This is the Coronavirus Briefing, an informed guide to the pandemic. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox.
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Russia moves closer to approving its second vaccine.
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Relatives of those killed by the virus in the U.S. are organizing a national day of mourning to be held in Washington this Sunday.
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New York City’s seven-day average of positive test results ticked up slightly, to 1.46 percent.
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Get the latest updates here, as well as maps and trackers for U.S. metro areas and vaccines in development.
Unexpected findings from India
A vast study in India of nearly 85,000 coronavirus cases and almost 600,000 of their contacts offers some surprising findings and important insights.
Our colleague Apoorva Mandavilli, who covers science, was born in India and lived in both Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, the two southern states that were the focus of the study — one of the largest to employ contact tracing anywhere to date.
“I was blown away by the extent of the contact tracing that they were able to do because India is a very crowded place,” Apoorva told us. “There are so many markets and jam-packed streets and buildings. Tracing the contacts of a person is hard to do anywhere, but especially in India — it’s really impressive.”
Here are some of the findings she found most surprising.
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Children of all ages can become infected with the virus and can spread it to others — offering solid evidence on one of the most divisive questions of the virus.
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A small number of people were responsible for seeding a majority of new infections, confirming past research. Overall, 5 percent of people were responsible for 80 percent of infections detected by contact tracing. Most people, 71 percent, did not seem to pass the virus on to anyone else.
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Initial infections — known as index cases — were more likely to be among men who were older than their contacts. “I think that says something about who gets to go out and about, and who is more likely to respond to contact tracers,” Apoorva said.
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Deaths increased with age but seemed to drop off after age 65, perhaps because life expectancy in India is 69 years, and Indians who live past 65 tend to be relatively wealthy and have access to good health care.
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The median stay for Covid-19 patients who died in the hospital was only five days, compared with two weeks in the United States. “That really speaks to a system that abandons its people until they are so sick that they are almost at death’s door,” Apoorva said.
Apoorva also told us that the location of the study should be understood in context.
“These two Indian states have a really rich history of activism and public health, so they are probably best positioned to tackle something like the pandemic,” she said. “This is probably the best-case scenario, and the situation is much more dire in the rest of India — many fewer hospitals, many fewer skilled personnel, many fewer ventilators and I.C.U. units and everything else you need to take care of Covid-19 patients.”
A Native American health crisis
The Indian Health Service, a Maryland-based government program that provides health care to more than two million members of U.S. tribal communities, has long struggled with mismanagement and shortages in funding, supplies and doctors. Then the pandemic hit.
The virus tore through native communities, claiming lives at disproportionate rates. Native Americans account for 5 percent of the population of Arizona, and 11 percent of the state’s virus deaths. New Mexico’s population is 11 percent Native American, but they represent nearly 30 percent of its caseload.
Indian Health Service hospitals waited months for protective equipment from the government, some of which arrived already expired. A severe lack of hospital beds inhibited the I.H.S.’s ability to handle the flood of Covid-19 patients. Tribal officials had to take matters into their own hands, spending millions of dollars to bolster the response.
The I.H.S. goes back to 1868, when tribes agreed to exchange land and natural resources for health care and other services from the U.S. government as part of the Fort Laramie Treaty. The agency’s defenders say it has always been woefully underfunded, and they blame Congress and previous presidential administrations just as much as they blame President Trump for the agency’s mismanagement.
At one point during the outbreak, Esther Lucero, the chief executive officer of the Seattle Indian Health Board, said she requested more coronavirus tests from the government but instead received body bags.
“I feel like it is common practice that we are always getting the bottom of the barrel, the leftover,” Ms. Lucero said.
Resurgences
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In Ukraine, Petro O. Poroshenko, the former president, announced that he tested positive. The country’s Parliament canceled plenary sessions until Oct. 20 because of rising infections. At least 10 members of Parliament had tested positive before the shutdown.
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In Madrid, a virus resurgence is hitting the most economically vulnerable districts of the capital disproportionately, dividing the rich and poor.
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The Czech Republic and Slovakia have declared states of emergency to deal with rising case numbers.
Here’s a roundup of restrictions in all 50 states.
What else we’re following
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In a chaotic presidential debate, President Trump blamed China for the outbreak and Joe Biden criticized the Trump administration’s response.
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Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he would make Speaker Nancy Pelosi a counteroffer to the Democrats’ $2.2 trillion stimulus plan, as part of a last-ditch effort to break a stalemate on another round of relief.
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Thousands of pilots, flight attendants and other airline employees are retiring early and taking buyouts and leaves in anticipation of a slow recovery for the airline industry.
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In a new survey, more than 60 percent of U.S. households with children reported serious money problems, but Black and Latino people bore the brunt of the pain.
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Pfizer has hinted that its vaccine might be ready by October, contrary to most scientific predictions. That position keeps the company in the president’s good graces, and positions it to reap billions of dollars if its vaccine is the first to reach the market.
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Disney laid off 28,000 employees at its theme parks in the U.S., or about 25 percent of its domestic resort work force.
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A year ago, the U.S. was regarded as the country best prepared for a pandemic. Its government had spent nearly two decades strategizing for a similar scenario. In a new video, The Times Opinion section explored what went wrong.
What you’re doing
My husband, who is 33, and our septuagenarian next door neighbor have started a socially distanced happy hour at 6 p.m. each Friday across our shared backyard fence. My husband provides the Guinness and our neighbor shares his extensive knowledge of wines and gardening, often accompanying his remarks with his latest favorite bottle or produce from his garden. As the weather gets colder, I expect they will add coats and hats and scarves, and they may swap the beverage for something warm, but I anticipate their new tradition lasting for some time.
— Emily Coakley, Chicago
Let us know how you’re dealing with the pandemic. Send us a response here, and we may feature it in an upcoming newsletter.
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