Coronavirus Resource Center
Krzysztof Potempa
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Last updated: 1 September 2021
This review asks: Who broke the news about COVID-19? How is the coronavirus changing the world? How many people have died as a result of COVID-19 infection? COVID-19 Within a Timeline of Historical Pandemics. How infectious is COVID-19 compared to other superbug outbreaks? How is data science helping to prioritize treatments? How long does it take to develop a treatment and what are the cost involved? How long does it take to develop a vaccine? How do the different COVID-19 vaccines work? Funding, distribution and pricing of COVID-19 vaccines? How many COVID-19 vaccines has each country bought?
Graphical Abstract
Who broke the news about COVID-19?
Li Wenliang, is an ophthalmologist who worked in the Chinese city of Wuhan, and took to WeChat to warn fellow medics about several patients who had come down with a serious respiratory illness after visiting a local wet market. Resembling severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the viral zoonotic disease that claimed 774 lives in the early 2000s. the now known as Covid-19 was causing a fever, cough and shortness of breath, as well as a collective of secondary symptoms. Li proceeded to contract Covid-19 from a patient who saw him in relation to glaucoma, and died as a result of the disease on 7 February 2020. Posthumously exonerated, the Communist Party of China has now offered an apology to his family and revoked the accusations against him?(1). The suppression of Dr. Li Wenliang’s whistleblowing in relation to coronavirus will cost the global community an estimated $6 trillion for a 4% contraction to global output, according to Bloomberg Economics (2)
How is the coronavirus changing the world?
How many people have died as a result of COVID-19 infection?
As of 10 January 2021, there are nearly 2 million global deaths with the most deaths recorded in the United States (373,797), Brazil (202,631), India (150,999), Mexico (133,204), United Kingdom (81,567), Italy (78,755), France (67,885), Russia (60,983), Iran (56,171) and Spain (51,874) (3, 4)
COVID-19 Within a Timeline of Historical Pandemics
The visualization below outlines some of history’s most deadly pandemics, from the Antonine Plague in the 2nd century to the current COVID-19 event (5).
How infectious is COVID-19 compared to other superbug outbreaks?
Scientists use a basic measure to track the infectiousness of a disease called the reproduction number — also known as R0 or “R naught.” This number tells us how many susceptible people, on average, each sick person will in turn infect. Measles tops the list, being the most contagious with a R0 range of 12-18. This means a single person can infect, on average, 12 to 18 people in an unvaccinated population (5).
What are the current treatments?
Also see
Also see reference 17 for NY Times Coronavirus Treatment Tracker (above)
See reference 18 for full details on infographic above and below.
How is data science helping to prioritize treatments?
According to the Milken Institute think tank, there are now 319 treatments and 240 vaccines in development to treat the 90 million global people infected with the coronavirus in 191 countries (6). This creates a huge opportunity for data science approaches to nominate the drugs with the best potential to succeed. For example:
What are some of the mutations in SARS-Cov-2?
The emergence of a highly infectious strain of SARS-CoV-2 in the UK has signalled a new chapter in the struggle to control the virus. With this strain taking hold in the UK, and new variants posing a threat to the efficacy of vaccines.
See reference 15 for further detail. In this webinar, Professor Sharon Peacock, Executive Director and Chair of the COVID-19 Genomics UK consortium spoke with FT Global Education Editor Andrew Jack. Professor Peacock discussed how the virus has adapted, the concerns around problematic mutations, and how sequencing and surveillance can manage the threats they pose.
The RSM COVID-19 Series is for health professionals, by health professionals; a series of talks dedicated to give healthcare workers on the frontline, regular and easy-to-access updates from healthcare leaders on COVID-19. Learn more about all the webinars here: https://rsm.ac/2UDvcsg Join in the conversation online using #RSMLive
We're learning more about the 3 variants every day. Eric Topol has made a summary table and will revise/expand it as we go forward and with helpful inputs at https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1351950664394436610?s=20. 1 theme is there are no shortage of mutations cf wild-type (D614G); that means there are a huge number of potential gene-gene interactions.
See PANGO lineages (cov-lineages.org) for further information.
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How long does it take to develop a treatment and what are the cost involved?
It takes at least 9 years and $1 billion to develop a new treatment, as illustrated by this infographic from the Wellcome Trust. The post-approval phase lasting 3 years and costing 220 million is not shown.
How long does it take to develop a vaccine?
On average, it takes?10 years?to develop a vaccine through CDC's six stages involved in the process from start to finish. However, it took approximately 25 years to develop a vaccine for the Spanish Flu which killed between 40-50 million people. Similarly, it was only last year that the FDA approved the first Ebola vaccine—an effort that took 43 years since the discovery of the virus. Despite these lengthy timeframes, the COVID-19 vaccines and subsequent candidates have overturned the conventional process due to their unconventional technology.
How do the different COVID-19 vaccines work?
Funding, distribution and pricing of COVID-19 vaccines?
How many COVID-19 vaccines has each country bought?
It is important to note is that not all of the vaccine candidates that are being pre-sold will pass the testing stage.
The Oxford University vaccine is the most popular so far, with over?2.5 billion?doses sold. Novavax, the second highest seller of COVID-19 vaccines, has pre-sold?1.3 billion?doses.?As a percentage of total doses sold, high income countries have bought almost?54%, equating to 4 billion doses. Meanwhile, low and middle income countries have purchased just over?23%. Notably, Canada has reserved the highest number of doses per person compared to any other country, having ordered over?350 million?vaccinations for a population of just over 38 million people, equating to nine doses per person (11)
Looking beyond which countries receive the vaccines first, the World Health Organization has created a?road map?detailing which individuals should be prioritized, with a focus on frontline healthcare workers and the elderly.
What do you need to know about COVID-19 vaccines?
The side effects of vaccines - How high is the risk?
What are the consequences of COVID-19 six months after acute infection?
At 6 months after acute infection, COVID-19 survivors were mainly troubled with fatigue or muscle weakness, sleep difficulties, and anxiety or depression. Patients who were more severely ill during their hospital stay had more severe impaired pulmonary diffusion capacities and abnormal chest imaging manifestations, and are the main target population for intervention of long-term recovery (12)
How has COVID-19 affected American Billionaires?
The Rich Got Richer During COVID-19. Here’s How American Billionaires Performed. Since the market bottom in March 2020, the billionaires on this list grew their wealth by?57%?on average. Elon Musk had the highest net worth increase at?$128.9 billion (13)
COVID-19 and remote working
Perhaps the most significant lasting change from the COVID-19 pandemic might be the adoption of flexible work, even by firms that resisted the trend in the past. Top benefits of remote working include working from any location and no commute. Top struggles of remote workers include unplugging after work, loneliness and collaborating (14)
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The Coronavirus Explained and What You Should Do?
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References
Resources
Further Resources and Frequently Asked Questions