View this email in your browser ([link removed])
AVAC's weekly COVID News Brief provides a curated perspective on what COVID news is worth your time.
"Now more than ever, the world needs the movement of people living with HIV and the creativity, expertise and passion that it brings. We call on governments, donors and UN agencies to give their political and financial support to networks and communities of people living with HIV to ensure the health and well-being of all people living with HIV in the time of COVID-19 and beyond.”
- GNP+ ([link removed]) , ICW, Y+ Global
Living with HIV in the Time of COVID-19 ([link removed])


** Latest Global Stats
------------------------------------------------------------
July 17, 2020
Confirmed Cases
13,832,242 Recovered
7,738,819 Deaths
590,608
Source: Center for Systems Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University ([link removed])


** Table of Contents
------------------------------------------------------------
* If You're in a Hurry… (#hurry)
* An Anti-science Campaign (#anti)
* More Calls for – and Debate About – Masks (#calls)
* Lived Experience (#lived)
* Air Pollution Increases Risk (#pollution)
* More Than a Respiratory Virus (#more)
* Africa-directed COVID Research (#africa)
* Pregnancy and COVID (#pregnancy)
* The Impact on HIV, TB, Malaria, STIs (#impact)


* Vaccine News (#vaxnews)
* Vaccine Access (#access)
* Conspiracy Theories March On (#conspiracy)
* How Can Safe Sex Strategies Help With COVID? (#sex)
* What We Know About Immunity This Week (#immunity)
* Hug a Tree (#hug)
* "Scream Inside Your Heart" (#scream)
* And Finally, Reasons for Optimism (#finally)

Reuters ([link removed]) reports “the number of coronavirus infections around the world hit 13 million on Monday, according to a Reuters tally, climbing by a million in just five days.” WHO’s Tedros, “said there would be no return to the ‘old normal’ for the foreseeable future, especially if preventive measures were neglected….’ Let me be blunt, too many countries are headed in the wrong direction, the virus remains public enemy number one,’ he told a virtual briefing….’ If basics are not followed, the only way this pandemic is going to go, it is going to get worse and worse and worse. But it does not have to be this way.’” Reuters further notes, “Coronavirus infections are rising in about 40 US states, according to a Reuters comparison of the past two weeks and the prior two weeks. Yet US President Donald Trump and White House officials have repeated
ly said the disease is under control and that schools must reopen in the autumn.”

CIDRAP ([link removed]) reports Tedros said, “nearly 80 percent of the latest cases are from 10 countries, and that 2—the United States and Brazil—make up 50 percent of the cases. He said half of the global total is from countries in the Americas region…. Tedros said four situations are playing out across the world: countries that responded rapidly and avoided large outbreaks, those that brought large outbreaks under control, those that overcame their first peak and are struggling with new peaks, and those that are in the intense transmission phase.”

With total reported cases over 500,000, BBC ([link removed]) reports “In terms of overall numbers, Africa currently accounts for only a small proportion of total global cases, but the acceleration in rates of infection in some countries is of increasing concern to health authorities in the region. ([link removed]) A WHO official says, "With more than a third of countries in Africa doubling their cases over the past month, the threat of COVID-19 overwhelming fragile health systems is escalating.”


** If You’re in a Hurry…

------------------------------------------------------------
* Listen to COVID survivors on Our Lived Experiences ([link removed]) Facebook page.
* Listen to an NPR ([link removed]) story about using safe sex strategies for negotiating COVID-19 socializing.
* Read the short, but important statement ([link removed]) from The Infectious Disease Society of America in support of NIAID’s Fauci and science.
* Read what Fauci and other experts say the US needs to do to bring the virus under control in STAT ([link removed]) .
* Watch the COVID-19 Conference, Special Session ([link removed]) : Making sense of the science with Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Deborah Birx and Dr. Salim Abdool Karim.
* Read about 6 reasons for optimism in Washington Post ([link removed]) .
* Read a New York Times ([link removed]) story that outlines concerns about a move to bypass CDC and send COVID-19 data to an HHS database.



** An Anti-science Campaign
------------------------------------------------------------
The politization of the pandemic in the US (and a few other countries) continues unabated even as cases spiral ever upwards. NIAID’s Fauci came under attack from the White House and some republican politicians and operatives who continue to ignore the evidence-based advice of Fauci and other public health leaders.

The Washington Post ([link removed]) reported over the weekend, “The knives are out for Anthony S. Fauci inside the White House. Not only has Fauci found himself frozen out by President Trump in recent weeks… but aides are circulating talking points attacking his past statements about the coronavirus pandemic.” The article provides an analysis and fact check of quotes from Fauci highlighted by the White House as incorrect. Spoiler: most of the quotes are truncated are taken out of context. In a separate Washington Post ([link removed]) article Philip Bump writes, “What’s unusual about the White House’s efforts to undermine [Fauci] is that the only way in which Fauci has undercut the president is by being honest about the moment…. White House officials now want to rein in
Fauci by cherry-picking instances in which they can take Fauci out of context to use the uncertainties of the pandemic against him…. Why? Again, because Fauci is saying that things are not going well. This is obvious to anyone able to look at a graph or, more unluckily, living in one of the numerous places in the country where the virus poses a larger and larger risk. But Trump is so focused on moving past this, sweeping it aside as a sort of political rainy day that will resolve before November, that even an admission that we're facing a monsoon is seen as an act of betrayal.”

Twitter lit up with condemnation of a USA Today op-ed by White House trade adviser Peter Navarro who claimed Fauci has been “wrong about everything.” Vaccine scientist Peter Hotez tweeted ([link removed]) a link to the op-ed and called it “an outright and full blown Antiscience disinformation campaign coming out of the White House.”

Using #standwithFauci and #standwithscience ([link removed]) the public health twitterverse overwhelming came out in opposition to the White House attacks on Fauci and other public health experts.

The Infectious Disease Society of America released a statement: ([link removed]) “As 12,000 medical doctors, research scientists and public health experts on the front lines of COVID-19, the infectious diseases community will not be silenced nor sidelined amidst a global pandemic. Reports of a campaign to discredit and diminish the role of Dr. Fauci at this perilous moment are disturbing…The only way out of this pandemic is by following the science, and developing evidence-based prevention practices and treatment protocols as new scientifically rigorous data become available. Knowledge changes over time. That is to be expected. If we have any hope of ending this crisis, all of America must support public health experts, including Dr. Fauci, and stand with science.”

JAMA’s ([link removed]) editor released an open letter, saying, “The whisperings, innuendos, and attacks from the White House and others about Tony – on and off the record – are not only unseemly and unfair, but reveal a lack of commitment to the health and well-being of all Americans, and ultimately will be counterproductive and potentially destructive…. So to all who are reading this—wherever you live and whatever your political affiliation—please wash your hands, keep your distance from others when appropriate, wear your masks, and please join me in showing respect for Dr. Anthony Fauci and his many colleagues at the NIH, CDC, and throughout the country who are our best hope in these challenging times.”

The New York Times ([link removed]) reports “The Trump administration has ordered hospitals to bypass the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and send all COVID-19 patient information to a central database in Washington beginning on Wednesday. The move has alarmed health experts who fear the data will be politicized or withheld from the public.” The move was immediately condemned by many public health experts, in part because, “the database that will receive new information is not open to the public, which could affect the work of scores of researchers, modelers and health officials who rely on CDC data ([link removed]) to make projections and crucial decisions.”

A statement from IDSA ([link removed]) says, “Reports that the administration has established a procedure that would remove the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a recipient of data on patients hospitalized with COVID-19 are troubling and, if implemented, will undermine our nation’s public health experts…. Collecting and reporting public health data is a core function of the CDC, for which the agency has the necessary trained experts and infrastructure. Placing medical data collection outside of the leadership of public health experts could severely weaken the quality and availability of data, add an additional burden to already overwhelmed hospitals and add a new challenge to the US pandemic response.”

An op-ed in Washington Post ([link removed]) by 4 former CDC leaders argues, “Trying to fight this pandemic while subverting scientific expertise is like fighting blindfolded. How well and how quickly we adhere to the advice of public health experts at the CDC will determine whether, how soon and how safely our schools can reopen. It is not too late to give the CDC its proper role in guiding this response. But the clock is ticking.”

Veteran health reporter Helen Branswell writes inSTAT ([link removed]) that “the US response to the COVID-19 pandemic is a raging dumpster fire…. The virus suppression gains earned through the painful societal shutdowns of March, April, and May—the flattened epidemiological curves—have been squandered in many parts of the country, dejected public health experts agree. A vaccine for the masses is still months away. What can be done?” She quotes Fauci: “If we do that, particularly closing the bars, avoiding anything that has a congregation of a large number of people, wearing masks outside essentially all the time, keep distancing … I would almost guarantee that we would see a turnaround of the resurgence that we’re seeing now.”


** More Calls for – and Debate About – Masks
------------------------------------------------------------
reports “Whether to make masks mandatory isn’t just a matter of debate in the United States, where infection rates are still climbing fast.… British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government said Monday that masks will be required in stores starting July 24…. Meanwhile, France’s government said Monday it’s considering requiring masks in all indoor public places amid signs of a small rise in confirmed virus cases – and a big drop in public vigilance. French scientists have pushed for such a requirement in recent days as families crisscross the country for summer vacations, but the government has remained cautious.” AP also notes, “While scientists were divided on mask use early in the pandemic, new knowledge about the virus has changed that. ‘A number of new studies and systematic reviews have persuaded most researchers and public health officials that they should be worn, including those who were skeptical a few months ago. Growing evidence on potential airborne transmission of the viru
s adds to the case for face coverings.’ University of Edinburgh public health professor Linda Bauld said. ‘Suggesting it is ‘good manners’ to wear one is insufficient.’”

Axios ([link removed]) reports that in the US, “Nearly two-thirds of Americans — and a noticeably increasing number of Republicans—say they’re wearing a face mask whenever they leave the house,” according to a new poll…. Even though it’s narrowing, there’s still a big partisan divide: 95 percent of Democrats say they wear a mask some or all of the time outside the house, compared with 74 percent of Republicans.”

Perhaps related, AP ([link removed]) reports that, “President Donald Trump wore a mask during a visit to a military hospital on Saturday, the first time the president has been seen in public with the type of facial covering recommended by health officials…”

The Hill ([link removed]) reports CDC’s Redfield says “the outbreak could be controlled in four to eight weeks if ‘we could get everybody to wear a mask right now….’ The CDC Tuesday released a new study ([link removed]) that said state leaders should consider requiring face coverings to curb the transmission of the virus. The study looked at two Missouri hair stylists who were COVID-19 positive and wore masks but did not pass it on to their clients, who also wore face coverings.”

In a JAMA ([link removed]) editorial CDC officials argue that “the public needs consistent, clear, and appealing messaging that normalizes community masking. At this critical juncture when COVID-19 is resurging, broad adoption of cloth face coverings is a civic duty, a small sacrifice reliant on a highly effective low-tech solution that can help turn the tide favorably in national and global efforts against COVID-19.”


**
Lived Experience
------------------------------------------------------------
The Facebook ([link removed]) Page ‘Our Lived Experiences’ shares the voices of advocates and others who are living with and surviving COVID-19. “We are locked down but still here. Our own voices and experiences who better to tell it than us. Africa is a continent not a country hear and learn from activists in Africa. Unedited, unpoliced just us talking about how we feel and survive.”



** Air Pollution Increases Risk
------------------------------------------------------------
The Guardian ([link removed]) reports, “There is “compelling” evidence that air pollution significantly increases coronavirus infections, hospital admissions and deaths, according to the most detailed and comprehensive analysis to date. The research indicates that a small, single-unit increase in people’s long-term exposure to pollution particles raises infections and admissions by about 10 percent and deaths by 15 percent.”


**
More Than a Respiratory Virus
------------------------------------------------------------
Case reports and research studies are providing more and more information about how the virus affects much more than just the lungs.

ABC News ([link removed]) reports, “More than six months into the global pandemic, studies have shown that COVID-19 can not only exacerbate existing heart problems, but could also potentially cause new ones, causing experts to question whether the cardiac impacts of the virus may outlast the infection itself.”

USA Today ([link removed]) reports, “Congestion, runny nose, nausea and diarrhea are the four most recent COVID-19 symptoms that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added to its growing list ([link removed]) of potential signs of the novel coronavirus ([link removed]) ….The additions come as health experts continue to learn more about the disease, and care for very ill COVID-19 patients is improving ([link removed]) . Even so, the CDC states the current list doesn't include all possible symptoms for the virus.”

Vox ([link removed]) looks at long-term symptoms of COVID, quoting a doctor who himself has continued symptoms and says, “that even if the proportion of people who don’t eventually fully recover is small, there’s still a significant population who will need long-term care—and they’re having trouble getting it. ‘It’s a huge, unreported problem, and it’s crazy no one is shouting this from rooftops.’”


**
Africa-directed COVID Research
------------------------------------------------------------
Times Higher Education ([link removed]) argues “The coronavirus pandemic may hasten the end of “helicopter research” in which scientists from wealthier countries lead major projects but spend only a small amount of time in Africa, global health experts have argued, following the emergence of homegrown science leaders during the crisis….’This change has been happening over time, but COVID has unmasked all the good things that have been happening [in African science],’ said Professor Atun, who bemoaned the fact that ‘95 percent of research funding ends up in Western institutions and very little ends up in Africa’.”

The authors of a commentary in Lancet Global Health ([link removed](20)30318-1/fulltext) say, “We welcome the RECOVERY trial results and support the implementation of dexamethasone as standard of care in settings similar to the trial sites. However, there is a need for caution regarding the results of a single, albeit well designed, trial done in a high-income country to change guidelines elsewhere in the world where the population and the context of care might be vastly different… Dexamethasone has substantial potential to prevent death as this treatment could be easily deployed in an African setting. Nevertheless, the medical and scientific community should be wary of assuming that evidence for steroids generated in Europe also applies to African populations and robust African data are urgently needed.”


**
Pregnancy and COVID
------------------------------------------------------------
The Guardian ([link removed]) reports, “Doctors in France ([link removed]) have reported what they believe to be the first proven case of COVID-19 being passed on from a pregnant woman to her baby in the womb. The newborn boy developed inflammation in the brain within days of being born, a condition brought on after the virus crossed the placenta and established an infection prior to birth. He has since made a good recovery.” The story also quotes a British researcher who “said it was rare for mothers to pass COVID-19 on to their babies. ‘In 244 live born babies of infected mothers in the UK, 95 percent had no sign of the virus, and outcomes are similar to non-infected babies. Women can remain reassured that pregnancy is not a significant risk factor for them or their babies with COVID-19.’”

This report follows data presented last week at the COVID conference which showed that among “31 women with COVID-19 who delivered babies in March and April. They found signs of the virus in several samples of umbilical cord blood, the placenta and, in one case, breast milk,” according to reports from AP ([link removed]) and other outlets.

The Lancet Global Health ([link removed](20)30319-3/fulltext?) reports on an Indian study that found “substantially reduced numbers of pregnant women hospitalised for labour management at tertiary care centres suggest that the number of unattended deliveries and those at lower-level facilities has increased.”


**
The Impact on HIV, TB, Malaria, STIs
------------------------------------------------------------
A Lancet ([link removed](20)30288-6/fulltext) study suggests “In high-burden settings, deaths due to HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria over 5 years could increase by up to 10 percent, 20 percent, and 36 percent, respectively, compared with if there was no COVID-19 pandemic. The greatest impact on HIV was estimated to be from interruption to antiretroviral therapy, which could occur during a period of high health system demand. For tuberculosis, the greatest impact would be from reductions in timely diagnosis and treatment of new cases, which could result from any prolonged period of COVID-19 suppression interventions. The greatest impact on malaria burden could be as a result of interruption of planned net campaigns. These disruptions could lead to a loss of life-years over 5 years that is of the same order of magnitude as the direct impact from COVID-19 in places with a high burden of malaria and large HIV and tuberculosis epidemics.”

One solution to potential HIV drug shortages is providing 3- and 6-month drug refills. aidsmap ([link removed]) reports on data presented at AIDS2020 which “demonstrated that outcomes for people getting six-monthly visits to an adherence club were as good as those with more frequent visits.”

In a keynote speech ([link removed]) at AIDS2020 looking at the HIV response in the context of COVID-19 Peter Piot warned, “The AIDS response is at a crossroads, and with it the lives of millions of people are hanging in the balance.” Piot ([link removed]) “emphasised the need for action in a number of areas, including a renewed narrative, leadership and funding, broad coalitions and activism, together with science and innovation. This ‘will define whether the next decade will be one of even greater progress or whether there will be a decline in the response to AIDS.’”

A new report ([link removed]) , Living with HIV in the time of COVID-19: Report from a survey of networks of people living with HIV, from GNP+, ICW and Y+ Global “has found that networks of people living with HIV are using innovative ways to ensure their peers and their communities continue to have access to the critical services that they need,” according to a press release ([link removed]) .

Health Affairs ([link removed]) reports that in the US, “STIs—such as gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis—are at a record high ([link removed]) in the United States. The most unexpected outcome is the alarming rise in newborn syphilis, or congenital syphilis, that occurs when the infection is passed from mother to baby during pregnancy. With public health and healthcare resources directed toward the COVID-19 response, it’s critical that we not turn our backs on the devastating consequences congenital syphilis can have on both mothers and babies.”

Daily Maverick ([link removed]) reports on a webinar connected with AIDS2020 and focusing on South African civil society’s response to COVID-19. Kerry Cullinan is quoted: “We have been held hostage in the past by HIV. We need to look at the lessons that we learnt from the HIV era, which is not over, and see whether we can apply them to the COVID-19 era, particularly looking through the lens of communities, activism and human rights and trying to see what we can bring to address the current virus, which is talking to people who survived HIV. Some of the activists who [challenged] Mbeki and broke the HIV stigma have died from COVID-19. Nomandla Yako, along with Zackie Achmat, brought antiretrovirals (ARVs) illegally into South Africa from Brazil, risking imprisonment to help those who were desperate for treatment. Yako died on 28 June 2020 of renal failure
related to COVID-19. She was 41 years old. She survived HIV, but she did not survive this [COVID-19].”


**
Vaccine News
------------------------------------------------------------
Moderna published peer reviewed data from its Phase 1 trial in NEJM ([link removed]) reporting that “the mRNA-1273 vaccine induced anti–SARS-CoV-2 immune responses in all participants, and no trial-limiting safety concerns were identified. These findings support further development of this vaccine.” CNN ([link removed]) says, “The vaccine is expected to begin later this month a large Phase 3 trial -- the final trial stage before regulators consider whether to make the vaccine available. Moderna noted in a press release on Tuesday that, if all goes well in future studies, "the Company remains on track to be able to deliver approximately 500 million doses per year, and possibly up to 1 billion doses per year, beginning in 2021." Wall Street Journal ([link removed]) reports “The new “Cove” study,
scheduled to start July 27, will aim to enroll about 30,000 adults at nearly 90 different US locations. Many of the study sites will be in states where the virus is surging, such as Texas, Florida, California and Arizona, according to information posted Tuesday on a federal database of medical studies ([link removed]) .

In an editorial in NEJM, ([link removed]) Penny Heaton of the Bill and Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute, argues “Accelerating the development of COVID-19 vaccine candidates beyond phase 1 depends on continued parallel tracking of activities and fulsome resources. The world has now witnessed the compression of 6 years of work into 6 months. Can the vaccine multiverse do it again, leading to a reality of a safe, efficacious COVID-19 vaccine for the most vulnerable in the next 6?”

The new COVID-19 Prevention Network ([link removed]) has launched awebsite ([link removed]) where people interested in volunteering for Phase 3 vaccine and monoclonal antibody efficacy studies can get more information and join a registry.

Washington Post ([link removed]) reports that 36 years after HHS secretary Margaret Heckler said an HIV vaccine would be ready for testing in 2 years, “there still is no HIV vaccine. ([link removed]) But instead of being a cautionary tale of scientific hubris, that unsuccessful effort is leading to even greater confidence in the search for a coronavirus ([link removed]) vaccine, from some of the same researchers who have spent their careers seeking a cure for AIDS.
([link removed]) Those decades of research on HIV have taught scientists an enormous amount about the immune system, honed vaccine technologies now being repurposed against the coronavirus and created a worldwide infrastructure of clinical trial networks that can be pivoted from HIV to the pathogen that causes the disease COVID-19.”

Reuters ([link removed]) reports Merck’s CEO said “COVID-19 vaccines under development are not guaranteed to work and people who say to expect a vaccine before year-end are doing a ‘grave disservice to the public…’” He expressed concerns that “vaccines may not have the qualities needed to be rapidly deployed in large numbers of people….’ If you’re going to use a vaccine on billions of people, you better know what that vaccine does.’”


**
Vaccine Access
------------------------------------------------------------
A Kaiser Health News ([link removed]) commentary looks at the potential cost of a vaccine, noting that “every other developed country has evolved schemes to set or negotiate prices, while balancing cost, efficacy and social good. The United States instead has let business calculations drive drug price tags, forcing us to accept and absorb ever higher costs. That feels particularly galling for treatments and vaccines against COVID-19, whose development and production is being subsidized and incentivized with billions in federal investment…. Drug companies deserve a reasonable profit for taking on this urgent task of creating a COVID-19 vaccine. But we deserve a return, too. So, before these invaluable vaccines hit the market, we should talk about an actual price. Otherwise, we will be stuck paying dearly for shots that the rest of the world will get for much less.”

In Fortune ([link removed]) Seth Berkley writes, “We desperately need COVID-19 vaccines to end this crisis, and with so many in development we can be optimistic about getting at least one. But if governments end up competing for them, backing individual vaccines in the hope that they have picked a winner, then one country’s gain will mean many more countries missing out. Moreover, regardless of which vaccines succeed, if we don’t also take a more global and multilateral approach, one involving unprecedented collaboration, where countries work together with global health agencies toward COVID-19 vaccines and where the rewards are shared, then ultimately, we all stand to lose. Because with infectious disease, no one is safe until everyone is safe.”

AP ([link removed]) reports, “Politicians and public health leaders have publicly committed to equitably sharing any coronavirus vaccine that works, but the top global initiative to make that happen may allow rich countries to reinforce their own stockpiles while making fewer doses available for poor ones. Activists warn that without stronger attempts to hold political, pharmaceutical and health leaders accountable, vaccines will be hoarded by rich countries in an unseemly race to inoculate their populations first. After the recent uproar over the United States purchasing a large amount of a new COVID-19 drug, some predict an even more disturbing scenario if a successful vaccine is developed.”

A PAHO press release ([link removed]) announces “the PAHO Revolving Fund for vaccines [that] can be used as a strategic asset to buy and distribute vaccines for COVID-19 when they become available.”

New York Times ([link removed]) reports on a US government plan that would offer a vaccine to “vital medical and national security officials first, and then to other essential workers and those considered at high risk — the elderly instead of children, people with underlying conditions instead of the relatively healthy. Agency officials and the advisers are also considering what has become a contentious option: putting Black and Latino people, who have disproportionately fallen victim to COVID-19 ([link removed]) , ahead of others in the population.”


**
Conspiracy Theories March On
------------------------------------------------------------
NPR ([link removed]) looks at the “anatomy of a COVID-19 conspiracy theory,” reporting that “One version of this theory goes something like this: The COVID-19 pandemic is part of a strategy conceived by global elites — such as Bill Gates—to roll out vaccinations with tracking chips that would later be activated by 5G, the technology used by cellular networks. The story lays out how such a theory comes to be and looks at potential responses.

A separate NPR ([link removed]) story looks at how contact tracing has “become mired in modern political polarization and conspiracy theories. Misinformation abounds, from tales that people who talk to contact tracers will be sent to nonexistent "FEMA camps"—a rumor so prevalent that health officials in Washington state had to put out a statement ([link removed]) in May debunking it—to elaborate theories that the efforts are somehow part of a plot by global elites ([link removed]) , such as the Clinton Foundation, Bill Gates or George Soros.” The story lays out how contact tracing actually works and notes the need for a centralized contact tracing effort.

Wellcome Collection ([link removed]) reports on “WhatsApp aunties” who spread disinformation in black communities. “WhatsApp is a natural breeding ground for hoax messages. The platform offers end-to-end encryption, so forwarded messages can’t be traced back to their source—this security is a reason why many people originally started using WhatsApp. Many of the people I interviewed also noted the connection WhatsApp provides, as the ‘main way to communicate with friends and family abroad in the diaspora.’” One expert “offers methods of effectively and gently pointing out disinformation, including the SIFT method (Stop. Investigate the source. Find better coverage. Trace claims, quotes and media to the original context), and three steps for talking to loved ones: 1) evaluating if it’s worth engaging, 2) not patronising; creating a dialogue rather than a lecture and 3) offering to trade information and sources.”

A Reuters ([link removed]) fact check tells us, “Social media users have been sharing a video in which a man claims that a metal strip in medical masks is a 5G antenna. This claim is untrue.”


**
How Can Safe Sex Strategies Help With COVID?
------------------------------------------------------------
NPR ([link removed]) reports, “Safe socializing during the pandemic may feel a little like negotiating safe sex. Participants must build trust, communicate values and needs and always seek consent. So [an NPR reporter] talked to experts in sex education and communication.” The story includes advice on using “a common tool from the BDSM world—a detailed list of every possible kinky activity, like blindfolds and leather restraints, to help decide if we're a yes, no or maybe. Queen says we need an equivalent coronavirus checklist. [She says,] “That helps people do that very first step of understanding what their own situation and needs and desires are.”



** What We Know About Immunity This Week
------------------------------------------------------------
Wired ([link removed]) looks at waning antibodies and the role of B cells and T cells in the immune response that may be needed for vaccine efficacy.

The Guardian ([link removed]) reports, “People who have recovered from COVID-19 may lose their immunity to the disease within months, according to research suggesting the virus could reinfect people year after year, like common colds.” Researchers “found levels of antibodies that can destroy the virus peaked about three weeks after the onset of symptoms then swiftly declined.” The study has not yet been peer reviewed.

A long piece in The Atlantic ([link removed]) posits that the threshold for “herd immunity” in a population can be changed based on policy and public health decisions. “Early failures to test and shut down in the US have been amplified through the butterfly effect. Current decisions will be as well.”


** Hug a Tree
------------------------------------------------------------
Reuters ([link removed]) reports on an initiative in Israel that recommends people hug a tree to help “people overcome the sense of detachment that coronavirus social-distancing rules can bring. ‘In this unpleasant corona period we recommend to people around the world to go out to nature, take a deep breath, hug a tree, express your love and get love,’” a park official said.



** “Scream Inside Your Heart”
------------------------------------------------------------
USA Today ([link removed]) and other outlets reported, “As theme parks reopen in Japan, one new rule has visitors thrown for a loop: No screaming on roller coasters.” The end of a 4-minute video of two officials silently riding a roller coaster advises the viewer, “please scream inside your heart.”



** And Finally, Reasons for Optimism
------------------------------------------------------------
Washington Post ([link removed]) gives us six reasons for optimism, including hopes that effective treatments will arrive before vaccines, a rapid saliva test on the horizon and “there is some science showing that past exposure to common-cold coronaviruses might be playing ([link removed]) a protective role for some people.”
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