Prognosis: Breakthrough

Losing the ability to smell is one of the strangest clues that someone may have COVID-19. Experts around the world are still trying to understand why this symptom pops up, and what it means for patients. Some are calling on people who have lost their sense of smell to get tested and isolate themselves, even if they have no other symptoms. Jason Gale reports that the symptom could be an early warning sign--and screening for it could help contain the virus.6

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Two of the worlds biggest companies, Apple and Amazon, rely on a supply chain that is spread all across the world, in many countries that have been hardest hit by the coronavirus. The tech giants employ hundreds of thousands of people so their fate, in many ways, is the fate of the global economy. Brad Stone, Bloomberg's head of global technology coverage, reports.

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Historically, the U.S. Centers for Disease control and Prevention has been the agency in charge of predicting, and containing outbreaks of disease. But as Covid 19 ravaged the country, the agency took a backseat to the White House. Michelle Fay Cortez and John Tozzi discuss how the agency has handled the pandemic response, its early missteps, and how its role is likely to change in the future.

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On a special episode of Prognosis Daily, we’re taking a close look at how the novel coronavirus lived before it entered humans and who it lived in. Bats. They’re almost certainly the source of this pandemic, but these flying mammals may also hold the clues to stopping the next one. Bloomberg senior editor Jason Gale explores how research into bats led to the discovery of what could be the precursor of the novel coronavirus. This vital research is also laying the groundwork for potential treatments.

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Scientists are desperate for a way to detect the novel coronavirus in communities as early as possible. So far, those efforts have focused on widespread testing of people. But a group of Dutch researchers may have discovered a way to tell where the virus is spreading, right beneath their feet. Jason Gale looks at the people hunting for early-warning signs in sewage.

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The effects of the outbreak are putting unprecedented stress on thousands of people. But the difficulty of obtaining mental health services while under lockdown threatens to break a treatment network that was already strained to the breaking point. Cynthia Koons explains how companies are trying to meet that demand and how the crisis may change the way we receive mental health care.

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently changed their guidelines on whether healthy people should wear masks, suggesting that people cover their faces to help slow transmission of the novel coronavirus.

The evolving view on face masks is just one more example of how quickly our understanding of the virus is changing. It also makes it hard for the public to know what information to take seriously. James Paton reports on what masks really do, why some still warn against their use, and how many people might be wearing them wrong.

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With Covid 19 crippling much of the world, there’s intense uncertainty about what’s next. In the United States, it’s hard to envision when the economy, and our lives, will get back to normal. But it turns out there is a plan to beat the virus, and to get the country back to work. The question is whether the government will follow it. Health reporter Anna Edney spoke to Scott Gottlieb, a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner and current informal adviser to the White House, about what happens in the coming months, and years.

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Italy has been among the hardest hit countries by coronavirus. An outbreak epicenter, Italy’s cases are at nearly 120,000 with over 14,000 deaths. It’s sobering evidence of how vicious the virus can be. And yet, just to the north, Germany seemed like it was escaping the worst of the outbreak by enacting widespread testing and taking the virus seriously earlier. With fewer cases and, until recently, a mortality rate that hovered under 1%, Germany appeared to be a model of how to successfully navigate the crisis. But now there’s some doubt about whether Germany is really a Covid-19 success story. Naomi Kresge reports.

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Under the $2 Trillion economic stimulus bill passed last week, the US government will make direct payments to Americans who are suffering because of the coronavirus pandemic. Giving everybody money, with no strings attached, has an obvious benefit in an economic emergency. But some economists have always advocated for handing out money to nearly everyone, in good times and bad. Joe Weisenthal explains. Plus the day's Covid-19 headlines.

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