Another “novel” feature of COVID-19 is coming to our attention: some individuals are more capable than others of sharing their viral load and infecting others. What’s up with that? Let's take a look.
COVID-19 infectivity
Stop me if you heard this one: Fourteen dermatologists walk into a bar... (Actually, it was 8, and 6 other scientists, walked into a February meeting in Germany.) At least 13 (maybe 14) walked out with a coronavirus infection. How did they manage this? Plus a hilarious Oliver North quote, a woefully amateurish food review, and some awful puns. Feel free to add your own.
"Track and Trace" is the latest COVID-19 catchphrase. It describes the process of identifying the ill and exposed, which then can make it safer for us to mingle socially once again. As a program gets underway in the U.S., what lessons can we learn from Asia?
To understand how severe and lethal COVID-19 really is, we need to know how many have been infected, which, in this equation, is the "denominator." An early study from Stanford of Santa Clara County says we may be underestimating how many cases there already are, which inaccurately gauges COVID-19’s infectivity and eventual mortality.