Antibody study offers vaccine hope
A study of 30,000 people in Iceland has found that the antibodies we make to fight the coronavirus last for at least four months after diagnosis and do not fade quickly as some earlier reports have suggested.
The work by researchers at Harvard and the US National Institutes of Health is the most extensive work yet on the immune systems response to the virus over time, and is good news for efforts to develop vaccines, Associated Press reports.
In a commentary published with the study in the New England Journal of Medicine, the scientists wrote:
If a vaccine can spur production of long-lasting antibodies as natural infection seems to do, it gives hope that immunity to this unpredictable and highly contagious virus may not be fleeting.
One of the big mysteries of the pandemic is whether having had the coronavirus helps protect against future infection, and for how long. Some smaller studies previously suggested that antibodies may disappear quickly and that some people with few or no symptoms may not make many at all.
The new study by Reykjavik-based deCODE Genetics, a subsidiary of the U.S. biotech company Amgen, with several hospitals, universities and health officials in Iceland. The country has tested 15% of its population since late February, when its first Covid-19 cases were detected, giving a solid base for comparisons.
A little nugget from the Australian GDP breakdown gives us an interesting insight into what Aussies got up to in lockdown… drinking.
Although household consumption saw the biggest falls, the amount spent on alcohol skyrocketed by 13% as people denied the ability to drink at pubs and restaurants shipped in booze at home.
Alex Joiner
(@IFM_Economist)Household consumption volumes make interesting reading – most growth in alcohol spending, large hits to in retail and cafes etc and perversely healthcare which seemingly underscores the risk that other illness/disease goes untreated in the covid world… #ausbiz pic.twitter.com/T5jqBoatkl
US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said there are still “serious differences” between Democrats and the White House over coronavirus relief legislation.
In a statement issued after a phone call with treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, on Tuesday night, Pelosi said:
Sadly, this phone call made clear that Democrats and the White House continue to have serious differences understanding the gravity of the situation that America’s working families are facing.
Earlier, Mnuchin testified before the House subcommittee that is examining “the urgent need for additional economic relief for children, workers, and families and the administration’s implementation of key stimulus programs”.
Democrats criticised the White House for not agreeing to Democrats’ compromise offer of crafting a $2 trillion package for the next coronavirus relief bill, but Republicans defended the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic and want a package worth $1 trillion.
Updated
at 9.42pm EDT
If you find yourself missing the slightly indeterminate chicken with rice or pasta sludge served up on long-haul flights, don’t worry, help is at hand.
Incredible though it may seem, airline food companies have begun selling food that would normally be dished out somehwere above the clouds.
Thai Airways began selling meal boxes in April, while in Hong Kong Cathay Pacific is selling meals to airport staff and Indonesia’s national airline Garuda is offering its food as takeaway dinners on a tray.
Rubi Haliman, from Tangerang, Indonesia, who has already ordered four meals from Aerofood ACS, the catering company for Garuda, said:
We get the whole set [of potted dishes]. My favourite was nasi daun jeruk: rice with lemon flavour.
Our south-east Asia correspondent, Rebecca Ratcliffe, has the full story here:
US vaccine decision is a ‘real blow’
The US refusal to cooperate on an international Covid-19 vaccine effort with what it calls the “corrupt” World Health Organisation and China has been met with despair by leading experts.
The WHO has warned against “vaccine nationalism” that could prevent the distribution of a treatment around the world. It has set up a Covid-19 vaccines global access facility (Covax), along with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to accelerate the development and testing of a vaccine and work toward distributing it equally.
Suerie Moon, co-director of the Global Health Center at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, told the Washington Post that the US not participating in the initiative was a “real blow”.
The behavior of countries when it comes to vaccines in this pandemic will have political repercussions beyond public health,. It’s about, are you a reliable partner or, at the end of the day, are you going to keep all your toys for yourself?
You can read our full story here and we’ll keep you posted with more reaction.
Deaths in Colombia pass 20,000
Confirmed deaths in Colombia due to Covid-19 passed 20,000 on Tuesday, the health ministry said in its daily update, while it has recorded more than 620,000 cases.
The Andean country has so far reported 20,052 deaths and 624,069 cases of the novel coronavirus. Active cases stand at 133,155. This week Colombia ended its initial quarantine measures after nearly five months of national lockdowns.
South America has been very badly affected by the pandemic, with Brazil the second worst hit country in the world after the United States.
Brazil has recorded 42,659 new cases of coronavirus and 1,215 deaths in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Tuesday night.
Brazil has registered a total 3,950,931 cases of the virus since the pandemic began, while the official death toll from Covid-19 has risen to 122,596.
