Via Science, Martin Enserink and Kai Kupferschmidt write: With COVID-19, modeling takes on life and death importance
Jacco Wallinga's computer simulations are about to face a high-stakes reality check. Wallinga is a mathematician and the chief epidemic modeler at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), which is advising the Dutch government on what actions, such as closing schools and businesses, will help control the spread of the novel coronavirus in the coun...

Federal health officials on Friday 27th March approved a coronavirus test that can provide results in less than 15 minutes, using the same technology that powers some rapid flu tests.

Teased by Vice President Mike Pence in a Thursday press briefing, the new diagnostic test could accelerate testing in the United States, allowing for rapid results in doctors' offices. But shortages of critical equipment used to collect patient specimens, like masks and swabs, could blunt its impact.<...

The European Commission launches an initiative to collect ideas about deployable Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics solutions as well as information on other initiatives that could help face the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.The initiative aims to create a unique repository that is easily accessible to all citizens, stakeholders and policymakers and become part of the common European response to the outbreak of COVID-19.How to contribute?
You have developed an AI system or built a robotic...

Tools Offer Up-to-Date Guidance and Information for People Across the US.

Apple today released a new screening tool and set of resources to help people stay informed and take the proper steps to protect their health during the spread of COVID-19, based on the latest CDC guidance. The new COVID-19 website, and COVID-19 app available on the App Store, were created in partnership with the CDC,1 the White House Coronavirus Task Force and FEMA to make it easy for people across the count...

New modelling research, published in The Lancet Public Health journal, suggests that school and workplace closures in Wuhan, China have reduced the number of COVID-19 cases and substantially delayed the epidemic peak - giving the health system the time and opportunity to expand and respond.

Using mathematical modelling to simulate the impact of either extending or relaxing current school and workplace closures, researchers estimate that by lifting these control measures in March, a...

The idea of humanoid robots taking jobs previously done by humans may feel dystopian, but in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, robots can free up human hospital medical staff and limit the possibility virus spread.

That’s precisely why Beijing-based robotics company CloudMinds sent 14 robots to Wuhan, China to help with patient care amid the coronavirus pandemic. 
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One of us (Julie) is an AI researcher and a roboticist at MIT. The other (Neel) is a physician at a major hospital and a public health researcher at Harvard. Our dinnertime conversations tend to focus on the future. Lately, unsurprisingly, they’ve become hushed and grim.

Amid the daily news churn, policy makers seem to be facing an impossible choice between saving lives and saving livelihoods. A close study of cautionary tales and hopeful examples from across the globe makes clear ...

Feline transmission to humans not shown but infected pet owners warned to be careful.


Cat owners may wish to be more cautious about contact with their pets, as a study from China has revealed Covid-19 can be transmitted between cats.



The team, at Harbin Veterinary Research Institute in China, found that cats are highly susceptible to Covid-19 and appear to be able to transmit the virus through respiratory droplets to other cats. Dogs, chickens, pigs and ducks were fo...

Siemens Healthineers announced on Apr 02, 2020 the availability of its molecular Fast Track Diagnostics (FTD) SARS-CoV-2 Assay test kit used to aid in the diagnosis of infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the COVID-19 disease. Test kits are already being shipped within the European Union for research use only (RUO) to expedite availability while the company continues to pursue Emergency Use Assessment and Listing (EUAL) from the World Health Organization (WHO) for cli...

As of April 1, 2020, more than 800 000 cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) had been confirmed worldwide. The death toll in Italy is approaching 12 000 people, with Spain not far behind. The USA has reported more than 164 000 cases of the disease, including more than 38 000 cases in New York City alone. There are concerns that the COVID-19 could overwhelm health-care systems worldwide. Many nations have reported a shortage of ventilators.The UK is one of several countries to have susp...

A new COVID-19 vaccine candidate is entering Phase 1 clinical human testing today, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted an application from Inovio Pharmaceuticals under the regulator’s Investigational New Drug program. Inovio plans to inject its first volunteer test subject with the INO-4800 DNA vaccine candidate it has developed, following promising results from preclinical studies performed on animals that did indicate increased immune response.




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ABSTRACT
Background: The outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Wuhan, China, has spread rapidly worldwide. In the early stage, we encountered a small but meaningful number of patients who were unintentionally scheduled for elective surgeries during the incubation period of COVID-19. We intended to describe their clinical characteristics and outcomes. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 34 patients underwent elective surgeries during the incubatio...