Covid-19
 Here’s the latest news from the global pandemic. Antibodies to coronavirus fade rapidly, research suggests Australia suffers worst day on record for Covid infectionsTrump restarts briefings with warning of worsening crisis Immunity passports are going nowhere Covid-19 immunity. It’s a hopeful idea, and one that most of the world is counting on to get us out of the novel coronavirus pandemic.It goes like this: Once you have been exposed to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, your immune system has been primed. If the virus circles back to you, it will know what to do and protect you. Most public-health officials and experts in infectious diseases hope we will get to this point with the help of a vaccine. An immunization is designed to expose your immune system to an inactivated form of the virus, or perhaps just a tiny piece of it—enough to give your infection-fighting cells a heads-up for the future without actually making you sick in the present. The other possibility is herd immunity through natural infection. This is what happens when 60% to 80% of the population has already gotten sick. Because their immune systems battled the virus, and won, recovered patients should have antibodies and other cells at the ready for any reappearance of the pathogen. Some people have proposed the idea of “immunity passports,” proof that someone has been vaccinated or survived an infection and thus don’t pose a risk to others. If you don’t get sick again, you won’t transmit the disease to other people, either.  Photographer: eldadcarin/iStockphoto Photographer: eldadcarin/iStockphoto But there is increasing evidence that this idea may have more challenges than many experts expected. Some people who have had SARS-CoV-2 don’t produce any of the antibodies that the immune system would normally use to fight off a returning army of virus. A new report published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that antibody levels quickly plummet in others with mild cases who do initially produce them, with a half-life of less than three months. The work was small, with just 34 patients, so it’s far from conclusive. But it does build on other evidence, including previous studies and the natural history of more conventional coronavirus infections. Those viruses cause about one-third of all cases of the common cold, and everyone knows that you can get repeat colds. In fact, immunity only lasts about three to five years for those infections. It’s too soon to panic. Scientists who are working on vaccines are aware of the risks. They have tools, including adjuvants and boosters, that can make immunizations more effective and last longer. It’s more evidence that an end to this outbreak isn’t yet visible.—Michelle Fay Cortez Track the virus The World Is Masking Up, But Some Are Opting Out Wearing a mask in cities like New York, London or Paris has gone from being a marker of the paranoid or vulnerable to the badge of the conscientious in the era of Covid-19. Here’s how attitudes have evolved.  President Donald Trump talks holds up his face mask during a press conference. Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America Sponsored Content by Siemens America’s factories, power plants, transportation and hospitals all need technology and our technology is only as powerful as the people deploying and maintaining it. Keeping America moving takes more than technology alone. It takes a human touch. Siemens Ingenuity for life. What you should read EU’s $3.5 Trillion Rally Leaves U.K. Behind Risk of a no-deal Brexit is keeping investors away from U.K. Post-Pandemic Plan: New Zealand Wine Country South Island is famously home to some of the world’s most majestic terrain. Japan Travel Campaign Burns Tokyo Residents City’s residents face costs after their exclusion from national trip subsidies. EU Could Approve First Covid Vaccine This Year EMA will start a rolling review of data and production after the summer. Home-Schooling Parents Want U.S. Support With reopenings in doubt, some say federal money should follow the child. Know someone else who would like this newsletter? Have them sign up here. Have any questions, concerns, or news tips on Covid-19 news? Get in touch or help us cover the story. Like this newsletter? Subscribe for unlimited access to trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and gain expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. Follow Us Get the newsletter You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg’s Coronavirus Daily newsletter. Unsubscribe | Bloomberg.com | Contact Us Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022 |
PreviousCovid-19 Pandemic