This is the Coronavirus Briefing, an informed guide to the global outbreak. Sign up here to get the briefing by email.
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The number of cases worldwide has passed 22 million, and more than 780,000 people have died.
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Venezuela is treating the infected like criminals in its virus crackdown.
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A U.S. report found that officials in Wuhan and Hubei Province tried to hide information about the outbreak from China’s central leadership.
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Get the latest updates here, as well as maps and trackers for U.S. metro areas and vaccines in development.
Hauling in a revelation
An accidental experiment on a fishing boat is offering the best evidence yet that antibodies — at even moderate levels — offer protection from the coronavirus.
The vessel, American Dynasty, set sail from Seattle in May with 122 crew members who were all tested for both the virus and antibodies. But the ship returned to port after 18 days at sea when one crew member became ill enough to need hospitalization. More than 100 sailors eventually tested positive — but not the three sailors who were the only ones to show antibodies at the start, according to a new report. And two of them had only moderate levels.
The study addressed one of the most important unanswered questions of the pandemic: whether an immune response from contracting the virus protects against reinfection.
Although the study was small, the chance that the crew members with antibodies would, by chance, not have been infected is incredibly small (0.002 percent). The findings are reassuring to scientists, who have been relying on studies of monkeys for evidence of antibodies’ potency.
The researchers don’t know how the virus got on board, according to Apoorva Mandavilli, who reported on the study. “It could have been one of two people whose tests they couldn’t assess,” she said, “or could have been someone newly infected, so too early to test positive yet.”
Treatment on hold. Antibody-rich blood plasma, donated by those who have survived Covid-19, is being tested in clinical trials as a treatment for the disease. But an emergency authorization for its use in the U.S. is on hold, after top federal health officials, including Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, warned that the data on the treatment is still too weak.
A second wave in Iran
Iran, a country hit early and hard by the virus, is in the midst of a second wave.
The country’s health ministry announced today that it had reached 20,000 deaths from the virus, but health experts inside and outside Iran, and even members of the Iranian Parliament, suggest that the number may be many times higher.
To understand what’s going on, we spoke to our colleague Farnaz Fassihi, who covers Iran for The Times. She painted a picture of an outbreak still out of control.
What’s the situation in the country?
It’s very bad. It’s in the thick of a second surge worse than the first one in March. The majority of provinces, including the capital, Tehran, are “red zones.” Doctors are saying hospitals and I.C.U. beds are full. At the same time, there are some restrictions for public gatherings but, generally, it’s open for business.
Even by the government’s own numbers, cases are on the rise. What happened?
They opened too soon. When the virus first arrived in the country, they closed down for just two weeks during the New Year holiday in mid-March. They didn’t meet any of the benchmarks when they reopened. There’s no contact tracing. There’s no quarantine.
What are Iranians feeling?
In the early months, people were very scared. They were self-isolating and staying home and not sending their kids to school, even when the schools were still open. But I think as time has passed, like a lot of places, we see that people are becoming more reckless.
There’s also a nuanced dynamic here. This is a government that for 40 years has told people what to do, how to dress, how to behave — and many people’s mind-set is to always defy what the government says. So now, when there’s a pandemic, and the government tells them, “Stay home, wear a mask,” they’re like: “No. We don’t trust you. And you don’t tell us what to do.”
The Coronavirus Outbreak ›
Frequently Asked Questions
Updated August 17, 2020
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Why does standing six feet away from others help?
- The coronavirus spreads primarily through droplets from your mouth and nose, especially when you cough or sneeze. The C.D.C., one of the organizations using that measure, bases its recommendation of six feet on the idea that most large droplets that people expel when they cough or sneeze will fall to the ground within six feet. But six feet has never been a magic number that guarantees complete protection. Sneezes, for instance, can launch droplets a lot farther than six feet, according to a recent study. It's a rule of thumb: You should be safest standing six feet apart outside, especially when it's windy. But keep a mask on at all times, even when you think you’re far enough apart.
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I have antibodies. Am I now immune?
- As of right now, that seems likely, for at least several months. There have been frightening accounts of people suffering what seems to be a second bout of Covid-19. But experts say these patients may have a drawn-out course of infection, with the virus taking a slow toll weeks to months after initial exposure. People infected with the coronavirus typically produce immune molecules called antibodies, which are protective proteins made in response to an infection. These antibodies may last in the body only two to three months, which may seem worrisome, but that’s perfectly normal after an acute infection subsides, said Dr. Michael Mina, an immunologist at Harvard University. It may be possible to get the coronavirus again, but it’s highly unlikely that it would be possible in a short window of time from initial infection or make people sicker the second time.
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I’m a small-business owner. Can I get relief?
- The stimulus bills enacted in March offer help for the millions of American small businesses. Those eligible for aid are businesses and nonprofit organizations with fewer than 500 workers, including sole proprietorships, independent contractors and freelancers. Some larger companies in some industries are also eligible. The help being offered, which is being managed by the Small Business Administration, includes the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. But lots of folks have not yet seen payouts. Even those who have received help are confused: The rules are draconian, and some are stuck sitting on money they don’t know how to use. Many small-business owners are getting less than they expected or not hearing anything at all.
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What are my rights if I am worried about going back to work?
- Employers have to provide a safe workplace with policies that protect everyone equally. And if one of your co-workers tests positive for the coronavirus, the C.D.C. has said that employers should tell their employees -- without giving you the sick employee’s name -- that they may have been exposed to the virus.
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What is school going to look like in September?
- It is unlikely that many schools will return to a normal schedule this fall, requiring the grind of online learning, makeshift child care and stunted workdays to continue. California’s two largest public school districts — Los Angeles and San Diego — said on July 13, that instruction will be remote-only in the fall, citing concerns that surging coronavirus infections in their areas pose too dire a risk for students and teachers. Together, the two districts enroll some 825,000 students. They are the largest in the country so far to abandon plans for even a partial physical return to classrooms when they reopen in August. For other districts, the solution won’t be an all-or-nothing approach. Many systems, including the nation’s largest, New York City, are devising hybrid plans that involve spending some days in classrooms and other days online. There’s no national policy on this yet, so check with your municipal school system regularly to see what is happening in your community.
And so for Iran, I think the challenge to contain a pandemic may be greater than it is for other countries because the government is dealing with 70 million people whose default mode is to defy it.
Resurgences
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The Mariinsky Ballet, one of the most renowned companies in Russia, returned to the stage last month but was abruptly ordered to quarantine last week after about 30 members contracted the virus.
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Finland, which has some of the most severe travel restrictions in Europe, announced that it would tighten restrictions on incoming travelers starting on Monday.
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Nepal plans to reimpose a strict lockdown and curfew in the Kathmandu Valley for a week, when all movement except essential services will be restricted.
Here’s a roundup of restrictions in all 50 states.
What else we’re following
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Senate Republicans are circulating text of a narrow virus relief package that would spend less money, in fewer areas, than earlier offers.
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Pope Francis said that a vaccine should be made universally available, especially to the poor.
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Officials in Iowa are correcting a major error in the state’s Covid-19 test results database found after a nurse-practitioner in Iowa City noticed discrepancies. Nearly 80 percent of counties will see a net decrease in their current 14-day positivity rate.
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A New York Times survey found that just one in five U.S. families will have any sort of in-person help at home this school year.
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New York City released more than 1.46 million coronavirus antibody test results, providing more evidence of how deeply the virus penetrated into some lower-income communities while passing more lightly across affluent parts of the city.
What you’re doing
I’m a widow, age 84, in a single-family home in Southern California, praying daily for the world. To overcome loneliness, I telephone family and friends, read on my front porch and greet neighbors. I drive around town, reminiscing about meeting my husband and raising our children here.
— Ann Gideon, Redlands, Calif.
Let us know how you’re dealing with the outbreak. Send us a response here, and we may feature it in an upcoming newsletter.
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