Editor's Note This study, led by researchers from King’s College London, analyzed data on 1,600 patients who reported their symptoms daily into an app. They differentiated the patients into six groups from least to most severe symptoms: Headache, loss of smell, muscle pains, cough, sore throat, chest pain, no fever.…

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Editor's Note This survey on the “Impact of COVID-19 on healthcare associated infections” provides a snapshot of how resource diversion for the COVID-19 is affecting the infection prevention community. Of 220 respondents, 79.1% said they were spending more than 75% of their time on COVID-19 response efforts and another 13.2%…

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Editor's Note This study found that whole lung radiomics from non-contrast chest CT exams were better than radiologists’ assessments for predicting outcomes in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. The findings also showed that combining radiomics with clinical variables and lab data were associated with better predictions of ICU admissions and mortality.…

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Editor's Note Differing immune system responses of patients with COVID-19 can predict who will experience moderate and severe outcomes of the disease, this study by Yale researchers finds. Of 113 patients analyzed, all shared common COVID-19 immune system activity early in the course of the disease. Patients with moderate symptoms had…

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Editor's Note This study reinforces the high risk of COVID-19 transmission in households and is the first to show the effectiveness of precautionary mask use, social distancing, and regular disinfection before the development of symptoms in the index case. There was no association between mask use after illness onset in…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on July 24 reissued its emergency use authorization (EUA) for LabCorp’s COVID-19 RT-PCR Test to include two new indications for use: Testing for individuals who do not have COVID-19 symptoms or who have no reason to suspect COVID-19 infection. Allowing for pooled…

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Editor's Note The hormone, leptin, which links the body’s metabolism and immune response system, may be the link between obesity and its high prevalence as a comorbidity of COVID-19, this study finds. Leptin levels are always high in obese people because leptin is produced by fat cells. Elevated leptin levels…

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Editor's Note The protective value of masks depends on how they are used. If people are reckless about masking up or clumsy when handling or removing masks, they can put themselves and others at risk, the July 21 Livestrong reports. To get the most out of wearing face-coverings, it’s important…

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Editor's Note Self-imposed prevention measures such as hand washing, mask wearing, and social distancing as well as government-imposed social distancing can help mitigate and delay a COVID-19 epidemic, this study from The Netherlands finds. Researchers developed a computational model of the spread of COVID-19 based on known information about the…

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Editor's Note:  Rapid border closures, full lockdowns, and wide-spread testing were not associated with statistically significant reductions in number of critical cases or overall COVID-19 mortality; however, they were significantly associated with increased patient recovery rates, this study of 50 countries finds. Increasing COVID-19 caseloads were associated with countries with…

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