As everyone around the world tries to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers are struggling to keep themselves healthy and the rest of us (hopefully) continue to maintain our distance. It’s a good time to remember the three Ds of robotics—dirty, dull, and dangerous. Sales of medical robots had already increased by 50% in 2018, according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR). But the coronavirus outbreak highlights some key use cases for mobile robotics in particul...

AbstractIntense non-pharmaceutical interventions were put in place in China to stop transmission of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). As transmission intensifies in other countries, the interplay between age, contact patterns, social distancing, susceptibility to infection, and COVID-19 dynamics remains unclear. To answer these questions, we analyze contact surveys data for Wuhan and Shanghai before and during the outbreak and contact tracing information from Hunan Province. Daily con...

Abstract
As the UK shields ‘high risk’ patients and enforces social distancing measures, patients will be at risk of significantly reducing physical activity levels. We explore the evidence base for COVID-19-specific recommendations and exercise interventions to ‘precondition’ patients prior to infection and appraise the role of maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max) as a risk-stratifying triage tool. We conclude that structured exercise programmes can be used to maintain physical activity levels...

No specific antiviral drug has been proven effective for treatment of patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Remdesivir (GS-5734), a nucleoside analogue prodrug, has inhibitory effects on pathogenic animal and human coronaviruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in vitro, and inhibits Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, SARS-CoV-1, and SARS-CoV-2 replication in animal models.

A group of Chinese experts, funded by Chine...

Despite conflicting data, results from largest trial that show the antiviral speeds up recovery will make the treatment a standard of care in the United States.An experimental drug — and one of the world’s best hopes against COVID-19 — could shorten the time to recovery from coronavirus infection, according to the largest and most rigorous clinical trial of the compound.






The experimental drug, called remdesivir, interferes with replication of some viruses, including...

Governments worldwide are currently deliberating the feasibility of a national shutdown strategy to contain and mitigate the effect of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on their country's population. Testing for COVID-19 is mainly being done among at-risk individuals (eg, those with influenza-like symptoms, people who have had contact with an individual testing positive for COVID-19, health-care professionals, or those with a travel history to an affected region), thus an accurate value for...

Governments see coronavirus apps as key to releasing lockdowns. In exchange for people’s health data, they must promise to work together to develop the highest standards of safety and efficacy.
Like any health-care intervention, coronavirus apps need to conform to the highest standards of safety and efficacy. And yet, despite the pandemic’s global nature, countries are developing apps independently, and there are no global standards — which is rightly raising concerns.

Some countrie...

"Unlike polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests—also referred to as molecular or nucleic acid–based tests—antibody tests aren’t intended to identify active SARS-CoV-2 infections. Instead of detecting viral genetic material in throat or nasal swabs, antibody tests reveal markers of immune response—the IgM and IgG antibodies that for most people show up in blood more than a week after they start to feel sick, when symptoms may already be waning.
Serologic antibody tests not only can confir...

With 120859 deaths in 2018, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in Spain (28.3%). Sex-disaggregated data for CVD in Spain show differences in mortality between men (46.3%) and women (53.7%). Surprisingly, although men (51%) and women (49%) are getting infected by COVID-19 at similar rates, men have been dying from COVID-19 at a significantly higher rate (4.4%) than women (2.5%), and the sex differences regarding vulnerability in those with COVID-19 and preexisting...

Delays in surgery will have real impacts on patient health outcomes, hospital finances and resources, as well as training and research programs. A thoughtful and concerted effort is necessary to mitigate these effects. The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic will leave a permanent mark on all aspects of society, including politics, culture, economics, health policy, and medicine. Hospitals are at the frontline of this crisis and have shifted their resources to handle the coronavirus pandemic o...

Experts predicted that the country could expect millions of coronavirus cases. Doctors warned that India needed to prepare for an onslaught of cases that could cripple the country's ill-equipped health system. Onlookers worried that the virus could spread like wildfire through India's slums, where residents live in cramped quarters and basic sanitation often isn't available.But so far, the world's second-most populous country appears to have avoided the worst.As of Tuesday, India had reported...

Uncontrolled inflammatory processes are at the root of numerous pathologies. Most recently, studies on confirmed COVID-19 cases have suggested that mortality might be due to virally induced hyperinflammation. Growing evidence has indicated that uncontrolled pro-inflammatory states are often driven by continuous positive feedback loops between pro-inflammatory signaling and oxidative stress. There are currently no effective ways to counter this crosstalk in a targeted manner. Here we repor...