope and most aides and translators on the stage did not wear masks. Swiss Guards and official photographers on the stage wore masks but bishops and priests who greeted the pope close up removed their masks as they approached him.

Thirteen Swiss Guards and a resident of the guest house where the pope lives have recently tested positive for COVID-19.

The pope, who had part of one lung removed because of an illness when he was a young man, has come under fire, mostly on social media, for not always wearing a mask in public.

On Oct. 20, he wore a mask for several hours at a prayer service in Rome with other religious leaders, taking it off only when he spoke. Last Saturday, no-one in the pope's private library wore a mask when he spoke with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his delegation.

In a video conference call with reporters on Tuesday, Father Augusto Zampini, a member of a Vatican commission the pope set up to advise him on the social effects of the crisis, acknowledged Francis' inconsistency.

"We are trying to convince him, we are almost there," Zampini said.

Pope Francis on Wednesday described the COVID-19 pandemic as a tough "lady" taskmaster who must be obeyed, but he and most close aides did not wear masks at his general audience.

Pope Francis on Wednesday described the COVID-19 pandemic as a tough "lady" taskmaster who must be obeyed, but he and most close aides did not wear masks at his general audience. At the start of the indoor audience Francis apologised to people for not coming down from the marble stage. "I will stay up here. I would very much like to come down and greet each of you but we have to keep our distances," he said to the crowd of several hundred, nearly all wearing masks. "If I come down, immediately people will form groups ... and this is against the care, the precautions, we must have in the face of this lady named COVID, who is doing us much harm," he said. Also read: Pope Francis to celebrate Christmas without congregation: Report The pope and most aides and translators on the stage did not wear masks. Swiss Guards and official photographers on the stage wore masks but bishops and priests who greeted the pope close up removed their masks as they approached him. Thirteen Swiss Guards and a resident of the guest house where the pope lives have recently tested positive for COVID-19. The pope, who had part of one lung removed because of an illness when he was a young man, has come under fire, mostly on social media, for not always wearing a mask in public. On Oct. 20, he wore a mask for several hours at a prayer service in Rome with other religious leaders, taking it off only when he spoke. Last Saturday, no-one in the pope's private library wore a mask when he spoke with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his delegation. In a video conference call with reporters on Tuesday, Father Augusto Zampini, a member of a Vatican commission the pope set up to advise him on the social effects of the crisis, acknowledged Francis' inconsistency. "We are trying to convince him, we are almost there," Zampini said.

Pope says 'lady' COVID must be obeyed, forgoes mask

A UK task force has voiced concerns that an early coronavirus vaccine may turn out to be imperfect even as the global race continues to deliver the first vaccine against Covid-19.

UK panel fears early vaccine may be imperfect

Even as the entire world is grappling with the Covid pandemic and vying for a possible vaccine, an Indian-American teenager has won a $25,000 prize for her work on a potential coronavirus treatment.

Along with the prize money, 14-year-old Anika Chebrolu has also been conferred the title of “America’s Top Young Scientist” for winning this year’s 3M Young Scientist Challenge, a middle school science competition in the US.

In an exclusive conversation with WION, Anika spoke about how after learning about the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic for a school project, she became fascinated with viruses and drug discovery.

Excerpts from the interview:

WION: Please tell us about your discovery/findings in details.

Anika: Through my research, I discovered a molecule that can attach to the Spike protein on the SARS-CoV2 virus and potentially change its shape and function. If you change the Spike protein shape, you can prevent the virus from being able to grab onto human cells and thereby, reduce or treat further infection in a person’s body.

I started by identifying my drug target which was the Spike protein on the membrane of the SARS-CoV2 virus. I screened millions of small molecules against the Spike protein on the surface of the virus and tested three main things --

I tested molecules for their binding affinity, which is a test on how best the molecules combine to a certain spot on the spike protein.

I tested to see if molecules would cause adverse effects in biological systems.

I tested the molecules to be sure they could function when taken orally in the human body.

Once I ran these tests, I narrowed it down to one lead compound that showed the best results from all the test I ran in the study and that can effectively bind to the Spike protein on the SARS-CoV2 and provide a potential antiviral to the COVID-19 pandemic.

WION: How can this be a hope for the potential treatment of Covid-19? Were there other findings by other youth as well? How was yours different?

Anika: The protein I studied is the Spike protein, which plays a critical role in the infectivity of the virus, or the binding and entering of the virus, into human cells. In targetting and altering the shape of this specific protein, we would basically be able to stop the virus from entering other, non-infected, human cells and thereby create a treatment that would prevent the virus from further spreading in a person with Covid-19 infection.

The other finalists in the 3M Young Scientist Challenge all had different projects, and they were all so fascinating! I truly enjoyed learning from everyone I was with.

WION: How and when did you get the idea of such discovery? What was your inspiration?

Anika: After learning about the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic for a school project, I became fascinated with viruses and drug discovery. I began researching drug discovery and learned about the in-silico methodology. I was amazed at how we could use computational methods to identify and develop potential drug-like molecules to combat diseases.

Last year, I tried using the silico methodology to identify a lead compound which could bind to the Hemagglutinin protein of Influenza virus. I was working on this project when Covid-19 hit.

After spending so much time researching about pandemics, viruses, and drug discovery, I couldn’t believe I was actually living through a pandemic. Due to Covid-19’s impact, I, with support of my mentor, Dr Mahfuza Ali from 3M, as part of the 3M Young Scientist&nbsp;

Challenge, decided to change the direction of my initial project to focus on how to potentially target the Spike protein of the SARS-CoV2 virus.

WION: How do you feel being named “America's Top Young Scientist”?

Anika: It is such a great feeling to earn that title and I am still in shock that I won the competition. Each of the other finalists had such great projects and innovations. They are all such well-rounded individuals. They taught me so much through teamwork and collaboration. I wouldn’t have been able to learn on my own.

WION: How are you planning to develop your findings into the cure of Covid-19?

Anika: My work this summer was to find a molecule that can bind to the Spike protein of the SARS-CoV2 virus and potentially provide a treatment route against the coronavirus using computational methods. However, my research is merely the first stage of a long and tedious drug discovery process to come. It needs to be tested further by in vitro and in vivo methods followed by human testing. 
&nbsp;

Even as the entire world is grappling with the Covid pandemic and vying for a possible vaccine, an Indian-American teenager has won a $25,000 prize for her work on a potential coronavirus treatment.

Even as the entire world is grappling with the Covid pandemic and vying for a possible vaccine, an Indian-American teenager has won a $25,000 prize for her work on a potential coronavirus treatment. Along with the prize money, 14-year-old Anika Chebrolu has also been conferred the title of “America’s Top Young Scientist” for winning this year’s 3M Young Scientist Challenge, a middle school science competition in the US. In an exclusive conversation with WION, Anika spoke about how after learning about the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic for a school project, she became fascinated with viruses and drug discovery. Excerpts from the interview: WION: Please tell us about your discovery/findings in details. Anika: Through my research, I discovered a molecule that can attach to the Spike protein on the SARS-CoV2 virus and potentially change its shape and function. If you change the Spike protein shape, you can prevent the virus from being able to grab onto human cells and thereby, reduce or treat further infection in a person’s body. I started by identifying my drug target which was the Spike protein on the membrane of the SARS-CoV2 virus. I screened millions of small molecules against the Spike protein on the surface of the virus and tested three main things -- I tested molecules for their binding affinity, which is a test on how best the molecules combine to a certain spot on the spike protein. I tested to see if molecules would cause adverse effects in biological systems. I tested the molecules to be sure they could function when taken orally in the human body. Once I ran these tests, I narrowed it down to one lead compound that showed the best results from all the test I ran in the study and that can effectively bind to the Spike protein on the SARS-CoV2 and provide a potential antiviral to the COVID-19 pandemic. WION: How can this be a hope for the potential treatment of Covid-19? Were there other findings by other youth as well? How was yours different? Anika: The protein I studied is the Spike protein, which plays a critical role in the infectivity of the virus, or the binding and entering of the virus, into human cells. In targetting and altering the shape of this specific protein, we would basically be able to stop the virus from entering other, non-infected, human cells and thereby create a treatment that would prevent the virus from further spreading in a person with Covid-19 infection. The other finalists in the 3M Young Scientist Challenge all had different projects, and they were all so fascinating! I truly enjoyed learning from everyone I was with. WION: How and when did you get the idea of such discovery? What was your inspiration? Anika: After learning about the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic for a school project, I became fascinated with viruses and drug discovery. I began researching drug discovery and learned about the in-silico methodology. I was amazed at how we could use computational methods to identify and develop potential drug-like molecules to combat diseases. Last year, I tried using the silico methodology to identify a lead compound which could bind to the Hemagglutinin protein of Influenza virus. I was working on this project when Covid-19 hit. After spending so much time researching about pandemics, viruses, and drug discovery, I couldn’t believe I was actually living through a pandemic. Due to Covid-19’s impact, I, with support of my mentor, Dr Mahfuza Ali from 3M, as part of the 3M Young Scientist Challenge, decided to change the direction of my initial project to focus on how to potentially target the Spike protein of the SARS-CoV2 virus. WION: How do you feel being named “America's Top Young Scientist”? Anika: It is such a great feeling to earn that title and I am still in shock that I won the competition. Each of the other finalists had such great projects and innovations. They are all such well-rounded individuals. They taught me so much through teamwork and collaboration. I wouldn’t have been able to learn on my own. WION: How are you planning to develop your findings into the cure of Covid-19? Anika: My work this summer was to find a molecule that can bind to the Spike protein of the SARS-CoV2 virus and potentially provide a treatment route against the coronavirus using computational methods. However, my research is merely the first stage of a long and tedious drug discovery process to come. It needs to be tested further by in vitro and in vivo methods followed by human testing.

'Still in shock': Indian-American teen on being named 'America’s Top Young Scientist'

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will self-isolate after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19.

Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Facebook that the minister "feels well", but that planned visits and meetings will be postponed to a later date.

On Monday, Lavrov was on a working visit to Athens where he was photographed wearing a mask during meetings with Greek officials -- only the second time Lavrov was seen wearing a mask at a public event since the start of the outbreak.

Lavrov had been due to visit Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday for talks with top officials and on Thursday he had planned a visit to Belgrade for a meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

Russia has the fourth-highest virus caseload in the world, with a total of 1,547,774 registered infections and 26,589 deaths.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will self-isolate after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19. Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Facebook that the minister "feels well", but that planned visits and meetings will be postponed to a later date.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will self-isolate after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19. Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Facebook that the minister "feels well", but that planned visits and meetings will be postponed to a later date. On Monday, Lavrov was on a working visit to Athens where he was photographed wearing a mask during meetings with Greek officials -- only the second time Lavrov was seen wearing a mask at a public event since the start of the outbreak. Lavrov had been due to visit Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday for talks with top officials and on Thursday he had planned a visit to Belgrade for a meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Russia has the fourth-highest virus caseload in the world, with a total of 1,547,774 registered infections and 26,589 deaths.

Russia foreign minister self-isolates after exposure to coronavirus case

Only part of the European Union population can be inoculated against the new coronavirus before 2022, EU officials said in an internal meeting, as the vaccines the bloc is securing may not prove effective or may not be manufactured in sufficient doses.

The 27-nation bloc, with a population of 450 million, has booked more than 1 billion doses of potential COVID-19 vaccines from three drugmakers. It is negotiating the advance purchase of another billion vials with other companies.

"There will not be sufficient doses of COVID-19 vaccines for the entire population before the end of 2021," a European Commission official told diplomats from EU states in a closed-door meeting on Monday, a person who attended it told Reuters.

A second official confirmed the statement. An EU Commission spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

The EU Commission had earlier said vaccines will be limited "during the initial stages of deployment" but had never clarified how long the initial phase would last.

There is still no effective COVID-19 vaccine, but the first shots could be available at the beginning of next year, the Commission said earlier in October.

Given a likely limited supply, the Commission has for months urged EU governments to devise vaccination plans that would prioritise vulnerable and essential groups, such as healthcare workers, the elderly or people with chronic diseases.

But apart from a consensus on inoculating doctors and nurses, "there is no common line on other groups," the Commission official said at the internal meeting this week.

In July a paper agreed by the Commission and EU governments said at least 40% of the EU population should be vaccinated in the first phase.

Some EU countries want to book doses for their entire population with the aim of rolling them out already by mid-2021.

A third EU official said this bold goal could be achieved if the EU reached supply deals with at least seven vaccine candidates.

The EU has so far secured doses of the potential vaccines being developed by AstraZeneca, Sanofi and Johnson &amp; Johnson. It has also said it is in talks with Moderna, Pfizer and CureVac.

Only part of the European Union population can be inoculated against the new coronavirus before 2022, EU officials said in an internal meeting, as the vaccines the bloc is securing may not prove effective or may not be manufactured in sufficient doses.

Only part of the European Union population can be inoculated against the new coronavirus before 2022, EU officials said in an internal meeting, as the vaccines the bloc is securing may not prove effective or may not be manufactured in sufficient doses. The 27-nation bloc, with a population of 450 million, has booked more than 1 billion doses of potential COVID-19 vaccines from three drugmakers. It is negotiating the advance purchase of another billion vials with other companies. "There will not be sufficient doses of COVID-19 vaccines for the entire population before the end of 2021," a European Commission official told diplomats from EU states in a closed-door meeting on Monday, a person who attended it told Reuters. A second official confirmed the statement. An EU Commission spokesman was not immediately available for comment. The EU Commission had earlier said vaccines will be limited "during the initial stages of deployment" but had never clarified how long the initial phase would last. There is still no effective COVID-19 vaccine, but the first shots could be available at the beginning of next year, the Commission said earlier in October. Given a likely limited supply, the Commission has for months urged EU governments to devise vaccination plans that would prioritise vulnerable and essential groups, such as healthcare workers, the elderly or people with chronic diseases. But apart from a consensus on inoculating doctors and nurses, "there is no common line on other groups," the Commission official said at the internal meeting this week. In July a paper agreed by the Commission and EU governments said at least 40% of the EU population should be vaccinated in the first phase. Some EU countries want to book doses for their entire population with the aim of rolling them out already by mid-2021. A third EU official said this bold goal could be achieved if the EU reached supply deals with at least seven vaccine candidates. The EU has so far secured doses of the potential vaccines being developed by AstraZeneca, Sanofi and Johnson & Johnson. It has also said it is in talks with Moderna, Pfizer and CureVac.

EU warns not enough COVID vaccines for all in Europe until 2022

Iran is the worst-affected country by COVID-19 in West Asia. Health authorities say that they are recording a death from the virus every four minutes & the bodies are piling up. Watch the report to know more.

Your Story: COVID-19: Iran reports a death every four minutes

A study by Harvard University showed that an increase of only one microgram per cubic metre in Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 may cause an 8 per cent increase in the COVID-19 death rate.

Your Story: Air pollution may hinder India's fight against COVID-19, says study

BOSTON — It has been months now, but the brown paper bags are still here — piled on the shelves in the hospital conference room where the residents cautiously lower their masks to eat lunch, stored in corners throughout the unit, each bearing the name of its owner written across it in Sharpie.

Some are empty, others still hold used personal protective equipment, now forgotten. In the room where doctors rest when we’re on call, the paper bags blanket an entire bunk. My own name must be there somewhere. When I close my eyes on an overnight shift, I sleep beneath the reminders of the spring surge.

Nine months after the first Covid-19 cases were reported in the United States, it is a strange time in the hospital. We spent the summer in what felt like a sort of haze, treating the usual critical care diagnoses of cancer and heart failure and sepsis, under the shadow of the coronavirus. Perhaps it was the warm air and the bright sun, perhaps it was the sight of people outdoors, eating and drinking and laughing, but it was easier to feel that normalcy might be around the bend.

But now, as the air grows crisp here in Boston and the nation endures an average of 59,000 new cases a day — levels that we have not seen since August — the threat of a “third wave,” or a winter surge, of this virus builds. And we find ourselves once again in limbo, haunted by the ghosts of the spring while steeling ourselves for the resurgence of illness and isolation that might come.

At the start of the night I pace the unit, checking in with the masked nurses who sit in front of the patient rooms. It is just 7 p.m., but it is already dark outside. We used to watch the sunset over Boston through these windows, a beautiful explosion of color in the midst of unending sadness. I join two of the nurses who are midway through their conversation. For the past few days, I learn, everyone has been gearing up for a wedding. It was a dying woman’s last wish. There were plans for the cake and the marriage license, everyone excited for a celebration — even one bookended by tragedy — when the patient decided to call it off. Maybe she was delirious, maybe it was just last-minute jitters, but she had made her decision. A critical care version of a runaway bride. This is what passes for humor these days. I smile cautiously under my mask, uncertain whether I am meant to laugh or cry.

An alarm beckons one of the nurses into a patient room. Alone again, my thoughts turn to the virus. Our last Covid-19 patient died a few weeks ago. Standing outside the room that had been hers, I think of her final days. How her husband sat on a folding chair, watching his wife through the glass. He did not want to enter if he could not hold her.

I wonder now if we let things go on too long. Perhaps the unexpected recoveries we saw during the spring had blinded me to the reality of my patient’s decline. Perhaps I was so eager for a success that I offered hope where there was none to be found. I am thinking about this, remembering my patient’s husband as he left the hospital that last time, soft-spoken and so unfailingly polite, when I see one of the residents approaching.

He wants to tell me about a patient on the general medical floor who might need to be transferred to the intensive care unit overnight. It’s an elderly man with Covid-19, he begins, and I can’t help but interrupt him. “Is this a new diagnosis of Covid?” I ask, surprised, although I shouldn’t be. He nods. He is taking care of a handful of patients on the general medical floor who have been newly infected with the coronavirus.

I want to ask more, about how this patient might have gotten sick, about whether the patterns are similar to what we saw in the spring, but of course I know the answers already. These are the vulnerable and the unlucky, the lives that would be sacrificed were we to pursue a strategy of herd immunity through widespread infection. This is what might lie ahead as we enter the winter. It is the sentinel bleed, the few drops of rain that herald a storm.

“At least we know more now,” I offer. This is not false reassurance. We know that masks and distancing, testing and contact tracing, can prevent spread. Though there is no magic bullet for this disease, we know that a simple inexpensive steroid&nbsp;seems to save lives. The data for remdesivir, the antiviral so many families sought so desperately early on, are less clear, but it is likely helpful for some patients particularly early on in their disease course.

Perhaps more important, we have learned what doesn’t work. We no longer rush to intubate earlier than we would in other diseases. For those patients who do need intubation, we recognize that meticulous critical care itself — the daily drudgery of managing volume status and checking labs and titrating ventilator settings — is a lifesaving intervention. Indeed, recent studies&nbsp;have demonstrated a significant drop in mortality among hospitalized patients with the virus. This should give us reason to be hopeful.

But mortality is not the only outcome that matters. We have also learned that infection with the coronavirus can bring with it a host of prolonged, debilitating symptoms now termed “long-haul Covid” even for those with only mild disease. And the impact of this virus is not isolated to those who are infected. I think of the rest of the patients in the hospital, their long and lonely admissions. I think of the families who struggle with our visitor policies, the pain of having to tell them that their loved one is critically ill but because the patient is not actively dying, the family can’t spend the night. To say nothing of the cost to the elderly and isolated. I cared for a man recently who lived alone and had barely left his home in about six months. Only after he died did I realize that our central lines and breathing tube and finally chest compressions might have been the only physical contact he had felt since the spring. The true cost of this pandemic will not be measured in a body count.

So we control what we can. Looking ahead to the possibility of another surge here in the Northeast, as the cold air drives us indoors, we refine our protocols and procedures. We arrange schedules. We make cautious plans to see the people we love. We laugh when we can, even if nothing is actually funny, because that is better than the alternative.

A few days after my overnight shift, I check in on the patient list in the unit. The elderly man has worsened despite our most current therapies, and he is now intubated in the intensive care unit. As I read through his notes, I feel it all rush through me, the anticipation and the dread and the frustration and sadness of avoidable suffering. I close my eyes and I find myself thinking again of those brown bags of personal protective equipment. I hope that we will not need to make room for more.

BOSTON — It has been months now, but the brown paper bags are still here — piled on the shelves in the hospital conference room where the residents cautiously lower their masks to eat lunch, stored in corners throughout the unit, each bearing the name of its owner written across it in Sharpie.

BOSTON — It has been months now, but the brown paper bags are still here — piled on the shelves in the hospital conference room where the residents cautiously lower their masks to eat lunch, stored in corners throughout the unit, each bearing the name of its owner written across it in Sharpie. Some are empty, others still hold used personal protective equipment, now forgotten. In the room where doctors rest when we’re on call, the paper bags blanket an entire bunk. My own name must be there somewhere. When I close my eyes on an overnight shift, I sleep beneath the reminders of the spring surge. Nine months after the first Covid-19 cases were reported in the United States, it is a strange time in the hospital. We spent the summer in what felt like a sort of haze, treating the usual critical care diagnoses of cancer and heart failure and sepsis, under the shadow of the coronavirus. Perhaps it was the warm air and the bright sun, perhaps it was the sight of people outdoors, eating and drinking and laughing, but it was easier to feel that normalcy might be around the bend. But now, as the air grows crisp here in Boston and the nation endures an average of 59,000 new cases a day — levels that we have not seen since August — the threat of a “third wave,” or a winter surge, of this virus builds. And we find ourselves once again in limbo, haunted by the ghosts of the spring while steeling ourselves for the resurgence of illness and isolation that might come. At the start of the night I pace the unit, checking in with the masked nurses who sit in front of the patient rooms. It is just 7 p.m., but it is already dark outside. We used to watch the sunset over Boston through these windows, a beautiful explosion of color in the midst of unending sadness. I join two of the nurses who are midway through their conversation. For the past few days, I learn, everyone has been gearing up for a wedding. It was a dying woman’s last wish. There were plans for the cake and the marriage license, everyone excited for a celebration — even one bookended by tragedy — when the patient decided to call it off. Maybe she was delirious, maybe it was just last-minute jitters, but she had made her decision. A critical care version of a runaway bride. This is what passes for humor these days. I smile cautiously under my mask, uncertain whether I am meant to laugh or cry. An alarm beckons one of the nurses into a patient room. Alone again, my thoughts turn to the virus. Our last Covid-19 patient died a few weeks ago. Standing outside the room that had been hers, I think of her final days. How her husband sat on a folding chair, watching his wife through the glass. He did not want to enter if he could not hold her. I wonder now if we let things go on too long. Perhaps the unexpected recoveries we saw during the spring had blinded me to the reality of my patient’s decline. Perhaps I was so eager for a success that I offered hope where there was none to be found. I am thinking about this, remembering my patient’s husband as he left the hospital that last time, soft-spoken and so unfailingly polite, when I see one of the residents approaching. He wants to tell me about a patient on the general medical floor who might need to be transferred to the intensive care unit overnight. It’s an elderly man with Covid-19, he begins, and I can’t help but interrupt him. “Is this a new diagnosis of Covid?” I ask, surprised, although I shouldn’t be. He nods. He is taking care of a handful of patients on the general medical floor who have been newly infected with the coronavirus. I want to ask more, about how this patient might have gotten sick, about whether the patterns are similar to what we saw in the spring, but of course I know the answers already. These are the vulnerable and the unlucky, the lives that would be sacrificed were we to pursue a strategy of herd immunity through widespread infection. This is what might lie ahead as we enter the winter. It is the sentinel bleed, the few drops of rain that herald a storm. “At least we know more now,” I offer. This is not false reassurance. We know that masks and distancing, testing and contact tracing, can prevent spread. Though there is no magic bullet for this disease, we know that a simple inexpensive steroid seems to save lives. The data for remdesivir, the antiviral so many families sought so desperately early on, are less clear, but it is likely helpful for some patients particularly early on in their disease course. Perhaps more important, we have learned what doesn’t work. We no longer rush to intubate earlier than we would in other diseases. For those patients who do need intubation, we recognize that meticulous critical care itself — the daily drudgery of managing volume status and checking labs and titrating ventilator settings — is a lifesaving intervention. Indeed, recent studies have demonstrated a significant drop in mortality among hospitalized patients with the virus. This should give us reason to be hopeful. But mortality is not the only outcome that matters. We have also learned that infection with the coronavirus can bring with it a host of prolonged, debilitating symptoms now termed “long-haul Covid” even for those with only mild disease. And the impact of this virus is not isolated to those who are infected. I think of the rest of the patients in the hospital, their long and lonely admissions. I think of the families who struggle with our visitor policies, the pain of having to tell them that their loved one is critically ill but because the patient is not actively dying, the family can’t spend the night. To say nothing of the cost to the elderly and isolated. I cared for a man recently who lived alone and had barely left his home in about six months. Only after he died did I realize that our central lines and breathing tube and finally chest compressions might have been the only physical contact he had felt since the spring. The true cost of this pandemic will not be measured in a body count. So we control what we can. Looking ahead to the possibility of another surge here in the Northeast, as the cold air drives us indoors, we refine our protocols and procedures. We arrange schedules. We make cautious plans to see the people we love. We laugh when we can, even if nothing is actually funny, because that is better than the alternative. A few days after my overnight shift, I check in on the patient list in the unit. The elderly man has worsened despite our most current therapies, and he is now intubated in the intensive care unit. As I read through his notes, I feel it all rush through me, the anticipation and the dread and the frustration and sadness of avoidable suffering. I close my eyes and I find myself thinking again of those brown bags of personal protective equipment. I hope that we will not need to make room for more.

Doctors are dreading the winter

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