As U.S. deaths reach 100,000, experts say coronavirus might never go away

As the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus reached 100,000, some experts are saying there’s a good chance the virus will never go away, even after a vaccine is discovered and deployed. Experts in epidemiology, disaster planning and vaccine development say embracing that reality is crucial to the next phase of America’s pandemic response.

Here are some significant developments:

· Vermont reported zero covid-19 hospitalizations for first time since mid-March.

· New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) delivered a fiery defense of federal funding to states that have been hit hard by the coronavirus. “Stop abusing New York. Stop abusing New Jersey," Cuomo said at a briefing at the National Press Club after meeting with President Trump at the White House.

· House lawmakers cast the first-ever remote congressional floor votes Wednesday, albeit under a legal cloud after Republican leaders filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the arrangement.

· New research suggests the coronavirus outbreak began in the United States in mid-February — a conclusion that could change our understanding of how the virus spread here and how it has been fought.

· Small community hospitals in Southern California, some of the poorest in the state, have been flooded with Americans who have fallen ill and crossed the border from Mexico.

· Millennials are the unluckiest generation in U.S. history, according to a Post analysis. After accounting for pandemic, the average millennial has experienced slower economic growth since entering the workforce than any other generation, and they will bear that burden for the rest of their lives.

· Disney revealed plans to reopen its four theme parks in Florida in July with masks, temperature checks, smaller crowds and social distancing — and without the parades, fireworks shows or character meet-and-greets.

Coronavirus may never go away, even with a vaccine

There’s a good chance the coronavirus will never go away.

Even after a vaccine is discovered and deployed, the coronavirus will probably remain for decades, circulating among the world’s population.

Experts call such diseases endemic, stubbornly resisting efforts to stamp them out. Think measles, HIV, chickenpox.

It is a daunting proposition, a world with no foreseeable end to the coronavirus. But experts in epidemiology, disaster planning and vaccine development say embracing that reality is crucial to the next phase of the country’s pandemic response. The long-term nature of the virus, they say, should serve as a call to arms for the public, a road map for the trillions of dollars Congress is spending and a fixed navigational point for the nation’s current chaotic, patchwork state-by-state strategy.

With so much else uncertain, the persistence of the novel virus is one of the few things we can count on about the future. That doesn’t mean the situation will always be as dire. There are already four endemic coronaviruses that circulate continuously, causing the common cold. Many experts predict this virus will become the fifth, its effects growing milder as immunity spreads and our bodies adapt to it over time.

Washington state outbreak began in mid-February, new research says

New research suggests that the coronavirus outbreak began in the United States in mid-February, a conclusion that could change our understanding of how the virus spread here.

In a paper published Monday, the authors say that the first person diagnosed with the virus in the United States was a Chinese national who traveled from Wuhan to Seattle in mid-January. Through contact tracing, “no onward transmission” was found from that person, the authors say.

Initially, researchers believed that another coronavirus case in Washington state in late February was linked to the first case, the authors continue, suggesting the virus spread undetected for six weeks. Now the authors, who come from a number of universities in the United States, Canada and Britain, say the first outbreak did not actually begin until the middle of February.

This finding is significant, suggesting that the United States could still have fought an outbreak at that point, the study says.

Only about half of Americans say they will definitely get vaccinated, poll finds

Only about half of Americans say they definitely would get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus once a vaccine becomes available, according to a poll released Wednesday by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The poll finds 49 percent plan to get vaccinated while 31 percent say they are not sure. Twenty percent say they will not get vaccinated.

The Trump administration has pledged to produce a vaccine by the end of the year, a highly ambitious timetable, health experts say.

Only 20 percent of Americans believe that goal will be met, while 61 percent expect a vaccine to become available sometime next year. An additional 17 percent think it will take longer than that.

The percentage of those who say they definitely would get vaccinated is about the same as those who said they planned to get vaccinated against the flu in a 2019 survey conducted for the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

Amid shutdowns, women are more likely to lose jobs and spend more time on housework, study finds

Walt Disney World plans to reopen its first parks on July 11

Disney revealed plans to reopen its four theme parks in Florida in July with masks, temperature checks, smaller crowds and social distancing, and without the parades, fireworks shows or character meet-and-greets that are typical hallmarks of the experience.

Jim MacPhee, vice president of operations for the Walt Disney World Resort, said Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom would open on July 11, while Epcot and Hollywood Studios would follow four days later.

Those proposed dates are much later than Orlando-area competitors Universal Orlando Resort and SeaWorld, both of which plan to open in early June. Universal has said it plans to reopen on June 5, and SeaWorld said Wednesday that it intends to open to the public on June 11.

Both Disney and SeaWorld presented their plans Wednesday morning to a task force in Florida’s Orange County. Members approved those plans unanimously; the mayor and governor must both sign off.

Boeing will cut 6,770 jobs this week, with more layoffs expected

Boeing will lay off thousands of employees this week as part of a previously announced plan to significantly shrink its workforce, a company spokesman said Wednesday, in the latest of several aggressive moves to navigate the coronavirus recession.

The company plans to distribute pink slips to about 6,770 employees across the United States this week, adding to the 5,520 who accepted buyout offers. Boeing will cut several thousand more jobs in coming months to reduce its workforce by 10 percent, the company said.

Boeing is trying to prepare for what promises to be significantly weaker demand for its commercial airplanes as a result of the pandemic. Boeing’s airline customers, gutted by a near-total shutdown in global air travel, have already canceled billions of dollars’ worth of airplane orders. And it will probably be several years before they purchase new jets at anything near the rate they did before, analysts say, suggesting the damage to Boeing’s commercial airplane business will be deep and lasting.

Executives have so far balked at the terms of federal assistance that might have forestalled layoffs, despite pleas from union officials to accept the aid.

Study says Brazil’s death toll could reach 125,000 by August as Latin America becomes new pandemic hotbed

A leading covid-19 model predicts the death toll from the disease could surpass 125,000 in Brazil by early August, as Latin America quickly becomes the new hotbed of the pandemic.

The new figures were released as the World Health Organization’s Americas director, Carissa Etienne, warned countries in the region against easing restrictions, saying in an online briefing on Tuesday: “Our region has become the epicenter of the covid-19 pandemic.”

In Brazil, the country with the region’s highest death toll, authorities have so far confirmed more than 24,000 fatalities, even though skepticism over the accuracy of those figures has mounted. Researchers argue the real death toll is probably far higher and could surge further in coming weeks.

According to the latest estimates by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, deaths could increase by more than 400 percent within the next two months. Previously, the institute had estimated around 88,000 deaths in Brazil, but that analysis was based on a smaller pool of states examined by the researchers. For its most recent estimate, the institute took into account data from 19 of the country’s 26 states.

France stops use of hydroxychloroquine in hospitals, joining Italy, Belgium and the WHO

The French government Wednesday told doctors to stop using hydroxychloroquine as a covid-19 treatment in hospitals, joining Italy, Belgium and the World Health Organization in halting use or studies of the anti-malaria drug after researchers found it could cause severe harm to patients.

Despite ongoing questions about the effects of the anti-malaria drug, Trump has repeatedly promoted it as a treatment without citing conclusive evidence. He is among a handful of world leaders who have said they have taken it or recommend taking it.

In contrast, France released a national public-health advisory that said using the drug was no longer advised and noted that there was no “sufficiently robust” study that supported “the efficacy” of hydroxychloroquine in treating coronavirus patients.

The WHO announced Monday it was suspending its hydroxychloroquine trial in light of safety concerns. The organization has repeatedly recommended the drug not be used outside of controlled clinical trials.

The Lancet, a leading British medical journal, found in a recent study that covid-19 patients who took the anti-malaria drug were more likely to die or experience irregular heartbeats.

In the initial rush to crush the virus, hydroxychloroquine emerged as a hopeful contender. “The drug had been shown to have strong antiviral properties in cell cultures, was widely available and was thought to be rather benign in terms of side effects,” reported The Washington Post’s Ariana Eunjung Cha and Laurie McGinley. But on Wednesday, Anthony S. Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious-disease expert, spoke out against Trump’s support of the drug.

“The scientific data is really quite evident now about the lack of efficacy,” Fauci said on CNN. He did not, however, call for a ban on its use. (Source: The Washington Post)