COVID-19 International Research Update

Compiled by: Assam Rural Infrastructure and Agricultural Services (ARIAS) Society

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Team:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

1. LayaMadduri, IAS, State Project Director, ARIAS Society 2. ParijatChowdhury, Sr. ICT & Infra Specialist, ACCSDP 3. NibhaKumari, Agri Marketing Specialist, ASAMB-APART 4. Baljeet Singh, Market Analyst & Operations Specialist, APART

March – April 2020

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Table of contents Sl Title Pg 1 WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 04 2 UC Davis launches two clinical studies to treat COVID-19 04 3 USFDA update on COVID-19 05 4 Coronavirus: The woman behind India's first testing kit 05 5 Russian scientists take the first photo of a novel coronavirus and fully decode its genome 05 6 Russia plans to start series production of new against coronavirus in 1.5 years 05 7 Australian researchers to trial BCG vaccine for COVID-19 06 8 University of Birmingham joins COVID-19 genome sequencing alliance to map spread of coronavirus 07 9 University Of Glasgow Leads Covid-19 Research Response In Scotland 08 10 Germany : DZIF Coronavirus Researchers use “Fast Track” 09 11 WHO says early data show some drugs ‘may have an impact’ on coronavirus, but more research is 11 needed 12 USA: Study will test if hydroxychloroquine can prevent COVID-19 11 13 USA: Florida Research Company Prepares for COVID-19 Vaccine, Treatment Clinical Trials 11 14 Europe : Severe COVID-19 cases to be offered new clinical trial programme 12 15 USA Free access to AI Clinical Research Navigator tool for COVID-19 researchers 13 16 The US Army's Research Lab Gears Up to Fight COVID-19 14 17 Rapid COVID-19 escalation pushes world past 900,000 cases/ COVID-19 detected in cat & dogs 14 18 Germany :COVID-19: Study Reports High Viral Shedding Among Early-Stage Patients 14 19 Australia begins animal trials for COVID-19 vaccine 14 20 DRDO develops bio suits for doctors, paramedics engaged in treating coronavirus patients 15 21 USA : COVID-19 vaccine candidate shows promise 16 22 British Colombia: Trial drug can significantly block early stages of COVID-19 in engineered human 16 tissues 23 University of California: Removing the novel coronavirus from the water cycle 17 24 Common Anti-Parasitic drug may help in stopping novel coronavirus,- Australian Scientists’ research 18 25 Study lists 69 existing drugs to target novel coronavirus 18 26 Researchers announce promising coronavirus vaccine candidate 18 27 Shocking Study Theorizes Compelling Mutated Coronavirus Origins 19 28 Researchers warn possible coronavirus treatment Hydroxychloroquine may be toxic when combined 20 with Diabetes drug 29 COVID‐19: Characteristics in children & considerations for Dentists providing their care 20 30 Convalescent plasma transfusion shows promise for severely ill patients with COVID-19 21 31 Researchers have identified potential target for antiviral treatment for COVID-19 21 32 Covid-19: EU to push for coordinated virus-tracking mobile apps 22 33 Coronavirus latest: CERN scientists join the COVID-19 fight 22 34 COVID-19: Genetic network analysis provides 'snapshot' of pandemic origins 23 35 UK doctors to research more severe COVID-19 impact on Indians 23 36 Two-Thirds of Severe Covid-19 Cases Improved on Gilead Drug 24 37 COVID-19 vaccine: Could human challenge trials speed up the process? 24 38 Indian Summer may hold a pleasant surprise; could slow down corona spread 25 39 Marine red algae may hold key to preventing spread of COVID-19: Reliance researchers 26 40 Loss of taste and smell is an important symptom for COVID-19 26 41 Coronavirus can infect cats but pet owners need not worry 26 42 Universiti Malaya leads clinical trials for Tocilizumab in COVID-19 treatment 27 43 New drug promises to change Covid-19 response, gets nod for human trials 27 44 Study finds evidence of COVID-19 in air, on hospital surfaces 27 Page 2 of 43

Sl Title Pg 45 How AI helps scientists find reliable coronavirus research 28 46 US Homeland Security Lists Blockchain As Critical Tool To Combat Covid-19 29 47 COVID-19: New research examines wastewater to detect community spread 29 48 Early peek at data on Gilead coronavirus drug suggests patients are responding to treatment 30 49 Experts warn of urgent need for Covid-19 mental health research 31 50 Covid-19: Harvard study suggests bouts of required till 2022 31 51 What can data on testing tell us about the pandemic? 32 52 Reports suggest many had coronavirus with no symptoms 35 53 Researchers have identified potential target for antiviral treatment for COVID-19 36 54 COVID-19: Genetic network analysis provides ‘snapshot’ of pandemic origins 37 55 World experts and funders set priorities for COVID-19 research 38 56 NIAID strategic plan details COVID-19 research priorities 39 57 Increasing pessimism about ‘return to normal’ by June from COVID-19 crisis, shows poll 40 58 'No evidence' yet that recovered COVID-19 patients are immune, WHO Says 40 59 clinical trial quietly tests heartburn remedy against coronavirus 41 60 Shiv Nadar University-led researchers find new way to treat respiratory caused by COVID-19 42 61 UK scientists plan to expand human trials of potential COVID-19 vaccine 43

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COVID-19 International Research follow up

25th March 2020: WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 25 March 2020 WHO Director General has called upon all countries who have introduced so-called “lockdown” measures to use this time to attack the virus through following six key actions: 1. First, expand, train and deploy your health care and public health workforce; 2. Second, implement a system to find every suspected case at community level; 3. Third, ramp up the production, capacity and availability of testing; 4. Fourth, identify, adapt and equip facilities you will use to treat and isolate patients; 5. Fifth, develop a clear plan and process to contacts and; 6. Sixth, refocus the whole of government on suppressing and controlling COVID-19. These measures are the best way to suppress and stop transmission, so that when restrictions are lifted, the virus doesn’t resurge. Source: https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the- media-briefing-on-covid-19---25-march-2020 accessed at 12.49 IST on 27th March 2020

26th March 2020: UC Davis launches two clinical studies to treat COVID-19 Remdesivir study: UC Davis is one of approximately 75 sites worldwide evaluating the benefits of Remdesivir for severe COVID-19 infection. Remdesivir is an investigational broad-spectrum antiviral treatment developed by Gilead Sciences Inc. It was previously tested in humans with virus disease and has shown promise in animal models for treating Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which are caused by other coronaviruses.UC Davis physicians used remdesivir in February, with emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration, to treat a critically ill patient who was the first known case of community-acquired infection in the U.S. The patient has since returned home to recover.The study will enroll up to 440 patients over the next several months, including about 10 or more at UC Davis. Among other criteria, participants must be 18 years of age or older, have a confirmed SARS-CoV-2 test and poor lung function.

Sarilumab study: UC Davis is one of up to 50 sites in the U.S. assessing sarilumab, a drug jointly developed by Regeneron and Sanofi pharmaceutical companies for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. The drug is a human monoclonal that blocks the receptor for interleukin-6 (IL-6), a cytokine that plays an important role in the body's immune response and in generating fever and acute inflammation. The study will evaluate whether the drug can control the progression of the inflammatory response in the lungs of patients with severe COVID-19 infection.Approximately 400 hospitalized patients age 18 and older with acute COVID-19 infection can be enrolled in the study nationwide. Individuals will be grouped according to the severity of their illness and progression of symptoms, from severe to critical to having multi- system organ failure as well as whether cortisone drugs were used to reduce inflammation. The researchers will be determining whether the health of individuals with high IL-6 levels and severe/critical levels of infection improve with the drug. Source:https://www.newswise.com/articles/uc-davis-launches-two-clinical-studies-to-treat-covid- 19accessed at 12:35 PM IST on 28th March 2020

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27th March 2020:USFDA update on COVID-19:The FDA issued a letter to stakeholders about the imminent threat to the health of consumers who may takechloroquine phosphate productsused to treat disease in aquarium fish, thinking the products are interchangeable with FDA-approved drugs (used to treat malaria and certain other conditions in humans) that are being studied as a COVID-19 treatment for humans. Chloroquine products sold for aquarium use have not been evaluated by the FDA to determine whether they are safe, effective, properly manufactured, and adequately labeled for use in fish-let alone humans. Source:https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-daily- roundup-march-27-2020 accessed at 01:40 PM on 28th March 2020

28th March 2020: Coronavirus: The woman behind India's first testing kit: India has been criticized for its poor record of testing people in the battle against coronavirus. That, however, is set to change, thanks in large part to the efforts of one virologist, who delivered on a working test kit, just hours before delivering herbaby.On Thursday (26th March 2020), the first made-in- India coronavirus testing kits reached the market, raising hopes of an increase in screening of patients with flu symptoms to confirm or rule out the COVID-19 infection.Mylab Discovery, in the western city of Pune, became the first Indian firm to get full approval to make and sell testing kits. It shipped the first batch of 150 to diagnostic labs in Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Goa and Bengaluru (Bangalore) this week."Our manufacturing unit is working through the weekend and the next batch will be sent out on Monday," DrGautamWankhede, Mylab's Director for medical affairs, told the BBC on Friday.The molecular diagnostic company, which also makes testing kits for HIV and Hepatitis B and C, and other diseases, says it can supply up to 100,000 Covid-19 testing kits a week and can produce up to 200,000 if needed.EachMylab kit can test 100 samples and costs 1,200 rupees ($16; £13) - that's about a quarter of the 4,500 rupees that India pays to import Covid-19 testing kits from abroad. Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-52064427accessed at 02.45 PM on 28th March 2020

28th March 2020: Russian scientists take the first photo of a novel coronavirus and fully decode its genome: Russian scientists have managed to sequence the first complete genome of the coronavirus, the Russian Health Ministry confirmed on March 19. "This coronavirus is new to us, so it is essential to have an opportunity to identify the path of its spread and entry into the territory of our country, and its mutations. This information will help develop and antiviral drugs to treat the coronavirus,” said Dmitry Lioznov, acting head of the Smorodintsev Research Institute of Influenza, whose specialists decoded the genome. Soon, this data will be sent to the World Health Organization database so that scientists from other countries can have access to it. In the meantime, scientists from the VECTOR State Research Center of and Biotechnology in Novosibirsk have managed to take pictures of COVID-19 under a microscope. Source :https://www.rbth.com/science-and-tech/331859-russian-scientists-photo-coronavirus Accessed on 28 March 2020 ,6:00 PM

28th March 2020: Russia plans to start series production of new vaccine against coronavirus in 1.5 years: Russia will need about 1.5-2.5 years in order to create a vaccine against coronavirus and launch it into a series production, according to recent statements made by Dmitry Lioznov, an acting Director of the Smorodintsev Research Institute of Influenza, one of Russia’s leading research institutions in the field of influenza treatment. Page 5 of 43

According to DrLioznov, despite the fact that the development of vaccine is usually a quick process for scientists, it is followed by the long procedure of its pre-clinical studies on animals as well as studies on volunteers. So far, scientists at the Smorodintsev Institute have already completed the decoding of the COVID-19 genome taken from the biomaterial of a Russian patient and are ready to begin its pre-clinical studies.DrLioznov comments: “Now it’s difficult to say how much the strain, deciphered in Russia differs from the first sample of the coronavirus, deciphered in China. Now the WHO genetics bank has sequences of several hundred samples obtained in different countries. The variability of the virus, its evolution is necessary both for predicting its spread and for creating an effective vaccine and drugs, but comparing the gene structure of different strains, taken from different patients is a laborious process, which requires the use of special computer programs. This work is ongoing." Source:https://www.thepharmaletter.com/in-brief/brief-russia-plans-to-start-series- production-of-new-vaccine-against-coronavirus-in-1-5-years, Accessed on: 28 March 2020, 8:26 PM

29th March 2020: Australian researchers to trial BCG vaccine for COVID-19: Researchers at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Australia are set to conduct a randomised, multi- centre clinical trial to test the use of tuberculosis vaccine BCG against COVID-19. The BRACE trial is intended for healthcare workers. It is based on previous study findings that BCG decreases the level of virus in patients infected by similar to SARS-CoV-2. Murdoch Children’s Research Institute director Kathryn North said: “This trial will allow the vaccine’s effectiveness against Covid-19 symptoms to be properly tested, and may help save the lives of our heroic frontline healthcare workers.”The controlled trial is expected to enrol approximately 4,000 healthcare workers at hospitals across Australia, including the Melbourne Campus’ Royal Children’s Hospital. BCG will be assessed for its ability to mitigate the prevalence and severity of Covid-19 symptoms. More than 130 million babies currently receive the BCG for tuberculosis each year. The vaccine is said to enhance ‘frontline’ . The improved immunity is expected to provide the time required to develop and validate a specific vaccine for Covid-19 infection. The BRACE study is based on an existing trial at the institute, which led to human ethics approvals. The existing trial is being conducted at sites across Australia. North added: “Using rapidly sourced and immediately deployable funds, we will be relentless in our pursuit of preventions and treatments for this unprecedented pandemic. “These trials will allow the rapid advancement of the most promising candidates to clinical practice, giving us the most number of shots on goal against Covid-19 as possible.” Trials of potential vaccine candidates for Covid-19 are already underway in the US and China.

Source:https://www.clinicaltrialsarena.com/news/australia-bcg-vaccine-trial-covid-19/ Accessed on 29th March 2020,5:00 PM

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30 March 2020:University of Birmingham joins COVID-19 genome sequencing alliance to map spread of coronavirus: The Government and the UK’s Chief Scientific Adviser have today (Monday 23 March) backed the UK’s leading clinicians and scientists to map how COVID-19 spreads and evolves using whole-genome sequencing. Through a £20 million investment, the consortium will look for breakthroughs that help the UK respond to this and future pandemics, and save lives. The COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium - COG-UK - comprised of the NHS, Public Health Agencies and academic institutions – including the University of Birmingham - will deliver large scale, rapid sequencing of the cause of the disease and share intelligence with hospitals, regional NHS centres and the Government.

Samples from patients with confirmed cases of COVID-19 will be sent to a network of sequencing centres which currently includes Birmingham, Belfast, Cambridge, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Norwich, Nottingham, Oxford and Sheffield. The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute will provide large-scale sequencing capacity and additional support.

The University of Birmingham, led by Nick Loman, Professor of Microbial Genomics and Bioinformatics in the Institute of Microbiology and Infection, have deployed a real-time genome sequencing facility established at the University capable of sequencing genomes of the virus causing COVID-19 from patients in the West Midlands in less than 24 hours.

Professor Loman says: “This is a remarkable collaboration which brings together Birmingham and the UK’s incredible depth of expertise and knowledge in viral sequencing and genomics. An open and distributed model of sequencing involving both academia, the NHS and our public health bodies is the right way to ensure results are delivered quickly to decision-makers. We are now well positioned to return deep insights into understanding the rapidly-accelerating pandemic of COVID-19, easily the most pressing infectious disease emergency we have faced in two generations in the UK.

“The government’s investment is well-timed to accelerate the pace of viral genome sequence production and ensure this information is openly available to epidemiologists and virologists worldwide. This will provide an unprecedented real-time view of COVID-19 virus evolution.”

Understanding viral evolution is important for understanding how the virus is spreading in local, national and international settings. It provides valuable epidemiological information revealing the chains of transmission that must be stopped in order to stop this outbreak.

We also stand to observe how the virus adapts to a human host over time, and how human interventions including drug treatments and eventually vaccines, exert pressure on the virus.

Source:https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/latest/2020/03/birmingham-joins-covid-19-genome- sequencing-alliance-to-map-spread-of-coronavirus.aspx Accessed on:30th March 2020,5:00 PM IST

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30 March 2020:University Of Glasgow leads COVID-19 research response in Scotland: The MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR) is at the heart of COVID-19 research response in Scotland and the UK.Covid-19 is a new disease in humans, caused by a member of the coronavirus family of viruses. Thought to have originated in bats, it was first recorded in humans in China in late 2019, and can cause a fever, cough and breathing problems. Experts currently think around 80% of cases are mild, however a small portion of infected people go on to have complications such as pneumonia, and require a period of hospitalisation.

So far, it has spread to most countries around the world, and has already affected more than 300,000 people, several thousands in the UK. The WHO currently estimate the death rate at 3.4%, however scientists believe the real mortality rate may be lower as there is evidence that not everyone with mild forms of the disease have been tested.

Scientists at the CVR are working in partnership with colleagues across the UK on a range of research areas related to the new coronavirus, including working closely with colleagues in Public Health England to understand linkages across the UK in an effort to shut down ongoing transmission in real-time. Research areas include fundamental studies to understand the nature of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus which causes COVID-19, genomic sequencing and bioinformatics analyses of the virus from patient samples, and the identification of potential therapies.

Professor Massimo Palmarini, Director of the CVR, said: “The CVR and its scientists are at the centre of Scotland’s – and the UK’s – response to the current coronavirus outbreak. As the largest group of virologists in the UK with the facilities to handle samples from infected patients, we are well placed to conduct pivotal research into emerging diseases such as COVID-19.

“In the coming weeks and months, our scientists will continue to work in collaboration with NHS Scotland, sequencing the virus, as well as conducting further research into SARS-CoV-2, its mechanisms of action and potential therapies.”

In early March 2020, CVR scientists working in partnership with the NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde West of Scotland Specialist Virology Centre, rapidly sequenced the virus from the first COVID-19 patient confirmed in Scotland.

Professor Emma Thomson, Dr Ana Da Silva Filipe and a team of scientists at the Centre, will continue to rapidly sequence SARS-CoV-2 virus from COVID-19 samples obtained from patients, from across Scotland, as long as the outbreak lasts. This genomic information will be made publically available immediately following sequencing and genomic analysis.

Reports on the five genomes sequenced to date are available at these two sites:

. http://virological.org/t/first-report-of-covid-19-in-scotland/412 . http://virological.org/t/update-report-of-covid-19-in-scotland-multiple- introductions/438

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The rapid sequencing of COVID-19 samples is essential to further research into the virus. Scientists from around the world are able to extract information from the genetic code – or blueprint – of this new coronavirus, that will ultimately help the creation of vaccines.

Dr Ana Filipe, Head of the CVR’s Viral Genomics facility who led the efforts to rapidly sequence this virus said: “The rapid turnaround of the sample and interpretation of the data was only possible due to excellent coordination between clinicians, diagnostic labs, and research partners. These collaborations are critically important to ensuring an effective response to outbreaks like this. Equally important is the trend of open sharing of reagents and protocols amongst researchers and the public sharing of sequencing data, which has been a defining feature of the response to recent viral epidemics”.

The CVR is also working to develop a toolbox of reagents that will help current and future studies of this virus. This includes a partnership with the MRC Phosphorylation Unit at the University of Dundee to generate against SARS-CoV-2. All of these reagents will be made available to the research community.

The MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR) was established in 2010 and represents the UK’s largest grouping of human and veterinary virologists. The CVR is embedded within the Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation at the University of Glasgow which provides excellent research opportunities to investigate virus-host interactions and immune response to virus infection. The Centre is funded by the Medical Research Council, the UK’s leading publicly funded biomedical research organisation, and by a variety of other funding bodies including the Wellcome Trust, the BBSRC, EU and others.

Source:https://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_714460_en.html Accessed on: 30th March 2020,6:15 PM IST

GERMANY:DZIF Coronavirus Researchers use “Fast Track”

Research has been called to develop drugs, vaccines and testing methods as quickly as possible to fight the SARS-coronavirus-2. A fast-track procedure has made additional funding available to scientists at the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) for this purpose.

The research package put together by scientists at the DZIF is pursuing ambitious goals: New diagnostic testing methods, antiviral drugs and a vaccine against the virus are on the agenda. “ We are optimistic that our research work at the DZIF can make substantial contributions in the fight against the virus,” explains Prof. Stephan Becker from Marburg University. He is the Coordinator of the DZIF research area “Emerging ”.

Prevention: Vaccines do not assemble themselves on their own

DZIF scientists in Munich, Marburg and Hamburg use the expertise previously acquired from developing a vaccine against MERS, a different type of coronavirus. They are using the same vector virus, a virus which has been modified and rendered harmless, into which they now insert the genetic information of a SARS-CoV-2 surface protein instead of the previously inserted MERS information. The scientists selected a so-called spike protein, which lies on the

Page 9 of 43 surface of the virus and enables the virus to enter human cells, to use as a suitable building block.

“This may initially sound like simple assembly work, but it does require a substantial amount of meticulous research work,” explains Prof. Gerd Sutter, virologist at LMU Munich. First we need to synthesise both the vector and the corona spike protein genes. Then we have to assemble these genetic building blocks in such a way that they can finally be administered as a recombinant vaccine. The resulting vaccine virus should be able to penetrate into the cells and produce the virus’s spike protein in the cells so as to stimulate the vaccinated person’s immune system. Whether this is effective will first have to be tested in a cell model and subsequently in animal models and on humans.

“These precise testing systems have to developed alongside each other,” adds Prof. Stephan Becker from Marburg University. “We also do this at the DZIF.” Research questions include: Which antibodies are developed in the animal model and subsequently in humans? Are the number of antibodies produced sufficient to provide protection against the virus and how long does this vaccine protection last? At the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Prof. Marylyn Addo is leading a research group which is conducting parallel analyses of patient biosamples so as to determine the human body’s immune response more precisely. These are important investigations which pave the way to an effective vaccine. “If the current plan works, we should have a vaccine that works in animal models in early 2021,” Addo hopes. Prof. Marylyn Addo will lead the clinical trials at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). She substantially contributed towards the development of the Ebola and MERS vaccines which are both still undergoing clinical trials.

Treatment: Emergency drugs

The development of antiviral drugs could be faster than the development of a new vaccine. The scientists develop in vitro assays and animal models to serve as a basis for testing antiviral substances. Especially agents which have already been approved for other indications hold promise as drugs which could be used in the short term.

Diagnosis: Rapid and safe tests

Shortly after the outbreak in China in January 2020, DZIF scientists at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin developed the first test for SARS-CoV-2. Using the virus’s genetic information, Prof. and his team succeeded in developing a test based on the PCR (polymerase chain reaction) technique. The test is currently being used worldwide. Now the aim is to refine the test methods as well as to develop and validate new tests which can be used to determine immune responses in the human body. “We will only be able to develop a vaccine once we know what happens inside the patient’s body,” Drosten explains. Source:https://www.dzif.de/en/dzif-coronavirus-researchers-use-fast-track Accessed on:30th March 2020,4:00 PM IST

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31st March 2020:WHO says early data show some drugs ‘may have an impact’ on coronavirus, but more research is needed: World Health Organization officials said early research shows that some drugs “may have an impact” on fighting the coronavirus, but the data are extremely preliminary and more research needs to be done to determine whether the treatments can reliably fight COVID-19.There is “some preliminary data from non-randomized studies, observational studies, that indicate some drugs and some drug cocktails may have an impact,” Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s health emergencies program, said during a press briefing at the agency’s headquarters Monday.

WHO urged countries to stop using medicines that are not proven to be effective against COVID- 19.Chloroquine has gained a lot of attention after a small study of 36 COVID-19 patients published on March 17th in France found that most patients taking the drug cleared the coronavirus from their system a lot faster than the control group. Adding azithromycin, commonly known as a Z-Pak, to the mix “was significantly more efficient for virus elimination,” the researchers said. A small study in China also found that combining chloroquine with azithromycin was “found to be more potent than chloroquine.” Scientists and infectious disease experts say the study’s findings were not definitive and a large-scale trial is needed to see whether the drugs are effective.World health officials are testing four of the most promising drugs to fight COVID-19, including chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, which are anti-malarial drugs. Source:https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/30/who-says-early-data-shows-some-drugs-may-have-an- impact-on-coronavirus-but-more-research-is-needed.html Accessed on: 31st March 2020,11:00 AM IST

USA: Study will test if hydroxychloroquine can prevent COVID-19: The anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine has made headlines in recent weeks for its potential to help with the new coronavirus disease, COVID-19, though its benefits remain unproven. Now, a new study will test whether the drug can prevent COVID-19 transmission.For the study, researchers in New York and Washington state plan to enroll 2,000 participants who are close contacts of people with confirmed or pending COVID-19 diagnoses.

Participants will be randomly assigned to take either hydroxychloroquine or a placebo for two weeks, and they will be tested daily for COVID-19, according to a statement from the University of Washington (UW), which will collaborate on the study with New York University (NYU).The trial is expected to last eight weeks, and researchers hope to have the results by summer.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned that hydroxychloroquine and the related drug chloroquine should only be used as prescribed medications under the supervision of a health care provider. In addition, people should never ingest non-pharmaceutical forms of chloroquine phosphate. Source: https://www.livescience.com/hydroxychloroquine-prevent-covid-19-study.html Accessed on: 31st March 2020 at 11:30 AM IST

USA:Florida Research Company Prepares for COVID-19 Vaccine, Treatment Clinical Trials: Pharmaceutical companies are currently working with existing products and creating new mixes to see what may pass clinical tests and prove viable.Carlos Orantes is CEO of Amplify Clinical, the company that owns Meridien Research and NeuroStudies in Central Florida.Thecompany is

Page 11 of 43 among thousands now working to be involved in clinical testing of potential vaccines and treatments for COVID-19.

“Right now, more than ever, we need everybody to be collaborating, to accelerate, to do it right and do it fast,” Orantes said. “Research is done right, but not fast because there’s so much risk involved and time involved, but right now we don’t have the time, we have to act quickly.”Orantes said treatments and medications can typically take 7 to 10 years - vaccines typically take 1-2 years and more than $1 billion to develop.He estimates many of the nation’s 75,000-80,000 clinical trial firms in the United States could have a role in testing potential vaccines and treatments.The Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency authorization allowing hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to be used for potential coronavirus treatment. The drugs have long been used for malaria.

Clinical trials often happen in phases.In this case, pharmaceutical companies may experiment to come up with various treatments or vaccines, which companies will then put through clinical trials.Phase I is the very start of a test phase with a small group of human volunteers.Each phase of the clinical can take months to conduct and analyze, with each round using a larger pool of volunteers.Johnson& Johnson announced it has made strides in developing a vaccine for COVID-19, which could be available by early 2021. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases also started a clinical trial of a potential vaccine.

Source:https://www.mynews13.com/fl/orlando/news/2020/03/30/florida-researchers- covid-19-vaccine-trials Accessed on: 31st March 2020 , 4:45 PM IST

Europe: Severe COVID-19 cases to be offered new clinical trial programme: Clinical trials investigating the efficacy of using the rheumatoid arthritis drug, Kevzara, in patients hospitalised with severe COVID-19 have now been expanded to include the EU.The clinical programme that is being run by the pharmaceutical company Sanofi for all countries outside the US is the second trial as part of the Kevzara COVID-19 programme, which was first trialled this month in the US.To qualify, patients must have pneumonia and be hospitalized with laboratory- confirmed COVID-19 that is classified as “severe or critical,” or be suffering from multi-organ dysfunction.

After receiving the study dose, patients will be assessed for 60 days, unless they die or are discharged before that.The trial will be conducted in Italy, Spain, Germany, and France as well as Canada, Russia, and the US, and is expected to enroll about 300 patients.According to a preliminary study, the drug, which is currently approved in multiple countries to treat adults with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis, may be able to calm the overactive inflammatory response in the lungs of patients who are severely or critically ill with COVID-19 infection.In a 21-patient cohort infected with COVID-19, patients were found to have experienced rapidly reduced fevers and 75% of them reduced their need for supplemental oxygen within days of receiving a similar medication.“Despite this encouraging finding, it’s imperative to conduct a properly designed, randomised trial to understand the true impact of Kevzara, which we are now doing through this global clinical trial program,” said George D. Yancopoulos, co-founder, president, and chief scientific officer of Regeneron, the biotechnology

Page 12 of 43 company responsible for running the clinical trial in the US.For the moment, the use of Kevzara to treat the symptoms of COVID-19 has not been evaluated by any regulatory authority. Source:https://www.euractiv.com/section/coronavirus/news/severe-covid-19-cases-to-be- offered-new-clinical-trial-programme/ Accessed on: 31st March 2020 5:30 PM IST

1 April 2020: USA- Free access to AI Clinical Research Navigator tool for COVID- 19 researchers: In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the creators of the Clinical Research Navigator (CRN) tool have offered free access to their system for biomedical researchers. Expert System Enterprise, an artificial intelligence (AI) company, has offered biomedical researchers free access to its AI-based Clinical Research Navigator (CRN) tool, effective immediately through at least 1st July 2020.CRN contains over 100 million documents and reference information on 12 million clinical researchers, updated in near real-time and structured so it is searchable by disease, drug, mechanism of action, organization, researcher and geography.

The system constantly monitors and mines biomedical content from an array of sources, including MEDLINE publications, clinical trials, National Institutes of Health-funded research, US patents, news and social media streams. CRN then aggregates and sorts the information based on the searchable fields listed above. Using natural language processing (NLP) the technology recognizes related terms (eg, COVID-19, coronavirus and SARS-CoV-2) and puts them into context. Source:https://www.drugtargetreview.com/news/59010/free-access-to-ai-clinical-research- navigator-tool-for-covid-19-researchers/ Accessed on: 1st April 2020,4:15 PM IST

The US Army's Virus Research Lab gears up to fight COVID-19: The Pentagon's Institute of Infectious Diseases has been handling the world’s most dangerous organisms for decades. Now they're researching the new coronavirus.Today, the germ warriors of USAMRIID are hunkering down to fight the novel coronavirus. They are figuring out how it spreads, and learning how it infects different lab animals. This information is vital in order to accurately test new vaccines and therapeutics against the virus. One of their main tasks will be to develop an animal model which can be used to test possible treatments before they reach human clinical trials. Senior science adviser Louise Pitt directs the aerobiology lab at USAMRIID and has worked on Ebola, anthrax, ricin and the Marburg virus in her 30-year career here. Pitt says her team is gearing up for an expected rush of work in the coming weeks as more vaccines and drugs candidates that are being advanced by academic and commercial labs come online. (Their lab has several dozen cooperative agreements to test contenders that arise from separate agencies, labs, and universities.)

Source:https://www.wired.com/story/the-us-armys-virus-research-lab-gears-up-to-fight- covid-19/ Accessed on: 1st April 2020,5:00 PM IST

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1st April, 2020: Rapid COVID-19 escalation pushes world past 900,000 cases/ COVID-19 detected in cat & dogs: Spurred mainly by rapidly growing pandemic activity across Europe and the United States, the global total today is at 926,924 cases in 180 countries, which includes 46,252 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins online dashboard.India is just a few days into a 21-day lockdown, which stranded migrant workers without food and shelter and triggered other problems. The country now has 1,998 cases, 601 of them reported today. In Hong Kong today, health officials reported the first COVID-19 detection in a cat, which belongs to an owner who tested positive for the virus. The cat's oral, nasal, and rectal samples were positive for the virus. The cat hasn't shown any clinical signs and will be quarantined. Two dogs in Hong Kong were positive for the virus in earlier instances, one of which was also positive on a test. Source:http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/04/rapid-covid-19-escalation- pushes-world-past-900000-cases Accessed on 2nd April 2020 at 07:34 AM IST

Germany: COVID-19: Study reports high viral shedding among early-stage patients: A detailed virological analysis of nine patients in Germany has revealed that COVID-19 infected people 'shed' or excrete more viral particles during the first week of symptoms. The study also highlights that the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 actively replicates in the upper respiratory tract of the patients and hence results in high levels of shedding during the early stages of infection, when the patients have mild symptoms.In the study, the German scientists analysed the throat and lung samples, sputum (mucus from the respiratory tract), and stool, blood and urine from the patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in Munich. The scientists were able to isolate the infectious form of the virus from the throat and lung samples until eight days of symptoms. Only two of the nine patients, who showed early signs of pneumonia, continued to shed high levels of the virus until day 10 or 11.

The analysis also shows that the virus was present in sputum of patients even after the end of symptoms. Interestingly, the virus was not detected in blood or urine samples. The researchers report that they did not find any replicating form of the virus in the stool samples, even though it contained high concentrations of viral particles. Therefore, the evidence so far suggests that the novel coronavirus may not be transmissible via stool. However, researchers say that larger sample studies are necessary to test this theory.Overall, the study suggests that patients with early-stage symptoms are likely to shed more of SARS-CoV-2 in the first week. However, studies have also shown that infected people can continue to shed coronavirus for up to 8 days after symptoms have disappeared. Source:https://weather.com/en-IN/india/coronavirus/news/2020-04-01-covid-19-study- high-viral-shedding-among-early-stage-patients Accessed on: 2nd April 2020 , 6:15 PM IST

Australia begins animal trials for COVID-19 vaccine: Trials on ferrets expected to take 3 months, says Australia's science agency: Australia's science agency announced on Thursday it has begun trials on ferrets to produce a vaccine against the novel coronavirus. A statement released by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) - the country's national science agency - said that scientists have commenced the first stage of testing for potential vaccines."We have started pre-clinical trials for two vaccine candidates," it added."The testing [is] expected to take three months," the statement said, adding that the

Page 14 of 43 process was underway at the CSIRO's high-containment biosecurity facility in Geelong, Victoria.The statement said the CSIRO established its biological model last February but that its researchers have been studying the coronavirus since January."It is the first in the world to confirm ferrets react to SARS-CoV-2 [the virus that causes COVID-19]," the statement added. Source:https://www.aa.com.tr/en/health/australia-begins-animal-trials-for-covid-19- vaccine/1789443# Accessed on: 2nd April 2020, 7:00 PM IST

3rd April 2020:DRDO develops game-changing bio suit for doctors, health workers to keep them safe from coronavirus: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a bio-suit to keep the medical, paramedical and other personnel engaged in combating COVID-19 safe from the deadly virus. Scientists at various DRDO laboratories have applied their technical know-how and expertise in textile, coating and nanotechnology to develop the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) having a specific type of fabric with coating.

Efforts to ramp up capacity to 15,000 suits per day: The suit has been prepared with the help of the industry and subjected to rigorous testing for textile parameters as well as protection against synthetic blood. The protection against synthetic blood exceeds the criteria defined for body suits by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). The DRDO is making all efforts to ensure that these suits are produced in large numbers and serve as a robust line of defence for the medics, paramedics and other personnel in the front line combating COVID-19. The industry is geared up for production of the suit in large quantities. Kusumgarh Industries is producing the raw material, coating material, with the complete suit being manufactured with the help of another vendor. The current production capacity is 7,000 suits per day. Another vendor is being brought in with the experience in garment technology and efforts are on to ramp up the capacity to 15,000 suits per day.

The game-changer for the textile industry: The bio-suit production in the country by DRDO industry partners and other industries are being hampered due to non-availability of seam sealing tapes. The DRDO has prepared a special sealant as an alternative to seam sealing tape based on the sealant used in submarine applications. Presently, bio suits prepared using this glue for seam sealing by an industry partner has cleared test at Southern India Textile Research Association (SITRA) Coimbatore. This can be a game-changer for the textile industry. The DRDO can mass produce this glue through the industry to support the seam sealing activity by suit manufacturers. The DRDO has developed a number of products and technologies for defence against Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) agents. Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE) Gwalior, a laboratory of DRDO, has developed Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Permeable Suit Mk V. Fifty-three thousand suits have been supplied to Army and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). For first responders attending to radiological emergencies, a reusable suit has been developed by Institute of Nuclear Medicine & Allied Sciences (INMAS) Delhi. Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE) Agra has developed various types of parachutes with fabrics similar to protective technical textiles. Source:https://www.ibtimes.co.in/drdo-develops-game-changing-bio-suit-doctors-health- workers-keep-them-safe-coronavirus-816578 Accessed on 3rd April 2020 at 11.45 AM IST

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USA: COVID-19 vaccine candidate shows promise: University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine scientists today announced a potential vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus causing the COVID-19 pandemic. When tested in mice, the vaccine, delivered through a fingertip-sized patch, produces antibodies specific to SARS-CoV-2 at quantities thought to be sufficient for neutralizing the virus.The researchers were able to act quickly because they had already laid the groundwork during earlier coronavirus epidemics.Compared to the experimental mRNA vaccine candidate that just entered clinical trials, the vaccine described in this paper -- which the authors are calling PittCoVacc, short for Pittsburgh Coronavirus Vaccine -- follows a more established approach, using lab-made pieces of viral protein to build immunity. It's the same way the current flu shots work.

The researchers also used a novel approach to deliver the drug, called a microneedle array, to increase potency. This array is a fingertip-sized patch of 400 tiny needles that delivers the spike protein pieces into the skin, where the immune reaction is strongest. The patch goes on like a Band-Aid and then the needles - which are made entirely of sugar and the protein pieces -- simply dissolve into the skin.When tested in mice, PittCoVacc generated a surge of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 within two weeks of the microneedleprick.Importantly, the SARS-CoV-2 microneedle vaccine maintains its potency even after being thoroughly sterilized with gamma radiation -- a key step toward making a product that's suitable for use in humans.They are now in the process of applying for an investigational new drug approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in anticipation of starting a phase I human clinical trial in the next few months. Source:https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200402144508.htm Accessed on 3rd April 2020 at 3:00 PM IST

British Colombia: Trial drug can significantly block early stages of COVID-19 in engineered human tissues: An international team has found a trial drug that effectively blocks the cellular door SARS-CoV-2 uses to infect its hosts.The study provides new insights into key aspects of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and its interactions on a cellular level, as well as how the virus can infect blood vessels and kidneys.

ACE2 - a protein on the surface of the cell membrane - is now at centre-stage in this outbreak as the key receptor for the spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2.In earlier work, at the University of Toronto and the Institute of Molecular Biology in Vienna first identified ACE2, and found that in living organisms, ACE2 is the key receptor for SARS, the viral respiratory illness recognized as a global threat in 2003.The new study provides very much needed direct evidence that a drug - called APN01 (human recombinant soluble angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 - hrsACE2) - soon to be tested in clinical trials by the European biotech company Apeiron Biologics, is useful as an antiviral therapy for COVID-19.Now its known that a soluble form of ACE2 that catches the virus away, could be indeed a very rational therapy that specifically targets the gate the virus must take to infect humans. Source:https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200402144526.htm Accessed on: 3rd April at 3:30 PM IST

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British Colombia: Trial drug can significantly block early stages of COVID-19 in engineered human tissues An international team has found a trial drug that effectively blocks the cellular door SARS-CoV-2 uses to infect its hosts.The study provides new insights into key aspects of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and its interactions on a cellular level, as well as how the virus can infect blood vessels and kidneys. ACE2 - a protein on the surface of the cell membrane - is now at centre-stage in this outbreak as the key receptor for the spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2.

In earlier work, at the University of Toronto and the Institute of Molecular Biology in Vienna first identified ACE2, and found that in living organisms, ACE2 is the key receptor for SARS, the viral respiratory illness recognized as a global threat in 2003.The new study provides very much needed direct evidence that a drug -- called APN01 (human recombinant soluble angiotensin- converting enzyme 2 -- hrsACE2) -- soon to be tested in clinical trials by the European biotech company Apeiron Biologics, is useful as an antiviral therapy for COVID-19.Now its known that a soluble form of ACE2 that catches the virus away, could be indeed a very rational therapy that specifically targets the gate the virus must take to infect humans. Source:https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200402144526.htm Accessed on 4th April 2020 at 3:30 PM IST

4th April 2020: University of California:Removing the novel coronavirus from water cycle: Scientists know that coronaviruses, including the SARS-CoV-19 virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, can remain infectious for days or even longer in sewage and drinking water.Two researchers, Haizhou Liu, an Associate Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Riverside; and Professor Vincenzo Naddeo, Director of the Sanitary Environmental Engineering Division at the University of Salerno, have called for more testing to determine whether water treatment methods are effective in killing SARS-CoV-19 and coronaviruses in general.

The virus can be transported in microscopic water droplets, or aerosols, which enter the air through evaporation or spray, the researchers wrote in an editorial for Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology, a leading environmental journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry in the United Kingdom.Fortunately, most water treatment routines are thought to kill or remove coronaviruses effectively in both drinking and wastewater. Oxidation with hypochlorous acid or peracetic acid, and inactivation by ultraviolet irradiation, as well as chlorine, are thought to kill coronaviruses. In wastewater treatment plants that use membrane bioreactors, the synergistic effects of beneficial microorganisms and the physical separation of suspended solids filter out viruses concentrated in the sewage sludge.However, since most of these methods have not been studied for effectiveness specifically on SARS-CoV-19 and other coronaviruses, additional research is required. Source:https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200403132347.htm Accessed on4th April 2020 at 6:00 PM IST

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Common Anti-Parasitic Drug May Help In Stopping Novel Coronavirus, Says Australian Scientists’ Research: Amid a barrage of research on finding treatment for new coronavirus, Australian scientists have found that a common anti-parasitic drug killed SARS-CoV-2 virus, growing in cell culture, within 48 hours in lab settings.Ivermectin is an FDA-approved anti- parasitic drug that has also been shown to be effective in vitro against a broad range of viruses including HIV, dengue, influenza and zika virus.

Published in the journal Antiviral Research, the study from Monash University showed that a single dose of Ivermectin could stop the coronavirus growing in cell culture effectively eradicating all genetic material of the virus within two days. However, it is cautioned that the tests conducted in the study were in vitro and that trials needed to be carried out in people. Source:https://swarajyamag.com/insta/common-anti-parasitic-drug-may-help-in-stopping- novel-coronavirus-says-australian-scientists-research Accessed on: 4thApril 2020 at 6:45 PM IST

5 April 2020: Study lists 69 existing drugs to target novel coronavirus: Scientists mapped out human proteins that interact with those of the virus: In a breathtaking feat, nearly a hundred scientists from across the globe worked together to study the genes of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and have published a list of drugs that can be re-purposed to treat COVID-19. They have also mapped out the human proteins that interact with those of the virus.

The proteins of the virus must attach to the human proteins to cause the infection. The team studied 26 coronavirus genes that help in the production of these proteins. It also studied human proteins and found 332 SARS-CoV-2 and human protein interactions. The team then listed 67 human proteins that can be targeted by 69 drugs to fight the infection. These drugs include the existing FDA-approved drugs, drugs under clinical trials and/or preclinical compounds.When the virus invades the cells, it hijacks the cells’ molecular machinery to replicate itself because it cannot do this on its own. The drugs we have identified may be able to inhibit these molecular machines so that the virus can no longer use them for its own survival. Thus, we hope some of these drugs will be able to decrease viral load and disease severity for patients.The list includes unexpected candidates such as entacapone used to treat Parkinson’s disease and antiviral medication named ribavirin, which was administered to Nipah patients in Kerala during the 2018 outbreak. Chloroquine, an antimalarial drug, and metformin, used to treat diabetes, were also found on the list.It was said future studies are geared up to more deeply understand the exact molecular mechanisms used by the coronavirus to drive disease in humans. This could reveal additional drug targets and drugs to treat COVID-19. Note:The study was posted on preprint server bioRxiv on March 27, which is yet to be peer- reviewed and published in a scientific journal. Source:https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/health/existing-drugs-that-prevent-coronavirus- replication-identified/article31258840.ece Accessed on 5th April 2020 at 6:00 PM IST

Researchers announce promising coronavirus vaccine candidate: The drug is delivered through a band-aid-like patch — not a needle. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine announced today that they have developed a promising new COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

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Early animal trials have shown promise so far, but human trials are still in the planning stages. The researchers already had a big leg up from past epidemics.From previous experience on SARS-CoV in 2003 and MERS-CoV in 2014,these two viruses, which are closely related to SARS- CoV-2, teach us that a particular protein, called a spike protein, is important for inducing immunity against the virus,” Gambotto explained. “We knew exactly where to fight this new virus.

The vaccine dubbed “PittCoVacc” (Pittsburgh Coronavirus Vaccine) works in the same basic way as a flu shot: By injecting lab-made pieces of viral protein into the body to help it build an immunity.When tested in mice, the researchers found that the number of antibodies capable of neutralizing the deadly SARS-CoV-2 virus surged two weeks after delivery.Instead of being delivered through a needle, the new drug is administered through a microneedle array, a Band- Aid like patch made up of 400 tiny microneedles. Once the patch is applied, the microneedles, which are made entirely of sugar and protein dissolve, leaving no trace behind.According to the researchers, these patches can be easily manufactured in massive “cell factories” at an industrial scale. The vaccine doesn’t even need to be refrigerated during storage or transport — a massive complication for other vaccines.Before starting human trials, the researchers are currently applying for drug approval from the US Food and Drug Administration.

Source:https://futurism.com/neoscope/researchers-promising-coronavirus-vaccine-candidate Accessed on 5th April 2020 at 6:30 PM IST

6th April 2020: Shocking Study Theorizes Compelling Mutated Coronavirus Origins:New studies suggest that while some coronavirus cases emerged from the wet market, earlier cases likely emerged from somewhere else.Many scientists have pointed towards the Wuhan seafood market as the origin of the Coronavirus (CODIV-19) outbreak in early 2020. New studies and findings suggest that while some cases emerged from the wet market, earlier cases likely emerged from somewhere else.A study from The Scripps Research Institute found two possible sources of coronavirus, which may explain the emergence of the initial wave of COVID-19 cases in November 2019, prior to the cluster of cases that emerged in the Wuhan seafood market.The researchers identified the two origins to be: natural selection in an animal host before zoonotic transfer and natural selection in humans following zoonotic (animal-to-human) transfer.

Coronavirus Could Have Mutated Within The Human Body: The first origin—mutation in an animal host—would mean that a form of virus mutated within wild animals in the likes of bats and pangolins before spreading to humans.In this scenario, humans got in direct contact with animals that had mutated viruses within them, causing the first animal to human transmission to occur. Researchers say that it is difficult to conclusively state that the Wuhan wet market is the origin of coronavirus because of the undersampled nature of studies that made the link between the market and the virus outbreak.Prior to the batch of cases that were reported from the Wuhan seafood market, individuals reported coronavirus symptoms by as early as November 2019, which indicates that the coronavirus outbreak began before the wet market reported new cases.

The second scenario—natural selection in humans following zoonotic transfer—suggests that a lesser form of coronavirus may have transferred from a bat or a pangolin to a human body, and the virus mutated within humans afterward.As the virus started to mutate, it also began to Page 19 of 43 transmit from humans to humans, causing the outbreak to start.Recent research papers show that scientists are still discovering new data about coronavirus, and as time passes, scientists are becoming increasingly skeptical towards the initial understanding of the origin of the virus.

Source:https://www.ccn.com/shocking-study-theorizes-compelling-mutated-coronavirus- origins/ Accessed on: 6th April 2020 at 6:00 PM IST

Researchers warn possible coronavirus treatment Hydroxychloroquine may be toxic when combined with Diabetes drug: Researchers have warned that hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and chloroquine (CQ), two similar drugs repeatedly touted by President Trump to be promising treatments for COVID-19, may be deadly when combined with a common diabetes drug.The new study was published yesterday online on scientific pre-print server BioRxiv and shows that 30-40% of mice treated with a combination of HCQ or CQ and diabetes drug metformin, died. Treatment with the same dose of either drug alone had no effect on the survival of the mice.

HCQ and CQ are typically used to treat malaria and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, but have also shown some early promise in the treatment of certain types of cancer, with several clinical trials ongoing.Although no work has yet been done in humans to evaluate this interaction, there is also a plausible scientific reason by which these two drugs may negatively interact. Both of them affect a process called autophagy, which is where cells recycle proteins to enable them to make more.“Autophagy” literally stands for “self-eating” and is a form of “quality control” that most cells in our body engage in to recycle aging proteins so as to synthesize new ones. HCQ and CQ are both agents that inhibit autophagy and in fact this is the property that is important for its use in tumors like pancreatic cancer.Metformin, on the other hand can actually induce autophagy, so it is possible that two drugs interfering with this recycling pathway at the same time could be toxic. The work in the recently published study was done before the coronavirus outbreak, with the researchers testing HCQ/CQ and metformin for pancreatic cancer and coming up with this perhaps, serendipitous finding

Source:https://www.forbes.com/sites/victoriaforster/2020/04/05/researchers-warn-that- covid-19-treatment-touted-by-trump-may-be-toxic-when-combined-with-diabetes- drug/#5346d3d355f8 Accessed on: 7th April 2020 at 10:37 AM IST

7th April 2020: COVID‐19: Characteristics in children and considerations for Dentists providing their care: The emergence of the novel virus Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV2) has caused a global pandemic called Coronavirus Disease (COVID‐19) and has become one of the most significant challenges to the healthcare profession. Dental practices are focal points for cross‐infection and care must be taken to minimise the risk of infection to, from, or between dental care professionals and patients. The COVID‐19 disease epidemiological and clinical characteristics are still being collated but children’s symptoms seem to be milder than those that adults experience. It is unknown whether certain groups, for example, children with comorbidities, might be at a higher risk of more severe illness. Source:https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ipd.12653 accessed on 7th April 2020 at 10:12 PM IST

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Convalescent plasma transfusion shows promise for severely ill patients with COVID-19: Preliminary research has shown the potential of convalescent plasma therapy to improve clinical outcomes of patients with severe disease related to COVID-19. Results of an uncontrolled case series, conducted in China showed five patients critically ill with COVID-19 and acute respiratory distress syndrome demonstrated improvement in clinical status after receiving convalescent plasma that contained neutralizing antibodies. In a separate feasibility pilot study — also conducted in China — 10 patients with severe COVID-19 all showed significant improvement in clinical condition within 3 days of receiving convalescent plasma, which is derived from donors who recently recovered from the infection.

“The situation is so acute and so serious that we have to try many different things,” Laurence Corash, MD, Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of Cerus Corp., told Healio. “But, of all the different things that have been tried thus far, convalescent plasma has shown the most consistent and best responses. Based on previous experiences with convalescent plasma in other viral diseases with high death rates, I am optimistic that this will work here.” Convalescent plasma has “an old history,” Corash said. It showed some benefit for a small number of patients in during the Spanish influenza epidemic in 1918. It reduced mortality from 16% to about 1% among individuals with Argentine hemorrhagic fever, it decreased time to hospital discharge among people in Hong Kong with severe acute respiratory syndrome, and it also has been used to treat Ebola, Corash said.

Cerus Corp. has formed a collaborative research group designed to optimize convalescent plasma therapy for patients with COVID-19. Donating plasma is different than donating blood. Plasma is extracted from the donor using a specific machine, with red blood cells and platelets returned to the donor. Donors can give about 850 ml of plasma per session, and based on the preliminary data from China, this can treat up to four patients with severe symptoms related to COVID-19, Corashsaid.“The people to go after immediately are those who had documented COVID-19 disease and have recovered to see if they are willing to donate plasma,” Corash said. “The idea is to create a huge inventory of this plasma that can be readily available. We already collect and transfuse plasma for other diseases, such as auto-immune and immune-deficiency diseases.” Source:https://www.healio.com/hematology- oncology/hematology/news/online/%7B75453a03-ea98-4c57-8b50- 7997853beabe%7D/convalescent-plasma-transfusion-shows-promise-for-severely-ill-patients- with-covid-19 accessed on 7th April 2020 at 10:24 PM IST

8 April 2020: Researchers have identified potential target for antiviral treatment for COVID-19: NEW YORK: Researchers have identified a possible target for antiviral treatment for COVID-19 by assessing the overall mechanism by which the novel coronavirus enters host cells, and comparing it with the process seen in other similar viruses. The researchers, including those from Cornell University in the US, compared the molecular sequence of small proteins involved in the fusion of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, and the SARS virus behind the 2002-03 epidemic, with the host cell membrane.

The scientists assessed the intricate procedure of membrane fusion in the viruses, which they said is a critical part of the mechanism by which coronaviruses spread. The virus then attaches Page 21 of 43 to the host cell receptor by way of the spike protein on its surface.According to the scientists, this process is followed by a piece of the spike protein, called the fusion peptide, interacting directly with the host cell membrane and facilitating merging to form a fusion pore, or opening.Researchers said the virus then transfers its genome into the host cell through this pore, and eventually hijacking the host cell's machinery to produce more viruses.In the study, the research team found that charged atoms of calcium interacting with the fusion.

Source:https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/researchers- have-identified-potential-target-for-antiviral-treatment-for-covid-9/articleshow/75041596.cms Accessed on : 8 April 2020 at 8:00 PM IST

Covid-19: EU to push for coordinated virus-tracking mobile apps: A pan- European approach for COVID-19 mobile apps should be drawn up by April 15, the EU said in new proposals aimed at using virus-tracking digital tools safely and more effectively."As a matter of urgency” the 27 EU nations should develop common standards for virus-tracking technologies, according to recommendations signed off by the European Commission.Measures should be aimed at making the apps interoperable and nations should even potentially develop a single app across the bloc, the EU’s regulatory arm, said in the document.

The proposal puts "in motion a European coordinated approach for the use of such apps and data, without compromising on our EU privacy and data protection rules, and avoiding the fragmentation of the internal market."With developers in the UK, Germany and elsewhere working on mobile phone apps to track people who’ve been exposed to the coronavirus, the EU is looking to establish common standards that would make the data more comparable. The benchmarks for contact tracing apps are part of a broader effort by the EU to coordinate exit strategies when member states slowly lift existing lock-down measures. Virus-tracking apps could help authorities find people who have been exposed to COVID-19 so they can be isolated and may ultimately lead to a way out of the restrictive social-isolation measures that are keeping schools, shops and restaurants closed.

Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2020/04/08/covid-19-eu-to-push-for- coordinated-virus-tracking-mobile-apps Accessed on 8th April 2020 at 8:45 PM IST

9 April 2020: Coronavirus latest: French ConseilEuropéen pour la RechercheNucléaire(CERN)- European organization for nuclear research scientists join the COVID-19 fight: More than 100 researchers and staff members at CERN are finding innovative ways to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Scientists, engineers and technicians at the world’s largest particle-physics laboratory, near Geneva, Switzerland, are teaming up to fill crucial gaps in the local and international responses to the outbreak — from manufacturing and distributing large quantities of hand sanitizer to designing an open-source ventilator. One of CERN’s strengths is its ability to connect people across a wide range of expertise and locations, says Beniamino Di Girolamo, a CERN particle Physicist and the Chair of the CERN against COVID- 19 task force. The group is working closely with local agencies, biomedical experts and the World Health Organization to ensure that CERN’s resources are being put to best use and that its designs are safe for patients. One of its main projects so far is the design of the High Energy Physics Community Ventilator, HEV. Because the researchers and technicians who work on Page 22 of 43

CERN’s Large Hadron Collider have extensive experience in managing gas flows and control systems. The team posted its ventilator designs on the arXiv preprint server on 1st April and is currently soliciting feedback on a prototype from several medical professionals. The design should be ready for production “in a month, maximum”. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00154-w Accessed on 9th April 2020 at 09:00 PM IST

10th April 2020:COVID-19: Genetic network analysis provides 'snapshot' of pandemic origins: Researchers from Cambridge, UK, and Germany have reconstructed the early "evolutionary paths" of COVID-19 in humans - as infection spread from Wuhan out to Europe and North America - using genetic network techniques. There are too many rapid mutations to neatly trace a COVID-19 family tree. They used a mathematical network algorithm to visualize all the plausible trees simultaneously. These techniques are mostly known for mapping the movements of prehistoric human populations through DNA. They think this is the first time they have been used to trace the infection routes of a coronavirus like COVID-19. Importantly, the researchers say that their genetic networking techniques accurately traced established infection routes: the mutations and viral lineages joined the dots between known cases. Phylogenetic network analysis has the potential to help identify undocumented COVID-19 infection sources, which can then be quarantined to contain further spread of the disease worldwide. Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200409085644.htm Accessed on: 10th April 2020 at 8:30 PM IST

UK doctors to research more severe COVID-19 impact on Indians: A report by the UK's Intensive Care National Audit & Research Centre (ICNARC) this week revealed that the country’s ethnic minority population is more likely to require intensive care admissions, nearly triple the 13% proportion in the UK population as a whole. Indian-origin doctors in the UK have begun putting in place processes to conduct in-depth research into the role of ethnicity in greater susceptibility of some patients of South Asian origin to develop more severe symptoms of the novel coronavirus and die of the disease.The reasons behind this trend will not be any one thing but a complex set of factors, be it Vitamin D deficiency, the lack of social distancing measures within a large Indian family household set up or a genetic predisposition. We will know only once we have the relevant data to analyse.The most recent ICNARC data of UK intensive care unit attendance is- some of the first signals of the concern that COVID-19 has a more severe (lethal) phenotype in BAME [Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic] groups, with more than 25 per cent being Black or Asian, and more than a third being non-Caucasian. Source:https://www.livemint.com/news/world/uk-doctors-to-research-more-severe-covid- 19-impact-on-indians-11586434628264.html Accessed on: 10th April 2020 at 9:00 PM IST

11th April 2020: 2/3rd of Severe Covid-19 Cases Improved on Gilead Drug: Gilead Sciences Inc.’s experimental drug for patients with severe Covid-19 infections showed promise in an early analysis, raising tentative hope that the first treatment for the novel virus may be on the horizon.The report published in the New England Journal of Medicine tracked 53 people in the U.S., Europe and Canada who needed respiratory support, with about half receiving and four on a heart-lung by-pass machine.All received remdesivir for up to 10 days on a compassionate use basis, a program that allows people to use unapproved

Page 23 of 43 medicines when no other treatment options are available. Over 18 days, 68% of the patients improved, with 17 of the 30 patients on mechanical ventilation being able to get off the breathing device. Almost half the patients studied were ultimately discharged, while 13% died.

Some scientists though have expressed skepticism with regard to the results.It was said “In studying remdesivir, the question is not just whether it is safe and effective against Covid-19, but in which patients it shows activity, how long should they receive treatment and at what stage of their disease would treatment be most beneficial. Many answers are needed, which is why we need multiple types of studies involving many types of patients.”Remdesivir, a broad-spectrum antiviral, is viewed by researchers and doctors as one of the most promising agents against Covid-19 to enter human trials to date. In lab studies conducted prior to the Covid-19 outbreak on numerous compounds, researchers at the University of North Carolina and Vanderbilt University found the drug had potent activity against a wide variety of coronaviruses similar to the new coronavirus. Source:https://www.bloombergquint.com/coronavirus-outbreak/two-thirds-of-severe-covid- 19-improved-on-gilead-s-remdesivir Accessed on: 11th April 2020 at 9:26 PM IST

COVID-19 vaccine: Could human challenge trials speed up the process?:Challenging times call for heroic measures. Scientists are now mulling human challenge trials to speed up the process of making a viable COVID-19 vaccine. Under these trials, scientists will infect healthy volunteers with the virus, to study the efficacy of their vaccines.To be sure, the vaccine trials for COVID-19 are already on a super-fast track: a vaccine is expected between 12-18 months compared with the 6-10 years that it normally takes to develop a vaccine. Indeed, some vaccine candidates have even reached the human trial phase in less than four months after the world learnt about a new “mystery” pneumonia virus. Many other potential vaccines are also in the pre-clinical or animal testing phase.Though the process is not as simple as it sounds. There are many safety and ethical considerations along with some technical aspects that the research team considers - right from choosing the candidates, the exposure of the microbe these volunteers would get and the vaccine schedule.All the volunteers would be told all about the study before enrolling so they know exactly what is being done. Only consenting candidates will be taken in.

The main reason why scientists are proposing human trials is to be able to skip the most lengthy phase of vaccine development - the final phase of clinical trials that would require them to enroll thousands of volunteers and test vaccine safety and efficacy. Clinical trials have three phases with an increasing number of candidates.

Generally, even after a vaccine has crossed the final clinical trial phase, licencing and quality control takes a lot of time before the vaccine can be launched in the market and made available to the general public. With human challenge trials, they would be able to skip the final phase of clinical trial and can apply for licencing quickly. This would significantly compress the timeline for developing the vaccine. Source:https://www.firstpost.com/health/covid-19-vaccine-could-human-challenge-trials- speed-up-the-process-8248221.html Accessed on: 11th April 2020 at9:00 PM IST

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12 April 2020: Indian Summer may hold a pleasant surprise; could slow down corona spread: The scorching sun in the summers could considerably slow down the transmission of the coronavirus infection in India, according to the country's two high profile microbiologists who have worked with National Institutes of Health(NIH) and the World's largest biomedical research agency located in Maryland, USA.The Indian microbiologists suggest that during summers, the rising mercury can alter the rate of transmission at which the deadly COVID-19 infects people. Renowned Indian microbiologist, Professor Y Singh, who worked with NIH and also with the US Army Lab on 'project anthrax' told IANS that an expected temperature of over 40 degrees by the end of April, can slow down the affect of the coronavirus.

"The rise in temperature can alter the rate of transmission of virus, which transfers through any surface or through aerosol to humans. The duration of survival of the virus on any surface would be less when temperature is high. But let me clarify, if a person carries the virus in his body, the outside temperature would then have no affect on the infected person," said Professor Y Singh who has been Chief Scientist at CSIR, Institute of Genomics and Integrated Biology.A detailed study conducted by the Centre for Infectious Diseases, Edinburgh University, found that three types of coronaviruses obtained from patients of respiratory tract infections showed winter seasonality. The viruses, study revealed, seemed to cause infection between December to April, a pattern observed in spread of Influenza. The microbiologists are of the view that there are early hints that COVID-19 may also vary with the seasons. The outbreak of the new virus suggests that it has preferences over cool and dry regions. Source:https://www.socialnews.xyz/2020/04/11/indian-summer-may-hold-a-pleasant- surprise-could-slow-down-corona-spread/ Accessed on 12th April 2020 at 6:00 PM IST

Marine red algae may hold key to preventing spread of COVID-19: Reliance researchers: Marine red algae may hold key to prevent spread of coronavirus as biocompatible compounds extracted from them can be used as a coating material on sanitary items, a new research by scientists at Reliance Industries has concluded. COVID-19 pandemic, which has claimed thousands of lives around the globe, spread without any solid anti-viral antidote. Researchers worldwide are attempting to make antidote for this virus.Research carried out indicates sulfated polysaccharides (carrageenan) are selective inhibitors of several enveloped and non-enveloped viruses and act predominantly by inhibiting the binding or internalization of virus into the host cells. Polysaccharides produced from Porphyridium sp. are sulfated polysaccharides which are promising antiviral agents against respiratory viruses from the family of coronavirus. These biocompatible compounds can be used as a coating material on the sanitary items for COVID-19 prevention. Source:https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/science/marine-red-algae-may-hold-key- to-preventing-spread-of-covid-19-reliance-researchers/articleshow/75106481.cms Accessed on: 12th April 2020 at 8:00 PM IST

13th April 2020: Loss of taste and smell is an important symptom for COVID-19: The latest analysis of data from the COVID Symptom Tracker app suggests a loss of sense of taste and smell may be the best way to tell whether someone has COVID-19. The app, which was developed by a King’s College London team in association with the Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, NIHR Biomedical Research Centre and a healthcare start-up ZOE Global Ltd, asks users to log

Page 25 of 43 their symptoms (or lack thereof) daily. By the end of March, 1.8 million users in the UK had signed up to log their symptoms daily.

Between 24th to 29thMarch, 2020,26% of the 1.5 million app users reported one or more symptoms; 1,702 of this 26% reported having been tested for COVID-19, with 579 positive results and 1,123 negative results. In addition, 59% of those patients who tested positive for COVID-19 reported a loss of taste and smell, compared with just 18% of those who tested negative for the disease. Despite not yet being added to the World Health Organization’s COVID- 19 symptom list, lead researcher Tim Spector said: “When combined with other symptoms, people with loss of smell and taste appear to be three times more likely to have contracted COVID-19 according to our data, and should, therefore, self-isolate for seven days to reduce the spread of the disease.” Source:https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/covid-19-latest-scientific-developments/ Accessed on:13th April 2020 at 6:14 PM IST

Coronavirus can infect cats but pet owners need not worry: A study from Harbin Veterinary Research Institute in China suggests that cats can be infected with COVID-19 and spread it to other cats via respiratory droplets but other animals including dogs, chickens, pigs and ducks, are unlikely to catch the virus. The results follow recent reports of a cat in Belgium being infected with COVID-19 a week after its owner began showing symptoms. During the study (which was uploaded to the preprint website bioRxiv this week and is yet to be peer-reviewed), five cats were deliberately infected with COVID-19. Three of the cats were placed in cages next to cats that had not been given the virus. One cat became infected with the virus and researchers believe that transmission occurred via respiratory droplets. The findings were replicated in a second group of cats.

Virologist Linda Saif from the Ohio University in Columbus, who was not involved in the study, says that cat-owners need not be alarmed just yet as there is no direct evidence that infected cats can infect people and the study does not reflect real-life interactions between people and their pets. During the SARS pandemic in 2003, similar studies showed that cats could be infected and pass it on to other cats but “there was no indication that SARS-CoV became widespread in house cats or was transmitted to humans”, Saif told Nature. Nonetheless, the authors of the study say that their work provides important insight into the animal reservoirs of COVID-19. Pet owners are advised to continue to follow usual precautions such as regular hand washing. Source:https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/covid-19-latest-scientific-developments/ Accessed on: 13th April 2020 at 6:17 PM IST

13th April 2020: Universiti Malaya leads clinical trials for Tocilizumab in COVID-19 treatment: Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia is embarking on a clinical study to evaluate the drug Tocilizumab for the treatment of severe cases of COVID-19.Sold by its trade name Actemra, Tocilizumab has been used for years in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, giant cell arteritis and conditions involving excessive inflammation.

There is growing evidence that a specific cytokine, interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a critical component of the COVID-19 cytokine storm. Blocking IL-6 may stop the progression of the disease into its most critical stage. This is where Tocilizumab, a drug specifically designed to block the negative

Page 26 of 43 effects of IL-6, exerts its actions.According to researchers, COVID-19 patients who develop the cytokine storm syndrome at the University of Mississippi Medical Centre (UMMC) have shown encouraging results after Tocilizumab use.

Source:https://www.nst.com.my/education/2020/04/583940/um-leads-clinical-trials- tocilizumab-covid-19-treatment Accessed on:13th April 2020 at 8:00 PM IST

New drug promises to change COVID-19 response, gets nod for human trials: Scientists are hopeful that a new drug — called EIDD-2801, could change the way doctors treat COVID-19. The antiviral shows promise in reducing lung damage, has finished testing in mice and will soon move to human clinical trials.The regulatory body for drugs in the United States, the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has given a go-ahead for the human clinical testing of a new drug being developed by researchers of Emory University.

Named EIDD-2801, the drug is being touted as a 'relief drug' for COVID-19. The results of the anti-viral drug being developed by researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health was recently published, which showed that it could “prevent severe lung injury in mice infected with the associated virus SARS-CoV”. Similar results were visible with cultured human lung cells infected with SARS-CoV-2 as well. The EIDD-2801, is a simple new anti-viral drug which has shown effective results against COVID-19 and can be taken as a pill.This new drug not only has a high potential for treating COVID-19 patients but also appears effective for the treatment of other serious coronavirus infections.When given as a treatment 12 or 24 hours after the infection has begun, EIDD-2801 can reduce the degree of lung damage and weight loss in mice, which is expected to be longer in humans.Clinical studies of the drug in humans are expected to begin in a few weeks time. If successful, the researchers hope this drug to be the first line of defence against the coronavirus, preventing future outbreaks.

Source:https://www.indiatoday.in/science/story/new-drug-promises-to-change-covid-19- response-gets-nod-for-human-trials-1666240-2020-04-12 Accessed on: 13th April 2020 at 8:30 PM IST

14th April 2020: Study finds evidence of COVID-19 in air, on hospital surfaces:A study published late last week in Emerging Infectious Diseases found a wide distribution of COVID-19 virus genetic material on surfaces and in the air about 4 meters (13 feet) from patients in two hospital wards in Wuhan, China, posing a risk to healthcare workers.While the findings of the environmental sampling study do not indicate the amount of live virus, if any, or precisely determine the distance of aerosol transmission, the authors say that they confirm that the virus spreads in aerosols in addition to large respiratory droplets. The researchers tested surface and air samples from an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and general coronavirus ward at from Feb 19th to Mar 2nd to detect evidence of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Fifteen patients were in the ICU, while 24 were housed in the general ward. The investigators used quantitative real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) to identify virus in swabs of floors, computer mice, trash bins, bed handrails, patients' face masks, health workers' personal protective equipment, and air vents.

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The relatively high rate of positivity for floor samples in the ICU (7/10) (70%) and general ward (2/13) (15.4%) may have been due to gravity and air flow causing most respiratory droplets to fall to the ground and spread via clinicians' shoes, the authors surmised, noting a 100% positivity rate on the pharmacy floor, where no patients were housed and three samples were taken.Half of the swabs from the soles of clinicians' shoes tested positive, indicating that the virus may spread this way. "We highly recommend that persons disinfect shoe soles before walking out of wards containing COVID-19 patients," they said.The highest rates of positivity from objects came from computer mice (6/8)(75%) in the ICU; (1/5)(20%) in the general ward), trash cans (3/5)(60%) in the ICU; (0/8) in the general ward, bed handrails (6/14) (42.9%) in the ICU; (0/12) in the general ward; and doorknobs (1/12) (8.3%) in the general ward.

Patient masks had a high rate of positivity because they contained exhaled droplets and saliva, which the authors said suggests that the masks should be disinfected before disposing of them. Some positive results came from clinicians' sleeve cuffs and gloves, which the researchers said indicates that staff should wash their hands immediately after patient contact. Source:https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/04/study-finds-evidence-covid- 19-air-hospital-surfaces Accessed on: 14th April 2020 at 8:00 PM IST

15th April 2020: How AI helps scientists find reliable coronavirus research:As the world unites in the fight against COVID-19, scientists and researchers around the world are studying the novel coronavirus and publishing their findings in peer-reviewed journals and pre-print servers.Scattered across these research papers might be the pieces of the puzzle that will unlock the cure or vaccine for COVID-19 or new ways to treat patients and prevent the spread of the virus. Unfortunately, no single person can go through tens of thousands of documents, and the thousands more that are being added every week.

This is where the artificial intelligence community enters the scene. Among other efforts to help fight the coronavirus pandemic, AI researchers are fast busy developing tools that will help medical scientists navigate the fast-growing corpus of literature surrounding coronavirus. The concerted effort to process COVID-19 papers, which has brought together government agencies, tech giants, universities, and research labs, will be a measure of how useful our state-of-the-art AI algorithms have become. In March, the U.S. government teamed up with tech giants Microsoft and Google to gather research papers about COVID-19. The corpus was compiled into a dataset named COVID-19 Open Research Dataset (CORD-19) by the Allen Institute for AI (AI2) in partnership with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, Microsoft Research, and the National Library of Medicine at National Institutes of Health, in coordination with The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

CORD-19 was released in mid-March and made accessible to AI researchers to use it to create machine learning models that can help scientists find the information they need. Following the release of CORD-19, Kaggle, the Google-owned hub for data science and machine learning competitions, launched the COVID-19 Open Research Dataset Challenge. “We are issuing a call to action to the world’s artificial intelligence experts to develop text and data mining tools that can help the medical community develop answers to high priority scientific questions,” the challenge’s description reads.To be able to measure progress and success, the challenge has been broken down into a list of 10 tasks that can help better understand new information about Page 28 of 43

COVID-19, patient care, and cure development. For instance, one task involves non- pharmaceutical interventions. The AI that tackles this task should be able to peruse the dataset and find papers that discuss NPIs and their effectiveness, such as how travel bans and school closures are helping in flattening the COVID-19 curve. Another task involves gathering the latest findings on COVID-19 risk factors.But the silver lining is that this particular challenge involves a very narrow field of research. As opposed to general natural language understanding, the CORD- 19 Challenge has a very specific requirement: Searching for information about one virus and one disease. Source:https://thenextweb.com/neural/2020/04/14/how-ai-helps-scientists-find-reliable- coronavirus-research/ Accessed on:15th April 2020 at 8:00 PM IST

16th April 2020: US homeland security lists blockchain as critical tool to combat COVID- 19: Amid growing COVID-19 cases in the US, Homeland Security has drafted a list of critical services, including blockchain, to combat the outbreak. Responding to guidelines issued by President Donald Trump, the Cyber-security and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) had added this technology to the list of critical infrastructure services needed to tackle the spread of this disease. Since blockchain can accurately monitor and trace the movement of goods in a supply chain, it can essentially be leveraged to control the spread of Covid-19.

Healthcare blockchains – as they exist today – are being developed to manage and verify patient data. This application in current circumstances can help onboard medical practitioners as they combat the spread of the virus. Another use case is in pharmaceutical supply chains. These can leverage blockchain to ensure compliance with the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA).

Source:https://analyticsindiamag.com/us-homeland-security-lists-blockchain-as-critical-tool- amid-covid-19/ Accessed on: 16th April 2020 , 8:10 PM IST

COVID-19: New research examines wastewater to detect community spread:Scientists and researchers across the world have been vigorously examining ways to curtail the spread of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Surveillance, tracing and detection of community spread continue to be the key to containing the outbreak. This prompted researchers to look at wastewater samples from a treatment plant in Massachusetts for measuring the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 virus in a given community.

At least 440 people were likely infected with COVID-19 in the area around the treatment facility — much higher than the reported cases — researchers from Biobot Analytics, a biotech startup, along with a team from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Brigham and Women’s Hospital estimated. The researchers collected samples in late March 2020 from the plant serving a large metropolitan area in Massachusetts. They found that the amount of SARS-CoV-2 particles in the sewage samples indicated a far higher number of people likely infected with COVID- 19 than the reported cases in that area.

In another study published by KWR Water Research Institute, the Netherlands, researchers described detecting the novel coronavirus in sewage samples — sometimes even before public health officials reported the first diagnosed case of COVID-19 in a given community.The idea to begin testing wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 emerged after recent research revealed that virus particles could be shed through stool and other bodily fluids. The testing begins with collecting sewage samples from local treatment plants and running them through a process that creates millions of copies of viral RNA to study the pathogen in detail.Another process then looks for Page 29 of 43 specific markers on SARS-CoV-2, to distinguish the virus from other microbes in wastewater samples

Wastewater has been used in other ways as a public health surveillance tool. Biobot, which was spun out of MIT, has also been involved in efforts to detect opioids in wastewater as a way to help communities track patterns of drug use. European countries have long been involved in surveillance of the spread of antibiotic resistance through wastewater.The new research comes at an unprecedented moment in public health: The difficulty and expense of obtaining individual tests for millions of people combined with the virus’ rapid transmission means that public health officials are looking for other ways to grasp the scale of the spread. Source:https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/water/covid-19-new-research-examines- wastewater-to-detect-community-spread-70489 Accessed on: 16th April 2020 8:35 PM IST

17 April 2020:Early peek at data on Gilead coronavirus drug suggests patients are responding to treatment: A Chicago hospital treating severe COVID-19 patients with Gilead Sciences’ antiviral medicine remdesivir in a closely watched clinical trial is seeing rapid recoveries in fever and respiratory symptoms, with nearly all patients discharged in less than a week, STAT has learned.Remdesivir was one of the first medicines identified as having the potential to impact SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, in lab tests. The entire world has been waiting for results from Gilead’s clinical trials, and positive results would likely lead to fast approvals by the Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory agencies. If safe and effective, it could become the first approved treatment against the disease.

The University of Chicago Medicine recruited 125 people with COVID-19 into Gilead’s two Phase 3 clinical trials. Of those people, 113 had severe disease. All the patients have been treated with daily infusions of remdesivir. In a statement, the University of Chicago Medicine said “drawing any conclusions at this point is premature and scientifically unsound.”“The severely hit patients are at such high-risk of fatality. So if it’s true that many of the 113 patients were in this category and were discharged, it’s another positive signal that the drug has efficacy,” it was said, adding that it will be important to see more data from randomized controlled studies.

Gilead’s severe COVID-19 study includes 2,400 participants from 152 different clinical trial sites all over the world. Its moderate COVID-19 study includes 1,600 patients in 169 different centers, also all over the world. The trial is investigating five- and 10-day treatment courses of remdesivir. The primary goal is a statistical comparison of patient improvement between the two treatment arms. Improvement is measured using a seven-point numerical scale that encompasses death (at worst) and discharge from hospital (best outcome), with various degrees of supplemental oxygen and intubation in between.

Source:https://www.statnews.com/2020/04/16/early-peek-at-data-on-gilead-coronavirus- drug-suggests-patients-are-responding-to-treatment/ Accessed on:17th April 2020 9:00 PM IST

Experts warn of urgent need for COVID-19 mental health research: London (CNN)Mental health and brain research must be a higher priority in the response to the coronavirus pandemic, scientists have said, warning that the crisis could have a "profound" and "pervasive impact" on global mental health now and in the future.

In a paper published Wednesday in the Lancet Psychiatry journal, researchers called for better monitoring of mental health as part of the global response to the pandemic. The outbreak has

Page 30 of 43 infected more than 2 million people and killed over 128,000 worldwide, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.The paper, which draws on the work of 24 mental health experts, including neuroscientists, psychiatrists, psychologists and public health experts, also noted that little is known about the impact of COVID-19 itself on the human nervous system.Other coronaviruses, the paper said, have passed into the central nervous system. Experts warn that more research, as well as a database to monitor the psychological or brain effects of COVID-19- is urgently needed to understand the potential impacts of COVID-19 on the human brain and nervous system.

Researchers noted that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19, may infect the brain or trigger immune responses that are detrimental to brain function and mental health in patients. The paper, which cited a poll of more than 2,000 people with lived experience of mental health problems, their supporters, healthcare professionals, researchers and the general public with an interest in the topic, and a survey of more than 1,000 of the UK's general population found that the public were already concerned about coronavirus and mental health, and were worried about the effect of social isolation or social distancing on well-being, including increased anxiety, stress and depression.Many survey respondents said that they worried about becoming mentally unwell and being unable to access mental health services during the pandemic, as did people who worried about loneliness as a result of being trapped and isolated.

Source:https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/15/health/covid-19-mental-health-pandemic- wellness-intl-scli-gbr/index.html Accessed on:17th April 2020, 9:15 PM IST

18 April 2020: Covid-19: Harvard study suggests bouts of social distancing required till 2022: Intermittent social distancing may be required lasting up to 2022 to lessen the pressure on healthcare systems across the globe and to reduce to impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak, according to a recent study by Harvard scientists who modelled the pandemic's trajectory.The Harvard team's computer simulation mapping the trajectory was published in a research paper in the journal Science.“Intermittent distancing may be required into 2022 unless critical care capacity is increased substantially or a treatment or vaccine becomes available,” reads the study.

“Experience from China, Italy, and the United States demonstrates that COVID-19 can overwhelm even the healthcare capacities of well-resourced nations. With no pharmaceutical treatments available, interventions have focused on contact tracing, quarantine, and social distancing. The required intensity, duration, and urgency of these responses will depend both on how the initial pandemic wave unfolds and on the subsequent transmission dynamics of SARS- CoV-2,” it said.The study assumed that the COVID-19 disease will become seasonal similar to other diseases caused by closely related viruses such as flu or common cold with higher transmission rates in colder months. However, much information about the virus is yet to be discovered including the immunity acquired by the previous versions of the virus and the time period for which it lasts.

“The intensity and timing of pandemic and post-pandemic outbreaks will depend on the time of year when widespread SARS-CoV-2 infection becomes established and, to a lesser degree, upon the magnitude of seasonal variation in transmissibility and the level of cross-immunity that exists between the beta coronaviruses,” the study said.“The total incidence of Covid-19 illness

Page 31 of 43 over the next five years will depend critically upon whether or not it enters into regular circulation after the initial pandemic wave, which in turn depends primarily upon the duration of immunity that SARS-CoV-2 infection imparts,” it further said. According to the study, until a definite treatment or vaccine is available to curb the outbreaks, social distancing is the most effective way to ensure that the outbreaks do not peak.

Source:https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/science/covid-19-harvard-study- suggests-bouts-of-social-distancing-required-till-2022/article31345971.ece Accessed on:18thApril 2020 at 8:30 PM IST

19 April 2020: What can data on testing tell us about the pandemic?

Testing data provides us with two indicators of the quality of data on COVID-19

No country knows the true number of people infected with COVID-19. All we know is the infection status of those who have been tested. The total number of people that have tested positive – the number of confirmed cases – is not the total number of people who have been infected. The true number of people infected with COVID-19 is much higher. Whilst there is no way to infer the true number of infections from testing data, it can help give us a strong indication of the quality of a country’s data on the pandemic and an idea of how informative the number of confirmed cases in a country may be.

Testing coverage The chart here shows a measure of testing coverage – tests per thousand people. Countries are reporting testing data in different ways: some report the number of tests, others report the number of people tested. This distinction is important – people may be tested many times, and the number of tests a person has is likely to vary across countries. Across different countries, we see an enormous range in testing coverage. In Iceland there have been more than 100 tests per thousand people – far more than in any other country. In Indonesia, testing coverage is very low – only 0.1 tests per thousand people. Generally, we would expect that more testing means more reliable data on confirmed cases, for two reasons.

Firstly, a greater degree of testing provides us with a larger ‘sample’ of people for which their infection status is known. If everybody was tested, we would know the true number of people who are infected.Secondly, it may be the case that countries with a high capacity for testing do not need to ration tests as much. Where the capacity for testing is low, tests may be reserved (or ‘rationed’) for particularly high-risk groups. Such rationing is one of the reasons that tested people are not representative of the wider population. As such, where testing coverage is higher, the ‘sample’ of tested people may provide a less biased idea of the true prevalence of the virus.

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The number of tests per confirmed case A further complication with using testing coverage as an indicator of reliability, is that the number of tests needed to have an accurate picture of the spread of the virus varies over the course of an outbreak.At the beginning of an outbreak, where the number of people infected with the virus is low, a much smaller number of tests are needed to accurately assess the spread of the virus.As the virus infects more people, testing coverage also needs to expand in order to provide a reliable picture of the true number of infected people.For this reason it is helpful to look at the number of tests performed for each confirmed case. This gives us an indication of the scale of testing that accounts for the different stages each country may be in its outbreak.The bar chart below shows the number of tests, or people tested per confirmed case. The data can also be viewed over time in this chart.

The key insight from this metric is that there are very large differences between countries.In some countries the number of tests are many times higher than the number of confirmed cases. As of 11th April, 2020, in Vietnam more than 400 tests had been conducted for each confirmed case. In Taiwan and Russia there had been around a hundred tests for each confirmed case.But in other countries testing is very low relative to the number of confirmed cases. The US, the UK and Ecuador had performed around 5 tests or fewer for every confirmed case.

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What can we learn from these measures about the pandemic? Both testing coverage and the number of tests per confirmed case help us understand what we can know about the true spread of the virus from data on confirmed cases.But it is the number of tests per confirmed case that is arguably the most helpful in this regard, because this accounts for the fact that a smaller outbreak requires less testing.

A country that performs very few tests for each case it confirms is not testing widely enough for the number of confirmed cases to paint a reliable picture of the true spread of the virus. Whilst Page 34 of 43 those people with the most severe symptoms may have been tested in such countries, there are likely to be many times more people with mild or no symptoms that were never tested.The intuition behind these researchers’ estimates is that where the number of confirmed cases looks low against the number of deaths, this is a clear indication that the true number of cases is likely to be much, much higher. But the fundamental reason for this is the limited extent of testing.The rate of tests per case thus gives us another useful way of approaching the same question, by looking at the extent of testing relative to the number of cases directly. Source:https://ourworldindata.org/what-can-data-on-testing-tell-us-about-the-pandemic Accessed on: 19th April 2020 at 7:45 PM IST

20 April 2020: Reports suggest many had coronavirus with no symptoms: In the last week, reports of silent infections have come from a homeless shelter in Boston, a US Navy aircraft carrier, pregnant women at a New York hospital, several European countries and California.

A flood of new research suggests that far more people have had the coronavirus without any symptoms, fueling hope that it will turn out to be much less lethal than originally feared.While that's clearly good news, it also means it's impossible to know who around you may be contagious. That complicates decisions about returning to work, school and normal life.In the last week, reports of silent infections have come from a homeless shelter in Boston, a US Navy aircraft carrier, pregnant women at a New York hospital, several European countries and California.The head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 25 per cent of infected people might not have symptoms. The vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. John Hyten, thinks it may be as high as 60 per cent to 70 per cent among military personnel.None of these numbers can be fully trusted because they're based on flawed and inadequate testing, said Dr. Michael Mina of Harvard's School of Public Health.Collectively, though, they suggest "we have just been off the mark by huge, huge numbers" for estimating total infections, he said.

STEALTH CASES

Based on known cases, health officials have said the virus usually causes mild or moderate flu- like illness. Now evidence is growing that a substantial number of people may have no symptoms at all.Scientists in Iceland screened 6 per cent of its population to see how many had previously undetected infections and found that about 0.7 per cent tested positive. So did 13 per cent of a group at higher risk because of recent travel or exposure to someone sick.Aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, where one crew member died from the virus, "the rough numbers are that 40 per cent are symptomatic," said Vice Adm. Phillip Sawyer, deputy commander of naval operations. The ratio may change if more develop symptoms later, he warned.

In New York, a hospital tested all pregnant women coming in to deliver over a two-week period. Nearly 14 per cent of those who arrived with no symptoms of coronavirus turned out to have it. Of the 33 positive cases, 29 had no symptoms when tested, although some developed them later.Previously, tests on passengers and crew from the cruise ship found nearly half who tested positive had no symptoms at the time. Researchers estimate that 18 per cent of infected people never developed any(symptoms).

FLAWED METHODS

These studies used tests that look for bits of the virus from throat and nose swabs, which can miss cases. Someone can test negative one day if there's not much virus to detect and then positive the next.Symptoms also may not appear when someone is tested but turn up later. One Japanese study found more than half of those who had no symptoms when they tested positive later felt sick.Better answers may come from newer tests that check blood for antibodies, substances the immune system makes to fight the virus. But the accuracy of these, too, is still to be determined.On Friday, researchers reported results from antibody tests on 3,300 people in Page 35 of 43

California's Santa Clara county: Between 1.5 per cent and 2.8 per cent have been infected, they claimed. That would mean 48,000 to 81,000 cases in the county - more than 50 times the number that has been confirmed.

The work has not been formally published or reviewed, but some scientists were quick to question it. Participants were recruited through Facebook ads, which would attract many people likely to be positive who have had symptoms and want to know if the coronavirus was the reason. Some neighbourhoods also had way more participants than others, and "hot spots" within the county might have made infections seem more common than they are elsewhere.

NEXT STEPS

Antibody testing in particular needs to be done "in an unbiased approach" on groups of people that are representative of the geographic, social, racial and other conditions, Mina said. The CDC and other groups plan such studies, and they could guide public health advice on returning to normal life for people in certain areas. If infections are more widespread than previously understood, it's possible that more people have developed some level of immunity to the virus. That could stifle the spread through what's called herd immunity, but scientists caution that there is still much to learn about whether mild illnesses confer immunity and how long it might last.It will probably be months before enough reliable testing has been done to answer those questions and others, including how widespread infections have been and the virus's true mortality rate, which has only been estimated so far."If they've all seen the virus before, then maybe you can relax in that neighbourhood" and ease social distancing, Mina said. "We're not anywhere close where we need to be" on antibody testing to do that yet," he said.

Source:https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/research-suggests-many-coronavirus-no- symptoms-1668943-2020-04-20 Accessed on:20th April 2020 at 7:30 PM IST

21st April 2020: Researchers have identified potential target for antiviral treatment for COVID-19:NEW YORK: Researchers have identified a possible target for antiviral treatment for COVID-19 by assessing the overall mechanism by which the novel coronavirus enters host cells, and comparing it with the process seen in other similar viruses. The researchers, including those from Cornell University in the US, compared the molecular sequence of small proteins involved in the fusion of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, and the SARS virus behind the 2002-03 epidemic, with the host cell membrane. In the study, published in the journal Antiviral Research, they found that the virus that causes COVID-19, and the SARS virus had a 93 per cent similarity.

The scientists assessed the intricate procedure of membrane fusion in the viruses, which they said is a critical part of the mechanism by which coronaviruses spread. Membrane fusion, they explained, is a multi-step process that begins with the virus recognizing that it's found the right type of cell to infect. To do this, the virus receives feedback from the chemical environment, including cues like the receptor that the host cell presents, the study noted. The virus then attaches to the host cell receptor by way of the spike protein on its surface, it said.

According to the scientists, this process is followed by a piece of the spike protein, called the fusion peptide, interacting directly with the host cell membrane and facilitating merging to form a fusion pore, or opening. They said the virus then transfers its genome into the host cell through this pore, and eventually hijacking the host cell's machinery to produce more viruses.

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In the study, the research team found that charged atoms of calcium interacting with the fusion peptide can change the peptide's structure.The study also assessed how the protein interacts with membranes in ways that promote infection in the other coronaviruses - MERS and SARS. In future studies, the researchers are hopeful of understanding how the virus moves into humans, what chemical cues facilitate the process, and why the virus is able to replicate so easily in the respiratory tract. Source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/researchers- have-identified-potential-target-for-antiviral-treatment-for-covid- 19/articleshow/75041596.cms Accessed on 21st April 2020 at 9.35 PM IST

22 April 2020: COVID-19: Genetic network analysis provides ‘snapshot’ of pandemic origins:Study charts the 'incipient supernova' of COVID-19 through genetic mutations as it spread from China and Asia to Australia, Europe and North America. Researchers say their methods could be used to help identify undocumented infection sources.

Researchers from Cambridge, UK, and Germany have reconstructed the early 'evolutionary paths' of COVID-19 in humans – as infection spread from Wuhan out to Europe and North America – using genetic network techniques.'By analysing the first 160 complete virus genomes to be sequenced from human patients, the scientists have mapped some of the original spread of the new coronavirus through its mutations, which creates different viral lineages.

“There are too many rapid mutations to neatly trace a COVID-19 family tree. The researchers used a mathematical network algorithm to visualise all the plausible trees simultaneously,” said geneticist Dr Peter Forster, lead author from the University of Cambridge. “These techniques are mostly known for mapping the movements of prehistoric human populations through DNA. We think this is one of the first times they have been used to trace the infection routes of a coronavirus like COVID-19.”

The team used data from virus genomes sampled from across the world between 24 December 2019 and 4 March 2020. The research revealed three distinct 'variants' of COVID-19, consisting of clusters of closely related lineages, which they label ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’. Forster and colleagues

Page 37 of 43 found that the closest type of COVID-19 to the one discovered in bats – type ‘A’, the “original human virus genome” – was present in Wuhan, but surprisingly was not the city’s predominant virus type.

Versions of ‘A’ were seen in Chinese individuals, and Americans reported to have lived in Wuhan, and mutated versions of ‘A’ were found in patients from the USA and Australia. Wuhan’s major virus type, ‘B’, was prevalent in patients from across East Asia. However, the variant didn’t travel much beyond the region without further mutations – implying a 'founder event' in Wuhan, or 'resistance' against this type of COVID-19 outside East Asia, say researchers. The ‘C’ variant is the major European type, found in early patients from France, Italy, Sweden and England. It is absent from the study’s Chinese mainland sample, but seen in Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea.

The new analysis also suggests that one of the earliest introductions of the virus into Italy came via the first documented German infection on 27 January, 2020 and that another early Italian infection route was related to a 'Singapore cluster'.It was said that Phylogenetic network analysis has the potential to help identify undocumented COVID-19 infection sources, which can then be quarantined to contain further spread of the disease worldwide. Source: https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/covid-19-genetic-network-analysis-provides- snapshot-of-pandemic-origins Accessed on: 22nd April 2020 at 12:00 PM IST

23rd April 2020: World experts and funders set priorities for COVID-19 research: Leading health experts from around the world have been meeting at the World Health Organization’s Geneva headquarters to assess the current level of knowledge about the new COVID-19 disease, identify gaps and work together to accelerate and fund priority research needed to help stop this outbreak and for any future outbreaks.

The 2-day forum was convened in line with the WHO R&D Blueprint – a strategy for developing drugs and vaccines before epidemics, and accelerating research and development while they are occurring. The meeting, hosted in collaboration with GloPID-R (the Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness) brought together major research funders and over 300 scientists and researchers from a large variety of disciplines. They discussed all aspects of the outbreak and ways to control it including: • the natural history of the virus, its transmission and diagnosis; • animal and environmental research on the origin of the virus, including management measures at the human-animal interface; • epidemiological studies; • clinical characterization and management of disease caused by the virus; • infection prevention and control, including best ways to protect health care workers; • research and development for candidate therapeutics and vaccines; • ethical considerations for research; and • integration of social sciences into the outbreak response.

During the meeting, more than 300 scientists and researchers participating both in person and virtually agreed on a set of global research priorities. They also outlined mechanisms for continuing scientific interactions and collaborations beyond the meeting which will be

Page 38 of 43 coordinated and facilitated by WHO. They worked with research funders to determine how necessary resources can be mobilized so that critical research can start immediately. The deliberations will form the basis of a research and innovation roadmap charting all the research needed and this will be used by researchers and funders to accelerate the research response. Source:https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/12-02-2020-world-experts-and-funders-set- priorities-for-covid-19-research Accessed on 24th April 2020 at 9.30 PM IST

24th April 2020: NIAID strategic plan details COVID-19 research priorities: Urgent public health measures are needed to control the spread of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and the disease it causes, coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19. A new strategic plan from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, details the institute’s plan for accelerating research to diagnose, prevent and treat COVID-19.

The NIAID Strategic Plan for COVID-19 Research has four key priorities. The first involves improving fundamental knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, including studies to characterize the virus and better understand how it causes infection and disease. This research includes natural history, transmission and surveillance studies to determine why some individuals experience mild symptoms of infection while others become critically ill. The role of asymptomatic individuals in viral spread and the potential seasonality of viral circulation also need to be explored. Additionally, small and large animal models that can recapitulate COVID-19 disease seen in humans must be developed.

NIAID’s second research priority is the development of rapid, accurate diagnostics and assays to identify and isolate COVID-19 cases and track the spread of the virus. Molecular assays can detect low levels of SARS-CoV-2 and differentiate it from other related viruses. Researchers will work to improve the speed and accuracy of these diagnostic assays to mitigate the spread of the disease during the current outbreak and any future ones. Additionally, new and improved serologic assays to detect antibodies to the virus must be developed to enhance surveillance efforts and identify individuals who may have resolved a previous COVID-19 infection.

The thirdresearch priority is characterizing and testing potential treatments for COVID- 19. These efforts will include identifying and evaluating drugs already approved for other conditions that could be repurposed to treat COVID-19 and testing novel broad-spectrum antivirals, such as remdesivir; virus-targeted antibody-based therapies; monoclonal antibodies; and host-directed strategies to target an individual’s immune response to the virus. To optimize findings during the pandemic, multiple clinical trials will be conducted in parallel among various patient populations, including hospitalized people and outpatients.

NIAID’s fourth research priority is to develop safe and effective vaccines to protect individuals from infection and prevent future SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks. NIAID researchers and their collaborators are adapting vaccine candidates and approaches previously employed to address the related Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronaviruses and applied them to the current pandemic. For example, NIAID

Page 39 of 43 recently launched a Phase 1 clinical trial using a vaccine platform initially developed to target MERS. NIAID will use its broad clinical trial infrastructure to advance experimental vaccines through Phase 1 safety and dosing testing and simultaneously plan for advanced clinical testing of the most promising candidates. The institute will work with government partners to ensure that any safe and effective vaccine will be manufactured in sufficient quantities to allow expedient distribution to those at highest risk for infection.

To achieve its four priorities, NIAID will build on its current resources, research programs, clinical trials networks and collaborations with other U.S. government agencies and other key U.S. and global partners. The new strategic plan aligns with priorities set by the White House Coronavirus Task Force and represents a comprehensive and coordinated effort to develop effective biomedical tools to combat COVID-19.

Source:https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/niaid-strategic-plan-details-covid- 19-research-priorities Accessed on 24th April 2020 at 08:35 PM, IST

25th April 2020: Increasing pessimism about ‘return to normal’ by June from COVID-19 crisis, shows poll: People in Japan, the U.K. and Australia are most negative about a recovery by June. Optimism over the coronavirus outbreak coming to an end in a few months has declined in most countries surveyed by Ipsos since March in the latest global poll.

In mid-March, majorities of people in most countries surveyed believed the COVID-19 crisis was a relatively short-term crisis which would be resolved by June, and life would return to normal. This optimism has continuously declined in about half the countries polled since March 12-14 as citizens appear to be settling in for the long haul. In a survey of 28,000 people across 15 countries conducted from April 2 to 4, the respondents most negative about a recovery by June are in Japan (19%), the United Kingdom (27%), and Australia (32%).

On the other end, those most optimistic about a June recovery are in Vietnam (92%), Brazil (85%) and Mexico (84%). The biggest change which has been seen in opinions since mid-March about a June recovery is in countries where optimism has declined. This is led by Canada down 25 percentage points, followed by France (-23), Italy, Japan and the U.K. (-22). Overall, these findings show that in countries where there has been a large movement in opinion about a June recovery, the sentiment turned more negative than positive. Source: https://www.ipsos.com/en/increasing-pessimism-about-return-normal-june-covid-19- crisis-shows-poll Accessed on 25th April 2020 at 8.45 PM IST

26 April 2020: 'No Evidence' Yet That Recovered COVID-19 Patients Are Immune, WHO Says: The World Health Organization has pushed back against the theory that individuals can only catch the coronavirus once, as well as proposals for reopening society that are based on this supposed immunity. In a scientific brief dated Friday 24th April 2020, the United Nations agency said the idea that one-time infection can lead to immunity remains unproven and is thus unreliable as a foundation for the next phase of the world's response to the pandemic.

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"Some governments have suggested that the detection of antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, could serve as the basis for an 'immunity passport' or 'risk-free certificate' that would enable individuals to travel or to return to work assuming that they are protected against re-infection," the WHO wrote. "There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection."

The concept for such a card is largely based on the premise that an individual can only contract the coronavirus once before developing the necessary antibodies to fight it off. That premise undergirds another common theory: the concept, known as herd immunity, that if enough people have been infected with the coronavirus — and are therefore immune — its transmission will slow and the risks of infection will diminish even for those who haven't caught it yet.

But these ideas depend to a large degree on the supposition that one cannot catch the coronavirus a second time — an idea that world health authorities said leaders should not count on right now. As of Friday, the WHO said, "No study has evaluated whether the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 confers immunity to subsequent infection by this virus in humans."

What's more, data reported from the world's early COVID-19 hot spots, such as South Korea and China, have shown that a growing number of recovered patients appear to have suffered a relapse of the disease. "At this point in the pandemic, there is not enough evidence about the effectiveness of antibody-mediated immunity to guarantee the accuracy of an 'immunity passport' or 'risk-free certificate,' " the WHO warned. Source:https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/25/844939777/no- evidence-that-recovered-covid-19-patients-are-immune-who-says Accessed on: 26th April 2020 at 7:00 PM, IST

27 April 2020: New York clinical trial quietly tests heartburn remedy against coronavirus: The fast-growing list of possible treatments for the novel coronavirus includes an unlikely candidate: famotidine, the active compound in the over-the-counter heartburn drug Pepcid. On 7th April, the first COVID-19 patients at Northwell Health in the New York City area began receiving famotidine intravenously, at nine times the heartburn dose. Unlike other drugs the 23-hospital system is testing, including Regeneron’s sarilumab and Gilead Science’s remdesivir, Northwell kept the famotidine study under wraps to secure a research stockpile before other hospitals, or even the federal government, started buying it.

As of Saturday, 187 COVID-19 patients in critical status, including many on ventilators, have been enrolled in the trial, which aims for a total of 1174 people. Reports from China and molecular modeling results suggest that the drug, which seems to bind to a key enzyme in the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), could make a difference. But the hype surrounding hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine—the unproven antimalarial drugs touted by President Donald Trump and some physicians and scientists—has made Tracey wary of sparking premature enthusiasm. He is tight-lipped about famotidine’s prospects, at least until interim results from the first 391 patients are in.

A globe-trotting infectious disease doctor named Michael Callahan was the first to call attention to the drug in the United States. As the COVID-19 epidemic began exploding in Wuhan, he followed his Chinese colleagues to the increasingly desperate city. The virus was killing as many one out of five patients over 80 years of age. Patients of all ages with hypertension and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were faring poorly. Callahan and his Chinese colleagues got curious about why many of the survivors tended to be poor. In reviewing 6212 COVID-19

Page 41 of 43 patient records, the doctors noticed that many survivors had been suffering from chronic heartburn and were on famotidine rather than more-expensive omeprazole (Prilosec), the medicine of choice both in the United States and among wealthier Chinese. Hospitalized COVID- 19 patients on famotidine appeared to be dying at a rate of about 14% compared with 27% for those not on the drug, although the analysis was crude and the result was not statistically significant. The study’s draft protocol was aimed only at evaluating famotidine’s efficacy. Anecdotal evidence has encouraged the Northwell researchers. Those patients would be compared with a hydroxychloroquine-only arm and a historic control arm made up of hundreds of patients treated earlier in the outbreak. Source: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/new-york-clinical-trial-quietly-tests- heartburn-remedy-against-coronavirus Accessed on 27th April 2020, 2:00 PM, IST

28th April 2020: Shiv Nadar University-led researchers find new way to treat respiratory infection caused by COVID-19: The therapy involves administration of ‘New Chemical Entities’ and a known drug that modulates a set of hormonal receptors in humans. Shiv Nadar University has said it has discovered a set of New Chemical Entities (NCEs) with the ability to cure Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) or Acute Lung Injury (ALI) induced by COVID-19 (SARS- CoV-2) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which are also caused by coronaviruses.

A press statement from the University said the two-fold strategy devised by the research team involved (a) application of the NCEs to inhibit attachment, entry and infection of the new SARS- CoV-2 through a known target on the virus; and (b) co-administration of a known drug (that modulates a set of hormonal receptors in humans) and these NCEs to attenuate ARDS caused by SARS-CoV-2. The researchers believe their therapy would not only prevent COVID-19 from affecting a person’s lungs but will also address lung injuries already inflicted by the virus, in cases the ventilators are either not proving effective or are not available altogether, bringing much relief to COVID-19 patients suffering from ARDS. The researchers have filed a provisional patent in India to protect the new chemical entities. The novel molecule in discovery is being moved to the next stage of checking where its efficacy will be tested on animals.

How the treatment works The discovery has come out of months of research conceptualising small molecule modulators of a set of hormonal receptors in humans and how they are connected with potential receptors in the lungs that act as the entry of SARS-CoV-2, SARS and MERS in the human host. Additionally, the researchers looked into the patho-physiological condition of lungs during respiratory failure. This included extensive investigations of lung specimens from patients who were retrospectively found to have COVID-19. Using these data, the researchers designed the project that helps in attenuating acute respiratory distress.

Source: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/shiv-nadar-university-led- researchers-find-new-way-to-treat-respiratory-infection-caused-by-covid- 19/article31451605.ece# Accessed on: 28th April 2020 at 7:00 PM, IST

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29th April 2020: UK scientists plan to expand human trials of potential COVID-19 vaccine: Even as researchers at Oxford University have begun testing their potential vaccine against COVID-19 on a small group of human volunteers, they hope to expand the tests soon after getting positive results from the initial trial. "Oxford University initiated trials of the COVID-19 vaccine on April 23rd 2020 and plans to vaccinate 800 volunteers in the UK over the next month," the Oxford Vaccine Group said. "If the trial is successful in the UK, then the Oxford team will approach scientists in the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and will approach the Government of Kenya for permission to evaluate in Kenya," it added in an update. A vaccine candidate for COVID-19 was identified by researchers from the Oxford Vaccine Group and Oxford's Jenner Institute.

The potential upcoming vaccine, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, is based on an adenovirus vaccine vector and the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. By vaccinating with ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, the scientists hope to make the body recognise and develop an immune response to the Spike protein that will help stop the SARS-CoV-2 virus from entering human cells and therefore prevent infection. According to a report in on Monday, the scientists plan to test the vaccine in trials involving more than 6,000 people by the end of May. And if the trials show positive results, the first few million doses of the vaccine may be available by September, several months ahead of any of the other efforts announced so far, said the report.

In experiments conducted at the US National Institutes of Health's Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Montana last month, single doses of the Oxford vaccine proved effective in protecting rhesus macaque monkeys against the virus which is responsible for the pandemic. This has raised hope that the vaccine might work to protect humans as well. However, it is too early to say which potential vaccine will prove to be the most successful in protecting people against COVID-19 as it may take some time for clinical trial data to become available. More than 70 research efforts are on currently to develop a vaccine against COVID-19. Source: https://weather.com/en-IN/india/coronavirus/news/2020-04-29-uk-scientists-plan- expand-human-trials-potential-covid-19-vaccine Accessed on: 29th April 2020 at 2:00 PM, IST

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