Longitudinal evaluation and decline of antibody responses in SARS-CoV-2 infection

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.09.20148429v1

 This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review [what does this mean?]. It reports new medical research that has yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to guide clinical practice.

Antibody (Ab) responses to SARS-CoV-2 can be detected in most infected individuals 10-15 days following the onset of COVID-19 symptoms. However, due to the recent emergence of this virus in the human population it is not yet known how long these Ab responses will be maintained or whether they will provide protection from re-infection. Using sequential serum samples collected up to 94 days post onset of symptoms (POS) from 65 RT-qPCR confirmed SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals, we show seroconversion in >95% of cases and neutralizing antibody (nAb) responses when sampled beyond 8 days POS. We demonstrate that the magnitude of the nAb response is dependent upon the disease severity, but this does not affect the kinetics of the nAb response. Declining nAb titres were observed during the follow up period. Whilst some individuals with high peak ID₅₀ (>10,000) maintained titres >1,000 at >60 days POS, some with lower peak ID₅₀ had titres approaching baseline within the follow up period. A similar decline in nAb titres was also observed in a cohort of seropositive healthcare workers from Guy′s and St Thomas′ Hospitals. We suggest that this transient nAb response is a feature shared by both a SARS-CoV-2 infection that causes low disease severity and the circulating seasonal coronaviruses that are associated with common colds. This study has important implications when considering widespread serological testing, Ab protection against re-infection with SARS-CoV-2 and the durability of vaccine protection.

 

Immunity to Covid-19 could be lost in months, UK study suggests

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/12/immunity-to-covid-19-could-be-lost-in-months-uk-study-suggests

People who have recovered from Covid-19 may lose their immunity to the disease within months, according to research suggesting the virus could reinfect people year after year, like common colds.

In the first longitudinal study of its kind, scientists analysed the immune response of more than 90 patients and healthcare workers at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS foundation trust and found levels of antibodies that can destroy the virus peaked about three weeks after the onset of symptoms then swiftly declined.

Blood tests revealed that while 60% of people marshalled a “potent” antibody response at the height of their battle with the virus, only 17% retained the same potency three months later. Antibody levels fell as much as 23-fold over the period. In some cases, they became undetectable.

“People are producing a reasonable antibody response to the virus, but it’s waning over a short period of time and depending on how high your peak is, that determines how long the antibodies are staying around,” said Dr Katie Doores, lead author on the study at King’s College London

Trump on private border wall segment: ‘It was only done to make me look bad’

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/12/trump-border-wall-make-me-look-bad-357706

Saying it was done to embarrass him, President Donald Trump on Sunday said a reportedly defective section of his new border wall should not have been built by a private company.

ProPublica and the Texas Tribune reported Thursday that a segment of the wall along the Texas-Mexico border was showing dangerous “signs of erosion“ only months after being completed. The section was constructed by Fisher Industries of North Dakota, whose owner called the design a “Lamborghini.” It cost $42 million.

 

Health Ministry chief: 2,100 cases in just over 36 hours

https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-health-ministry-chief-2100-cases-in-just-over-36-hours-1001335671#utm_source=RSS

Prof. Hezi Levi feels people do not understand the extent to which Covid-19 is spreading in Israel.

Ministry of Health director general Prof. Hezi Levi has been trying to explain the severity of the growing spread of Covid-19 in Israel. "Yesterday there were 1,221 new people who tested positive and today since midnight there has been 900 more. There are more than 40,000 confirmed cases in Israel and divided by age 25% are under 18 and 8% over 65. There are currently 525 people hospitalized, of whom more than 100 are seriously ill and 54 people are on ventilators. 354 people have died. The infection rate is growing and rising, and the number of daily tests we are conducting is increasing. We are performing about 28,000 of which about 6% are positive."

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How Pandemics Wreak Havoc—and Open Minds

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/07/20/how-pandemics-wreak-havoc-and-open-minds

The plague marked the end of the Middle Ages and the start of a great cultural renewal. Could the coronavirus, for all its destruction, offer a similar opportunity for radical change?

 

1 – The Mitzvah of Settling the Land of Israel

https://ph.yhb.org.il/en/05-04-01/

The reason the Rambam does not include this mitzvah in his count of the 613 is that it is beyond the regular “value” of mitzvot; therefore, it is not included in their detailed enumeration. This coincides with the rules the Rambam lays down at the beginning of Sefer HaMitzvot, stating it is inappropriate to reckon commandments that encompass the entire Torah, as he writes in Mitzvah #153 [that settling the Land of Israel is all-inclusive]. Besides which, it is implausible to say that the mitzvah of Yishuv HaAretz is only rabbinically ordained today [and that that is why the Rambam leaves it out of the count]. After all, Chazal’s statement that settling the Land is equal to all the mitzvot of the Torah was made after the destruction of the Second Temple. Now, it is unlikely that they would say such a thing about a rabbinic mitzvah. Moreover, it is improbable that the Rabbis would dismantle a family (see above regarding divorce), and allow one to violate a shevut, merely for the sake of a rabbinic mitzvah (see Rabbi Zisberg’s Nachalat Ya’akov, Vol. 1, pp. 201-249).

Public Health And Teaching Experts Weigh In On Plans To Safely Reopen Schools | MSNBC

Where we went wrong: Expert says these 3 blunders caused new Israeli COVID chaos

https://www.timesofisrael.com/where-we-went-wrong-expert-says-these-3-blunders-caused-new-israeli-covid-chaos/

 

When schools reopened in early May, children studied in small groups, smaller than regular classes, as a measure to stop the spread of the virus. But this so-called capsule arrangement was quickly stopped, and regular class sizes were restored.

According to Barbash this was a major mistake. “Schools should have either stayed closed or allowed only 15 kids in classes,” he said. “Kids who are above nine should be treated like adults, and shouldn’t gather in groups of more than 10 to 15.”

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How did Florida get so badly hit by Covid-19?

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53357742

 

"There's a lot of misinformation all over the web about the seriousness of this outbreak," says Dr Aileen Marty, a Florida International University infectious disease expert who has been working with state officials on the pandemic response. She says this is partly why Florida is now among the worst-hit regions.

"Since we don't have a consistent message in our state, let alone our country, there's even more confusion."

The Republican governor has also downplayed the severity of Florida's outbreak by pointing to the increase in testing and younger Floridians being infected - particularly those aged 25 to 34 - as well as a lower death rate.

"Generally, deaths follow about two weeks behind when we get the positive tests," Dr Marty explains. She pushes back against the notion that America is doing well with deaths from this virus, saying even looking at just the raw data shows the nationwide rate - around 5.6% - is concerning.

"That's considering the fact that we're better at it now than we were," she adds. "We're getting people in beds sooner, moving people to ICUs sooner."

Testing, despite delays in getting results, has also aided mitigation. Medication is helping, though Florida has run out of the Remdesivir antiviral drug and is awaiting new shipments.

"I just don't understand people who say our death rate is great," Dr Marty says.

The median age of infections in Miami-Dade County, the state's most populous region, is 40. In Tallahassee, the median recently hit a low of 25 years old.

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Los Angeles, San Diego schools to resume online classes in fall due to jump in coronavirus cases

https://www.foxnews.com/us/los-angeles-san-diego-schools-wont-reopen

California's two largest school districts announced Monday that they would not be opening its facilities to students in the fall but will resume classes online.

In a letter to parents, Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner said the nation’s second-largest school district had decided to resume online classes due to a resurgence of the novel coronavirus.

“We made the decision to close school facilities before there was any occurrence of the virus at our schools, and this proved to be the right call,” Beutner said. “Science was our guide then, and it will continue to be. Unfortunately, Covid-19 continues to spread in the Los Angeles area and the virus is going to impact how we start the new school year.”

Trump Predicts ‘Beginning of the End’ for Fox News

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-predicts-beginning-of-the-end-for-fox-news

President Donald Trump lashed out Tuesday morning at Fox News even as the network continued to defend him at every turn of the ongoing impeachment trial. “Really pathetic how @FoxNews is trying to be so politically correct by loading the airwaves with Democrats like Chris Van Hollen, the no name Senator from Maryland,” Trump tweeted, equating political correctness with any attempt to hear from the “other” side. 

 “So, what the hell has happened to @FoxNews,” he continued. “Only I know! Chris Wallace and others should be on Fake News CNN or MSDNC. How’s Shep Smith doing? Watch, this will be the beginning of the end for Fox, just like the other two which are dying in the ratings. Social Media is great!”

Brianna Keilar: Trump is peddling in debunked and illogical crap

Judge asks if Trump ally Roger Stone must serve probation after prison sentence commuted

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/13/judge-asks-if-roger-stones-probation-still-applies-after-trumps-commutation.html

 A federal judge ordered the parties in Roger Stone’s criminal case to clarify the “scope” of President Donald Trump’s executive action commuting the prison sentence of his longtime ally.

• U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson asked those parties to address whether Trump’s clemency applies only to Stone’s prison term or also to the two-year probation period included in his sentence.
• Jackson also asked for a copy of Trump’s executive order.

Trump retweets game show host Chuck Woolery’s baseless claim that ‘everyone is lying’ about coronavirus

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/13/coronavirus-trump-cites-chuck-woolery-questioning-covid-19-on-twitter.html

President Donald Trump retweeted a post by game show host Chuck Woolery that baselessly claimed “everyone is lying” about the coronavirus pandemic in a possible effort to thwart Trump’s reelection by harming the economy.

The conservative Woolery, who hosted shows such as “Love Connection,” wrote on Sunday evening, “The most outrageous lies are the ones about Covid 19.”

“Everyone is lying. The CDC [federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], Media, Democrats, our Doctors, not all but most, that we are told to trust,” Woolery wrote.

Soon after Trump shared the post, the president retweeted another comment by Woolery about the coronavirus outbreak in the United States.
“There is so much evidence, yes scientific evidence, that schools should open this fall. It’s worldwide and it’s overwhelming. BUT NO,” wrote Woolery, whose game show resume also includes acting as the first host of “Wheel of Fortune,” and hosting “Scrabble,” “Greed” and “Lingo.”

Heart scans of Covid-19 patients show range of abnormalities

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/jul/13/heart-scans-of-covid-19-patients-show-range-of-abnormalities

Heart scans of coronavirus patients in hospital have revealed a range of abnormalities that can disrupt the ability to pump blood and in severe cases lead to a life-threatening failure in the organ.

Doctors at Edinburgh University examined ultrasound scans known as echocardiograms from more than 1,200 patients in 69 countries and found heart problems in 55%, with one in seven exhibiting signs of “severe abnormalities”.

The scans found damage to the ventricles – the two main chambers of the heart – in more than a third of the patients, while 3% had experienced heart attacks and a further 3% had inflamed heart tissue. The majority had no known heart disease before the scans were done.

 

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French Bus Driver Beaten to Death After Asking Passengers to Wear Face Masks

https://time.com/5866326/french-bus-driver-beaten-masks/

The wife of a French bus driver who was beaten to death after he asked four passengers to wear face masks aboard his vehicle called Saturday for “exemplary punishment” for his killers.

The assault on Philippe Monguillot has scandalized France. President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday dispatched the interior minister to meet the driver’s widow after his death was announced Friday. He had been hospitalized in critical condition after the July 5 attack.

Coronavirus unlikely to be spread by children, research suggests

https://www.pe.com/2020/07/10/coronavirus-why-kids-arent-the-germbags-and-grownups-are/

For months, we’ve kept children carefully isolated, pleading with them to behave, wear masks, wipe their boogers and not hug Gram and Grandpa. We’ve assumed this new virus acts just like the flu and common cold — so classrooms full of kids would create one giant cootie colony.

But a growing body of research suggests young children aren’t responsible for most viral transmission. Adults are.

Based on these findings, school-based transmission could be a manageable problem, particularly for  elementary school aged-childrenwho appear to be at the lowest risk of infection, according to a recent commentary in the journal Pediatrics.

AP FACT CHECK: Trump team's false comfort on schools, virus

https://www.startribune.com/ap-fact-check-trump-team-s-false-comfort-on-schools-virus/571737892/

President Donald Trump's aides are misrepresenting the record on kids and the coronavirus as they push for schools to reopen.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Monday inaccurately characterized what the chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said on the matter. A day earlier, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos also was wrong in stating that the research shows there is no danger "in any way" if kids are in school.

No such conclusion has been reached.

 

McENANY: "Just last week you heard Dr. Redfield say that children are not spreading this." — Monday on Fox News Channel's "Fox and Friends"

THE FACTS: No, Dr. Robert Redfield, the CDC director, did not say that. He said officials don't have evidence that children are "driving" infections at this point. But they have not ruled out that children spread the virus to adults.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus coordinator, said last week the government doesn't have enough data to show whether and to what degree kids can infect others.

The bulk of data has been collected from adults and particularly from those who were sick, leaving questions about children still unanswered, Birx said. She said children under 10 are the least tested age group.

The officials did not reach a conclusion that "children are not spreading this." Nor does the evidence prove that they are.

 The government has counted tens of thousands of children who have been infected with the virus and in some cases hospitalized. Overall, public health officials believe the virus is less dangerous to children than adults.

Florida Breaks Daily Record Sunday With 15,300 New Cases | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Lockdowns go into effect in neighborhoods of 5 cities, as virus hits new high

https://www.timesofisrael.com/lockdowns-go-into-effect-in-neighborhoods-of-5-cities-as-virus-surges/

Lockdowns came into effect at 1 p.m. on Friday in neighborhoods in five towns and cities hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak, a day after cabinet ministers approved the measure as the number of new cases in Israel continued to surge.

Parts of Jerusalem, Beit Shemesh, Lod, Ramle and Kiryat Malachi became “restricted zones” for seven days. The restrictions will be lifted at 8 a.m. on July 17.

In Jerusalem, the neighborhoods of Romema, Kiryat Sanz and Matersdorf — all majority ultra-Orthodox areas — have been closed; in Beit Shemesh, the areas of Nahala and K’ne Habosem; in Lod, Ganei Ya’ar and Sach; in Ramle, Amidar Beilav; and in Kiryat Malachi, the Rotner area and Chabad neighborhood.

Other parts of Lod will be closed for five days.

Florida breaks U.S. record for new coronavirus cases in a single day

Governor Ron DeSantis blasts reporters over fearmongering criticism of his state while VP Pence

An Indefensible Commutation

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/07/an-indefensible-commutation/

 Trump has commuted the sentence of Roger Stone. The timing, late on Friday, suggests internal embarrassment over the move, and we wish there were more.

The commutation is a move fully within the president’s powers and in keeping with the long-established pattern of presidents’ pardoning or commuting the sentences of associates caught up in special-counsel probes, although usually the associates aren’t as sleazy as Stone. We’re a long way from George H. W. Bush’s pardoning Cap Weinberger, the great Reagan-era defense official, who had been indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice in the Lawrence Walsh investigation.

No one would think of letting Roger Stone anywhere near any serious responsibility, and even the Trump campaign in 2016 had the sense to keep him at arm’s length.

 

There is no doubt, though, that Stone was guilty of perjury and a laughably ham-handed attempt at witness tampering. He was justly convicted of these charges and deserved to go to jail; in our system of justice, self-parody is no defense.

Attorney General Bill Barr reportedly opposed the commutation and was right to do so. The act of clemency is made worse by the fact that Stone repeatedly argued that he was owed it for his loyalty to the president.

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Terms of Michael Cohen's return to prison under scrutiny

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/10/politics/michael-cohen-prison-paperwork-dispute/index.html

After spending the past several weeks on New York's tony Upper East Side, Michael Cohen has found himself back in federal prison after a dispute with the government over what his lawyers say were restrictions in paperwork designed to prevent him from finishing a book about the president.

The form in question, a two-page document titled "Federal Location Monitoring Program Participant Agreement," had called for Cohen to abstain from communicating with members of the media — a provision that he had balked at given the pending release of his tell-all book, and one which his legal team has claimed is unusual.

Defense attorneys and legal experts that CNN spoke with Friday said that the form appeared to be tailored to Cohen, the flamboyant former fixer to President Donald Trump, whose affinity for the press is well known. Some called it unfair.

 

A spokesman for the Administrative Office of the US Courts, the judiciary agency that oversees the federal probation system, declined to comment on the specifics of Cohen's case, but added that no standard probation forms include language related to media contacts.

Shlach: Repairing the Sin of the Spies

http://www.ravkooktorah.org/SHLACH_65.htm

Rav Kook wrote that even today we still suffer the consequences of this catastrophic error. The root cause for the exiles and humiliations of the Jewish people, throughout the generations, is due to our failure to correct the sin of the spies.

 

To repair this national failure, a teshuvat hamishkal is needed, a penance commensurate with the sin which will “balance the scales.” The spies defamed the Land of Israel, as it says, “They despised the desirable land” (Psalms 106:24). We must do the opposite and show our unwavering love for the Land.

The Sin of the "Spies"

https://www.etzion.org.il/en/sin-spies

According to the Ramban (13:1 and 13:27) and the Akeidat Yitzchak (77) it appears that the sin of the spies lay in overstepping the bounds of their authority, in their transition from being faithful reporters – which was the mandate given to them - to becoming advisors with their own independent views and evaluations – which lay outside the bounds of their mission. Indeed, such a distinction exists in modern intelligence bodies, where the function of the information gatherers is to report on what they have seen or heard, and that of the intelligence evaluators is to evaluate the situation or even to provide advice, on the basis of that information. In the transition from one function to the other they did indeed overstep their authority, but ultimately this was no more than a formal sin. Is this really what constituted the true sin of the spies?

Is Aliyah a Mitzvah?

https://www.ou.org/blog/is-aliyah-a-mitzvah/

 

Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l (Igros Moshe E.H. 102) discusses whether there is a mitzvah to make aliyah and why many rabbanim have lived in the Diaspora. He writes that even according to the opinion of the Ramban, that there exists a biblical obligation, the nature of this obligation is different than many other mitzvos. He feels that this mitzvah is “kiyumis” not “chiyuvis”.

To fully appreciate this distinction, it is necessary to offer an introduction regarding different types of mitzvos. There exist two types of mitzvos: 1) “kiyumis”- A mitzvah that is not obligatory, rather if one fulfills this mitzvah one receives reward (ex. Eating in the Succah following the first night. For the following meals one does not need to eat in the Succah, if one were to choose, one can refrain from eating bread and the like and would not be in violation of any prohibition. However, if one chooses to eat bread then one must eat it in the succah. Thus this mitzvah is “optional”.) 2) “Chiyuvis”- A mitzvah that one must fulfill and is obligatory in nature. (ex. Wearing Tefillin. One must wear tefillin every day and if one neglects this mitzvah and does not wear tefillin has done something wrong. Thus this mitzvah is “obligatory”.)

Now we can understand the ruling of Rav Moshe. He explains that although there is a mitzvah to live in Israel, however, this mitzvah is “optional”. Meaning that one is not obligated to move to Israel, rather, if one lives in Israel he fulfills a mitzvah. Rav Moshe continues, that because there is no prohibition of living outside of Israel it might be preferable to do so for the reasons given by Rav Chaim Kohen (namely that there are many mitzvos and prohibitions that apply specifically to the Land of Israel and it is difficult to fulfill all of those obligations.)

Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik zt”l agreed with the premise of Rav Moshe Feinstein. He also felt that the mitzvah to live in Israel is a mitzvah “kiyumis” and not “chiyuvis” (oral ruling cited by Rav Hershel Schachter shlit”a sefer Peninei Harav).

Anderson Cooper slams 'lies and noise' from Mike Pence

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