|
|
|
May 20, 2020
|
|
|
An
informed guide to the global outbreak, with the latest developments and
expert advice about prevention and treatment.
|
(Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.)
|
|
|
|
|
Disasters complicate pandemics, and vice
versa.
|
|
The
flooding in Central Michigan and the powerful cyclone plowing into South
Asia are showing us how the measures we take to be safe from one kind of
calamity can heighten our danger from another.
|
|
When a
dam bursts or a ferocious storm bears down, the people in harm’s way must
evacuate their homes and find shelter — the opposite of staying at home
and maintaining social distancing. So fleeing the flood exposes you to
the coronavirus, and fleeing the coronavirus exposes you to the flood.
|
Cyclone
Amphan, one of the strongest Indian Ocean storms in decades, slammed into the east
coast of India on Wednesday and menaced Bangladesh. Both
countries are densely populated, and both are under lockdown orders.
|
|
More
than three million people living in swampy coastal areas of the two
nations evacuated to emergency cyclone shelters. But some of the shelters
were only half-full, because of widespread fear of packing into places
where the virus could spread easily.
|
And in
Michigan, after two dams on the Tittabawassee River failed on Tuesday,
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer implored residents to evacuate immediately — but
also to keep following social-distancing precautions, which she
acknowledged would not be easy in shelters.
|
|
“To go
through this in the midst of a global pandemic is almost unthinkable,”
the governor said. “But we are here, and to the best of our ability, we
are going to navigate this together.”
|
At a
high school in Midland, Mich., volunteers in masks set up cots and air
mattresses six feet apart, encouraged people to sanitize their hands
every two hours and frequently wiped down surfaces with disinfectant, The Detroit Free Press
reported.
|
|
“Everything
is just so weird right now,” one evacuee at the school told the paper.
“I’m just waiting for the meteor.”
|
|
|
New York City hospitals enter a new phase
|
|
|
|
Our
correspondent Sheri Fink has covered the pandemic from inside the city’s
hospitals since the beginning. We asked her about the new reality.
|
|
What is the biggest change you’ve seen?
|
|
Right
now, the big noticeable change is in the emergency rooms. All the staff
is covered in protective gear, filling the emergency room, and there are
very few patients.
|
|
How have staff members been faring
emotionally?
|
|
There’s
this strange thing happening where everyone is thanking them and clapping
for them, but they are grappling with guilt because they couldn’t save
everybody. Doctors, nurses and hospital staff are used to life and death,
but they’re not used to death on this scale, and they’re not used to
feeling so helpless.
|
|
What are the hospitals up against now?
|
|
They’re
facing a number of challenges. They can’t start elective surgeries
because of an executive order from the governor that currently bans them
— and that affects the bottom line. They’re also concerned that people
aren’t coming to their clinics, so they face this challenge of convincing
the public that it’s safe. And also, they don’t know what lies ahead.
There are a lot of people who are convinced that there’s going to be a
second wave in the fall, or even mini-waves. So they’re having to prepare
for every scenario, while they are still grappling with the previous
ones.
|
|
|
The hurdles in the race for a vaccine
|
More
than 100 research teams are working on vaccines
for the coronavirus, with early results offering hope that one
will be released in record time — perhaps sometime next year. But finding
a safe, effective vaccine is just part of the puzzle: It also has to be
produced and distributed.
|
|
Manufacturing
vaccines is very complex, and no single company will be able to meet the
global demand. And along with a vaccine — or better, several — we’ll also
need all of the necessary supplies, like syringes, vials and bandages;
shortages of any of them could create a bottleneck, too.
|
|
One
thing the European Union hopes won’t get in the way: fights over
intellectual property rights. The union has proposed a voluntary pool for
sharing vaccine patents.
|
|
|
Different routes:
Scientists are taking at least four main approaches
to developing a vaccine, some well established (they worked for diseases
like chickenpox and measles) and others still highly experimental.
|
Curbed
enthusiasm: News of a small but promising
human trial for a vaccine developed by a biotech company,
Moderna, lifted hopes and stock markets this week. But several vaccine
experts told the medical news
site Stat that it was all but impossible to assess the
findings because the company had released very little information.
|
What you can do
|
Increase your internet
speed. Our
Tech Fix columnist explains how to diagnose and, when possible, fix a
lousy connection. One tip: If your router is more than five years old, it
should be replaced.
|
Take a cue from Times
journalists. Our reporters, critics and
editors have started Google Docs with their quarantine recommendations.
Check out the horrors movies they’re watching, the books they’re buying
and the food they’re cooking.
|
Go camping at home. If you have a backyard,
throw up a tent, roast s’mores over a fire pit and enjoy the novelty of
sleeping somewhere else — while still having access to your own
bathrooms.
|
|
|
What else we’re following
|
- The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quietly
released more detailed guidance for reopening safely,
after the White House had shelved an earlier version.
- Being
cut off from support systems at school is taking a toll
on the mental health of American children.
- As
some workers return to office buildings, they may face
unexpected health threats, like built-up bacteria in
stagnant plumbing systems that can cause Legionnaires’ disease.
- In an
extraordinary shift in policy, hundreds of unaccompanied migrant
children and teenagers have been
quickly deported by U.S. authorities during the
pandemic without a chance to speak to a social worker or plead
for asylum.
- Some
people who have survived the coronavirus say they have
been shunned by relatives and friends.
- Residents
in 11 of the world’s most overvisited tourist destinations told The Times
about the bittersweets ways the crisis has transformed where
they live.
|
|
|
|
We are a family of seven kids, and Mom sends out a
writing prompt each day. It’s usually a question or something to
reflect on, but it’s interesting to read all the responses. Prompts
have ranged from what was your favorite and least favorite childhood
meal to what is the thing you miss most during stay-at-home. We are
spread out all over, but this helps us to stay connected.
|
|
|
|
— Elise Edwards, Washington, D.C.
|
|
|
Let us
know how you’re dealing with the outbreak. Send us a response here,
and we may feature it in an upcoming newsletter.
|
|
|
|
Lara Takenaga
and Jonathan Wolfe helped write today’s newsletter.
|
|
|
|
You received this
email because you signed up for Coronavirus
Briefing from The New York Times.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire