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Abstract BACKGROUND: The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) first broke out in Wuhan (China) and subsequently spread worldwide. Chloroquine has been sporadically used in treating SARS-CoV-2 infection. Hydroxychloroquine shares the same mechanism of action as chloroquine, but its more tolerable safety profile makes it the preferred drug to treat malaria and autoimmune conditions. We propose that the immunomodulatory effect of hydroxychloroquine also may be useful in controlling the cytokine storm that occurs late-phase in critically ill SARS-CoV-2 infected patients. Currently, there is no evidence to support the use of hydroxychloroquine in SARS-CoV-2 infection. METHODS: The pharmacological activity of...

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As essentially everyone in the world is being asked to stay indoors and away from others during the coronavirus pandemic, we no longer have the one thing that could reliably bring us together and keep us from vacating our couches: live sports. Nearly every active sports league has suspended games, including the NCAA’s marquee, March Madness. Instead of spending this week pretending to be busy at work while secretly watching college basketball games at our desks and checking our brackets on our smartphones during meetings, many of us are stuck indoors with our pets, roommates, partners, and children — and...

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak ordered all nonessential businesses in Nevada to close. Casinos and gaming operations are included in the order, to be closed by midnight Tuesday. This includes every casino and gaming operation in the state of Nevada.

The following article, Activist Judges Blocked Trump’s Iran Travel Ban, Now NYC’s Outbreak is Due to Travel from Iran, was first published on Big League Politics. Daniel Horowitz of Conservative Review made an interesting observation on March 16, 2020. He tweeted, “Nearly the entire outbreak in NY came from a traveler from Iran, a place that was supposed to have a travel ban, but thanks to lower courts continuing to militate against Scotus decision, it was rendered moot. “ On March 1, 2020 New York did confirm its first case of the Wuhan virus. “The patient, a woman in her...

Scientists and government officials fighting the coronavirus epidemic say they have a problem: Carefree youths. As authorities moved to restrict social gatherings last week, bars and restaurants from New York to Berlin filled up with revelers, illegal “lockdown parties” popped up in France and Belgium, and campuses in the U.S. lit up for end-of-the-world dorm parties. So far, most young Covid-19 patients have experienced mild or no symptoms from the virus, while more severe cases are concentrated among those aged 50 and over. Data released last week by the National Health Institute in Italy, currently the world’s worst-hit country, shows...

JERUSALEM — A plague of locusts considered “extremely alarming” is headed toward Africa and the Middle East but is likely to bypass Israel. ...The swarms represent “an unprecedented threat to food security,” according to the Locust Watch website. Among the countries expected to be the hardest hit are Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Iran, Pakistan and Sudan, according to the report.

This website is actually counting real-time, the total of cases (and other stats) by web scraping. Two days ago they seem to have been lagging behind another website - https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ But now it seems the ncov2010.live website is leading. The total just passed 200,000.

‘People think this virus is going to attack them all, and then they’re all going to die,’ says Prof. Jihad Bishara. ‘Not at all. In fact, most of those infected won’t even know it’A leading Israeli virologist on Sunday urged world leaders to calm their citizens about the coronavirus pandemic, saying people were being whipped into unnecessary panic. Prof. Jihad Bishara, the director of the Infectious Disease Unit at Petah Tikva’s Beilinson Hospital, said that some of the steps being taken in Israel and abroad were very important, but the virus is not airborne, most people who are infected will...

Thomas Waerner, a 46-year-old Norwegian, has claimed his first Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race victory. Waerner made the winner's march up Front Street and arrived at the famed burled arch Wednesday at 12:37 a.m. with 10 dogs. He finished the race in 9 days, 10 hours and 37 minutes. Waerner was a clear leader early on in the race. The only true mystery was how big the margin of victory would be. He took hold of the race in Unalakleet, putting the rearview mirror and the rest of the field away. As far back as Cripple, 550 miles from Nome,...

World Health Organization recommends using paracetamol to treat coronavirus symptoms, instead of anti-inflammatories. Here's why. The World Health Organization has recommended that people suffering from the symptoms of the virus avoid taking ibuprofen drugs such as Advil. Instead, the organization suggests taking paracetamol, such as Acamol (Tylenol). They studied why the disease pathway in Italy is more serious, finding that most patients took ibuprofen at home. Researchers joined the virus and ibuprofen in the laboratory and came to the conclusion that administering ibuprofen accelerates multiplication of the virus and is related to a more serious course of the disease. They...

The Netherlands will aim to develop immunity to coronavirus among its population by allowing large numbers to contract the illness at a controlled pace, prime minister Mark Rutte announced in a national address on Monday. “The reality is that in the near future a large part of the Dutch population will be infected with the virus,” Mr Rutte said. “We can slow down the spread of the virus while building controlled group immunity.” “It can take months or even longer to build group immunity, and during that time we need to shield people at greater risk as much as possible.”...

Though Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx won Tuesday’s four-way primary in her bid for reelection, her comparatively weak performance compared to 2016 suggests she won’t necessarily cruise to victory in November. Foxx had won 48% of the Democratic vote and was leading her nearest opponent, Bill Conway, by about 15 percentage points. With 95% of suburban precincts reporting, Foxx had won just 43% of the Democratic vote, seven points ahead of Conway, who conceded to Foxx Tuesday night. I see more than a hint of political vulnerability in these results. Though Foxx has dismissed the controversy over her handling...

The World Health Organization recommended Tuesday that people suffering COVID-19 symptoms avoid taking ibuprofen, after French officials warned that anti-inflammatory drugs could worsen effects of the virus. The warning by French Health Minister Veran followed a recent study in The Lancet medical journal that hypothesised that an enzyme boosted by anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen could facilitate and worsen COVID-19 infections. Asked about the study, WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told reporters in Geneva the UN health agency's experts were "looking into this to give further guidance." "In the meantime, we recommend using rather paracetamol, and do not use ibuprofen as...

Fujifilm shares leap on treatment hope This is Martin Farrer taking over the blog for a short time while Helen has a much-deserved break. We’re keen to inject a bit of optimism into the blog when possible and there is some in a Reuters story about how shares in Fujifilm have jumpped 15% after a Chinese official said the Japanese company’s Avigan anti-flu drug appeared to help coronavirus patients recover.

A new Harvard analysis shows that many parts of the United States will have far too few hospital beds if the new coronavirus continues to spread widely and if nothing is done to expand capacity. In 40 percent of markets around the country, hospitals would not be able to make enough room for all the patients who became ill with Covid-19, even if they could empty their beds of other patients. That statistic assumes that 40 percent of adults become infected with the virus over 12 months, a scenario described as “moderate” by the team behind the calculations. Yet the...

Bigger than the $700 billion 2008 bank bailout or the nearly $800 billion 2009 recovery act, the White House proposal aims to provide a massive tax cut for wage-earners, $50 billion for the airline industry and $250 billion for small businesses. Two people familiar with he package described it to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. The amount that would be sent out in checks Americans is not yet disclosed. The White House said it liked GOP Sen. Mitt Romney’s idea for $1,000 checks, though not necessarily at that sum and...

CNN senior political commentator and former Obama adviser David Axelrod took time out of their Democratic primary night coverage to warn his colleagues not sleep on how the President was handling the situation, because he could ride it to victory in November. Despite his big Super Tuesday wins that evening, Axelrod seemed concerned for former Vice President Joe Biden’s chances against a President constantly on TV, leading the nation through the storm.

Joe Biden will win the Arizona Democratic primary, NBC News projected Tuesday, marking another win for the former vice president. Biden was widely anticipated to walk away from the primary with the bulk of Arizona’s 67 pledged delegates. His blowout performance on Super Tuesday earlier this month quashed Sanders’ momentum and gave Biden a lead that pollsters increasingly consider to be insurmountable. With a more than half of the votes counted, Biden led Sanders by about a 44% to 31% margin. While Sanders has polled well with Hispanic voters – an advantage in Arizona – the state’s larger proportion of...