Lifeboat Foundation

Rhode Island resident and professional diver Michael Lombardi said the rebreather technology he uses for deepwater dives could be used by health-care professionals battling the coronavirus.

The 15-year-old boy, a Yanomami from the village of Rehebe on the Uraricoera River, died Thursday, according to Brazil’s Ministry of Health.

He had been in the intensive care unit in Roraima General Hospital in Boa Vista, the capital of Roraima state, since April 3. The hospital has not revealed his cause of death, the Ministry of Health said.

Working around the clock for two weeks, a large team of Stanford Medicine scientists has developed a test to detect antibodies against the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, in blood samples.

In contrast to current diagnostic tests for COVID-19, which detect genetic material from the virus in respiratory secretions, this test looks for antibodies to the virus in plasma, the liquid in blood, to provide information about a person’s immune response to an infection.

The test was launched April 6 at Stanford Health Care. It differs from an externally developed test that Stanford researchers used for a prevalence study during recent community screening events.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes the infectious disease COVID-19, which was first reported in Wuhan, China in December, 2019. Despite the tremendous efforts to control the disease, COVID-19 has now spread to over 100 countries and caused a global pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 is thought to have originated in bats; however, the intermediate animal sources of the virus are completely unknown. Here, we investigated the susceptibility of ferrets and animals in close contact with humans to SARS-CoV-2. We found that SARS-CoV-2 replicates poorly in dogs, pigs, chickens, and ducks, but ferrets and cats are permissive to infection. We found experimentally that cats are susceptible to airborne infection. Our study provides important insights into the animal models for SARS-CoV-2 and animal management for COVID-19 control.

In late December 2019, an unusual pneumonia emerged in humans in Wuhan, China, and rapidly spread internationally, raising global public health concerns. The causative pathogen was identified as a novel coronavirus (1–16) that was named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on the basis of a phylogenetic analysis of related coronaviruses by the Coronavirus Study Group of the International Committee on Virus Taxonomy (17); the disease it causes was subsequently designated COVID-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO). Despite tremendous efforts to control the COVID-19 outbreak, the disease is still spreading. As of March 11, 2020, SARS-CoV-2 infections have been reported in more than 100 countries, and 118,326 human cases have been confirmed, with 4,292 fatalities (18). COVID-19 has now been announced as a pandemic by WHO.

Although SARS-CoV-96.2% identity at the nucleotide level with the coronavirus RaTG13, which was detected in horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus spp) in Yunnan province in 2013 (3), it has not previously been detected in humans or other animals. The emerging situation raises many urgent questions. Could the widely disseminated viruses transmit to other animal species, which then become reservoirs of infection? The SARS-CoV-2 infection has a wide clinical spectrum in humans, from mild infection to death, but how does the virus behave in other animals? As efforts are made for vaccine and antiviral drug development, which animal(s) can be used most precisely to model the efficacy of such control measures in humans? To address these questions, we evaluated the susceptibility of different model laboratory animals, as well as companion and domestic animals to SARS-CoV-2.

Fresh air, sunlight and improvised face masks seemed to work a century ago; and they might help us now.

By Richard Hobday

When new, virulent diseases emerge, such SARS and Covid-19, the race begins to find new vaccines and treatments for those affected. As the current crisis unfolds, governments are enforcing quarantine and isolation, and public gatherings are being discouraged. Health officials took the same approach 100 years ago, when influenza was spreading around the world. The results were mixed. But records from the 1918 pandemic suggest one technique for dealing with influenza — little-known today — was effective. Some hard-won experience from the greatest pandemic in recorded history could help us in the weeks and months ahead.

At Samsung, we have a long tradition of supporting the health and vitality of our communities. Our company and our employees have generously given to schools, charitable causes and local institutions to address hometown needs across the United States. Our philosophy is simple – our business and employees thrive when our partners and communities thrive.

With nearly 20,000 employees spread across the U.S., our top priority remains to keep them and their families healthy and safe during this unprecedented time. This extends to the communities in which they call home.

Since the onset of COVID-19, we have worked to supply Samsung products and technology to aid frontline healthcare workers in local hospitals across New York and New Jersey. To assist school systems with their transition to remote learning, we have built on the 10 years of our Solve for Tomorrow program by expediting the delivery of nearly $3 million in technology and supplies to local schools across the country. We continue to support consumers with round-the-clock care at Samsung.com and have extended our product warranties for those impacted by COVID-19.

Researchers at the University of Central Florida (UCF) are working to create a protective coating that would include a new nanomaterial to catch #COVID19 and kill it within seconds.

ORLANDO, Fla., April 10, 2020 — The masks that health care workers wear to protect them from the virus that causes COVID-19 block the virus before it reaches their faces, but do not destroy it. To further protect doctors, nurses, and others on the front lines of the pandemic, researchers at the University of Central Florida (UCF) are working to create a protective coating that would include a new nanomaterial to catch the virus and kill it within seconds.

In an effort to make highly sensitive sensors to measure sugar and other vital signs of human health, Iowa State University’s Sonal Padalkar figured out how to deposit nanomaterials on cloth and paper.

Feedback from a peer-reviewed paper published by ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering describing her new fabrication technology mentioned the metal-oxide nanomaterials the assistant professor of mechanical engineering was working with—including zinc oxide, cerium oxide and copper oxide, all at scales down to billionths of a meter—also have antimicrobial properties.

“I might as well see if I can do something else with this technology,” Padalkar said. “And that’s how I started studying antimicrobial uses.”

The military branches are requiring troops to make their own cloth face masks after the Pentagon’s latest policy directed face coverings for all personnel during the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The Defense Department announced Sunday that troops, DoD civilian employees, contractors and family members are encouraged to make simple coverings out of clean T-shirts and other household materials. The do-it-yourself face coverings are mandatory whenever people cannot maintain six feet of social distance in public areas or places of work, according to the policy, signed by Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

The DIY masks will help preserve much-needed N95 and surgical masks for health care workers, the policy states.