Summary
Week 28 will be recorded as a watershed in the perception of SARS-CoV-2 transmission risk: yes, the virus is transmitted by fat droplets, and yes, it is also transmitted tiny aerosol particles. If this shift is proven to be right, SARS-CoV-2 may go down in history as the virus that unified the almost century-old dichotomy of droplets vs. aerosol transmission. The merit goes to Lidia Morawska and Donald K. Milton, supported by 237 scientists (see also the comment in The Guardian and in The New York Times). In the next days, we will publish an update of our Transmission chapter.
Paterson et al. publish a worrisome article about the neurological complications of COVID-19.
Second waves are leading to partial lockdowns in Australia, Spain, Serbia and Israel while Catalonia and the Balearic Islands order wearing face masks even when the required 1.5-metre social distancing can be observed.
The first wave continues in the US. People in Mexico border towns try to stop Americans from crossing.
Sunday, 5 July
Is it time to address airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2? It may be high time, say Lidia Morawska and Donald K Milton, supported by other 237 scientists. See also WHO underplaying risk of airborne spread of Covid-19 (The Guardian), 239 Experts With One Big Claim: The Coronavirus Is Airborne and Airborne Coronavirus: What You Should Do Now (The New York Times).
Spain puts part of Galicia back into lockdown.
Monday, 6 July
Find out how Anthony Fauci, Elizabeth Connick, Paul A. Volberding, Linda Bell, Barry Bloom and David Satcher deal with COVID-19 risks in their everyday lives.
Tuesday, 7 July
If you read Spanish, read “La enigmática mutación del coronavirus que ahora domina el planeta” (El País).
Wednesday, 8 July
COVID-19 fears: People in Mexico border towns try to stop Americans from crossing (The Guardian).
Paterson et al. publish The emerging spectrum of COVID-19 neurology: clinical, radiological and laboratory findings. See also the article published in The Guardian.
Violence at Belgrade protest over renewed lockdown measures
Churches at risk: SARS-CoV-2 infiltrates Sunday services, church meetings and youth camps. More than 650 cases have been linked to reopened religious facilities.
Second COVID-19 wave in Israel.
Thursday, 9 July
WHO update information about SARS-CoV-2 transmission (WHO 20200709): “There have been reported outbreaks of COVID-19 in some closed settings, such as restaurants, nightclubs, places of worship or places of work where people may be shouting, talking, or singing. In these outbreaks, aerosol transmission, particularly in these indoor locations where there are crowded and inadequately ventilated spaces where infected persons spend long periods of time with others, cannot be ruled out.”
Five million Melbourne residents are locked down again (read also this article).
Catalonia orders wearing face masks even when the required 1.5-metre social distancing can be observed. The fine for not observing the new rules: 100 euros. The Balearic islands is set to follow Catalonia’s lead soon.
The Tokyo authorities pay nightclubs as well as host and hostess bars thousands of dollars if they close for more than 10 days.
Indonesia announces a new cluster of more than 1,000 cases at a military training center in West Java.
Friday, 10 July
Guardian live (10 July): Bogotá to re-enter strict lockdown.
The Guardian Global report (10 July).
Rats torment New York alfresco diners.
Scotland asserts separateness from England.
If you read Spanish, read El mapa de los brotes de coronavirus: el 40% tiene su origen en encuentros familiares.
Saturday, 11 July
The Guardian: Coronavirus live + Global report.
New outbreak in Spain in L’Hospitalet, the second biggest city in the Barcelona metropolitan area (3.2 million people; El País).
Over 40 Florida hospitals max out their intensive care unit capacity (The Guardian).
Rapid serological tests are now available in French pharmacies. The test requires taking a drop of blood by pricking the skin, usually at the fingertip, then putting it in contact with a reagent. The result appears in a few minutes (Le Monde).
The NY Times publishes ‘I Couldn’t Do Anything’: The Virus and an E.R. Doctor’s Suicide.
If you read Spanish, read the Fauci interview “La cuestión es que todo el mundo debería llevar mascarilla” (El País).
Is the governor of the hard-hit Lombardy region (almost 50% of all Italian cases) opening the dance for the second wave in his country? In a bold (suicidal?) move he allows discos to reopen open-air discos. The Repubblica newspaper reports that people “filled the slopes of the main Milanese discos without wearing personal protective equipment and without respecting the social distancing.” The countdown has begun.