Prognosis: Misconception

In the rush to develop a vaccine or treatment for Covid-19, drug companies are fast-tracking clinical trials. But those trials have a major diversity problem. Participants in major drug trials range from 70 percent to 89 percent white. This is a big problem, considering it’s a disease that disproportionately affects people of color. Kristen V. Brown reports that failing to account for minority groups could potentially impact how well a drug eventually works for those that the virus has harmed the most.

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Arne Duncan, the former US secretary of education, recently warned a House panel against opening schools prematurely. He’s one of a growing chorus of voices sounding the alarm about opening schools without properly funding safety measures. The schools, they say, simply don’t have the money they need to make their buildings safe for students and teachers. At that same house panel, witnesses said public schools would need $200 billion in federal aid to open safely with the virus continuing to circulate. Skylar Woodhouse reports on costs, and challenges, of creating safe classrooms.

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The coronavirus has been spreading worldwide for over seven months now, and more than 18 million people are known to have been infected by it. Over that time, we’ve come to understand that, in most people, the virus causes mild symptoms or none at all -- at least at the time they have the virus. But even asymptomatic patients may suffer lingering effects. Jason Gale reports that it may contribute to the pandemic’s significant, long-term social and economic costs.

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Earlier this year, school gates around the world slammed shut. The drastic measure worked in many places. Now, as fall approaches, attention is turning back to a pillar of a pandemic-resilient society: schools. The role of children in driving transmission of the coronavirus isn’t clear, and what we know about past respiratory infections isn’t a lot of help. But, as Bloomberg senior editor Jason Gale finds out, some clearer trends are emerging.

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The drug company Eli Lilly is about to start testing its Covid-19 antibody drug in nursing homes. Vaccines may not work as well on elderly people or those with compromised immune systems. Since these are the very groups most at risk for severe disease or death if they contract the coronavirus, a successful antibody treatment could have a marked effect on lowering the pandemic’s death toll. Riley Griffin talks about the new drug, and the promise of antibody treatments.

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In the race to study immunity to the virus, scientists first focused on antibodies -- proteins that stick to and disable foreign invaders. That’s because creating antibodies is the basis for most successful vaccines, so scientists are interested in learning who develops coronavirus antibodies, how long they stick around, and how effective they are at keeping people from getting infected again. But recent studies show there may be another weapon inside the human body that can rouse fresh antibody soldiers long after the first have left the battlefield. Bloomberg senior editor Jason Gale explains that T cells may be part of the key to blunting the coronavirus contagion.

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More than a month into a resurgence of the novel coronavirus that has besieged Sun Belt states, flooded hospitals and strained public-health infrastructure, the U.S. still lacks a complete picture of the reality on the ground. That’s because the U.S. doesn’t have ANY real-time system to track the virus’s spread. At times, even the federal government has had to rely on third-party databases. Emma Court reports on the danger of a Covid-19 data black hole. 

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An effective vaccine is seen as the world’s greatest hope for achieving some kind of return to normal, and the timeline for developing one has been sped up dramatically. But as hard as it’s going to be to make a vaccine quickly, once we do, we’ll have a new problem: Getting it to billions of people. Brendan Murray explains how difficult it will be for the global supply chain to distribute and administer the drug.

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A few places in the U.S. are still relatively unscathed by the virus, but they haven’t been able to escape the economic devastation. Esmé E. Deprez reports on why the fallout from Covid-19 is devastating Maine's lobster business.

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When physicians and hospitals became overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases, other medical services, from routine tests to emergency room visits, fell dramatically. The long-term consequences of Americans putting off basic medical care may be disastrous. John Tozzi reports on a new push by the health-care industry to stop so-called "Medical Distancing.”

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