Abstract
To determine distribution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in hospital wards in Wuhan, China, we tested air and surface samples. Contamination was greater in intensive care units than general wards. Virus was widely distributed on floors, computer mice, trash cans, and sickbed handrails and was detected in air ≈4 m from patients.






As of March 30, 2020, approximately 750,000 cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) had been reported g...

A new coronavirus (CoV) identified as COVID-19 virus is the etiological agent responsible for the 2019-2020 viral pneumonia outbreak that commenced in Wuhan1–4. Currently there are no targeted therapeutics and effective treatment options remain very limited. In order to rapidly discover lead compounds for clinical use, we initiated a program of combined structure-assisted drug design, virtual drug screening and high-throughput screening to identify new drug leads that target the COVID-19 viru...

Michael J. Loeffelholza and Yi-Wei Tangb published in Emerging Microbes & Infections a state of the art of the current laboratory methods available for testing coronaviruses. For the study, the authors focused on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak going on in Wuhan. 
Viral pneumonias typically do not result in the production of purulent sputum. Thus, a nasopharyngeal swab is usually the collection method used to obtain a specimen for testing. N...

AbstractAs the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreads, new data emerge and understanding of the disease improves. Reports associated with children are growing but still scarce. The epicenter of the epidemic has displaced to Europe. The first case in Spain was declared on January 31, 2020, and the first case in the Madrid region was declared on February 27, 2020.
MethodsWith the aim of obtaining an overview of the proportion of confirmed cases among those tested and the sev...

The Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases  and the Department of Epidemiology of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health write this article projecting the transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 through the post-pandemic period.
Abstract

There is an urgent need to project how transmission of the novel betacoronavirus SARS-CoV-2 will unfold in coming years. These dynamics will depend on seasonality, the duration of immunity, and the strength of cross-immunity to/fr...

AbstractA novel coronavirus (COVID-19 virus) outbreak has caused a global pandemic resulting in tens of thousands of infections and thousands of deaths worldwide. The RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp, also named nsp12) is the central component of coronaviral replication/transcription machinery and appears to be a primary target for the antiviral drug, remdesivir. We report the cryo-EM structure of COVID-19 virus full-length nsp12 in complex with cofactors nsp7 and nsp8 at 2.9-Å resolution. ...

Background

As of March 18, 2020, 13 415 confirmed cases and 120 deaths related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in mainland China, outside Hubei province—the epicentre of the outbreak—had been reported. Since late January, massive public health interventions have been implemented nationwide to contain the outbreak. We provide an impact assessment of the transmissibility and severity of COVID-19 during the first wave in mainland Chinese locations outside Hubei.

Methods<...

We report the observation that 14.5% of COVID-19 patients had positive RT-PCR testing again after discharge. We describe correlations between laboratory parameters and treatment duration (r= -0.637; p=0.002) and time to virus recrudescence (r= 0.52; p=0.008) respectively, suggesting the need for additional measures to confirm illness resolution in COVID-19 patients.

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AbstractImportance: A strategy for preventing further spread of the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic is to detect infections and isolate infected individuals without the need of extensive bio-specimen testing. Objectives: Here we investigate the prevalence of loss of smell and taste among COVID-19 diagnosed individuals and we identify the combination of symptoms, besides loss of smell and taste, most likely to correspond to a positive COVID-19 diagnosis in non-severe cases. Design: Community survey....

AbstractThe recent outbreak of COVID-19 in Mainland China was characterized by a distinctive subexponential increase of confirmed cases during the early phase of the epidemic, contrasting an initial exponential growth expected for an unconstrained outbreak. We show that this effect can be explained as a direct consequence of containment policies that effectively deplete the susceptible population. To this end, we introduce a parsimonious model that captures both, quarantine of symptomatic inf...

AbstractWe identified seasonal human coronaviruses, influenza viruses and rhinoviruses in exhaled breath and coughs of children and adults with acute respiratory illness. Surgical face masks significantly reduced detection of influenza virus RNA in respiratory droplets and coronavirus RNA in aerosols, with a trend toward reduced detection of coronavirus RNA in respiratory droplets. Our results indicate that surgical face masks could prevent transmission of human coronaviruses and influenza vi...

As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreads across the world, the intensive care unit (ICU) community must prepare for the challenges associated with this pandemic. Streamlining of workflows for rapid diagnosis and isolation, clinical management, and infection prevention will matter not only to patients with COVID-19, but also to health-care workers and other patients who are at risk from nosocomial transmission. Management of acute respiratory failure and haemodynamics is key....