What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 5 October

COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 5 October: Top stories: Record case rises in nine US states; WHO chief calls for solidarity; restrictions to be lifted in Auckland.

Trump’s drive outside hospital criticized

Trump’s drive outside Walter Reed hospital criticized by Secret Service members, doctors: Trump wore a mask as he waved from the back of his vehicle, after announcing he would “pay a little surprise to some of the great patriots that we have out on the street.” But the face covering was little comfort to doctors, who took to Twitter to criticize the trip as irresponsible. Masks “help, but they are not an impenetrable force field,” tweeted Saad B. Omer, director of the Yale Institute for Global Health.

Trump Didn't Disclose First Positive Covid-19 Test While Awaiting a Second Test on Thursday: President Trump didn’t disclose a positive result from a rapid test for Covid-19 on Thursday while awaiting the findings from a more thorough coronavirus screening, according to people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Trump received a positive result on Thursday evening before making an appearance on Fox News in which he didn’t reveal those results. Instead, he confirmed earlier reports that one of his top aides had tested positive for coronavirus and mentioned the second test he had taken that night for which he was awaiting results.

“I’ll get my test back either tonight or tomorrow morning,” Mr. Trump said during the interview. At 1 a.m. on Friday, the president tweeted that he indeed had tested positive.

Under White House protocols, the more reliable test that screens a specimen from deeper in the nasal passage is administered only after a rapid test shows a positive reading. Based on people familiar with the matter, the president’s tests followed that protocol.

 

K: The Overlooked Variable That's Driving the Pandemic

The Overlooked Variable That's Driving the Pandemic: To fight a super-spreading disease effectively, policy makers need to figure out why super-spreading happens, and they need to understand how it affects everything, including our contact-tracing methods and our testing regimes.

What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 2 October

COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 2 October: Top stories: President Trump tests positive; Madrid heading back to lockdown; global network of labs set up.

A million deaths from coronavirus: seven experts consider key questions

A million deaths from coronavirus: seven experts consider key questions: Despite this huge output from the world’s leading experts, we have merely skimmed the surface of all there is to know about this perplexing pathogen. So much remains a mystery.

At this important juncture, we asked several experts from different fields what their burning question about the coronavirus is. Here is what they said:

Trump's COVID Infection Puts Him in Multiple High-Risk Categories

Trump's COVID Infection Puts Him in Multiple High-Risk Categories: “I think, unfortunately, the president would certainly be at higher risk for developing more serious symptoms and will need to be observed closely,” says Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and an expert on pandemic preparedness. “We know this disease affects people in his age group much more seriously than younger adults. People who have underlying conditions like being overweight or having chronic artery disease need to be watched carefully.”

Covid: The Big Picture in 7 Charts

Covid: The Big Picture in 7 Charts – Swiss Policy Research: Covid is a very serious public health issue, but:

Talking about “cases” as if these were sick people is misguided.

Talking about IFRs (lethality) without distinguishing between the general population and nursing homes, as well as early and late pandemic phase, is misguided.

Saying covid is “worse than the flu”, without saying for whom, is misguided.

Saying the recession is “due to covid”, not the political reaction, is misguided.

Saying epidemiological models have been accurate and helpful, is also misguided.