An informed guide to the global outbreak, with the latest developments and expert advice about prevention and treatment. |
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 | | The New York Times |
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New York’s rate of infection is now typically below 1 percent of the roughly 25,000 coronavirus tests performed every day — a stark contrast to the spring, when new cases peaked at more than 12,000 a day and mobile morgues sat outside overwhelmed hospitals. |
But when our colleague Michael Wilson interviewed New Yorkers to understand how they were thinking about the coming months, he found a common sense of foreboding. “In some ways it’s more stressful than ever, thinking about what life will look like,” a Brooklyn resident told him. |
One of the biggest unknowns is what will happen when students return to in-person classes. Parents are worried about their children potentially falling ill or, alternatively, falling behind with remote learning. |
Just this week, Mayor Bill de Blasio solicited schools to submit proposals for outdoor learning, after mounting criticism that the city was not doing enough to start the school year safely. (Our new Coronavirus Schools Briefing has an in-depth look at New York’s plans.) |
Michelle Goldberg, a Times Opinion columnist, is among the city’s stressed-out parents. In her latest column, she writes about the feeling of being abandoned by all levels of government: |
There are only two ways out of pandemic-driven insecurity: great personal wealth or a functioning government. Right now, many of us who’d thought we were insulated from American precarity are finding out just how frightening the world can be when you don’t have either. |
It’s not just parents who are near their breaking point. Many New Yorkers are questioning their resolve to remain in the city without an end in sight to the virus, potentially joining an exodus to the suburbs that has grown over the course of the pandemic. |
In a Times Op-Ed, the comedian Jerry Seinfeld defended the city against one naysayer who declared it “dead” and fled to Florida. “This stupid virus will give up eventually. The same way you have,” Mr. Seinfeld wrote. “We’re going to keep going with New York City if that’s all right with you. And it will sure as hell be back.” |
Why men may be weaker to the virus |
We’ve known for a while that men are hit harder by the coronavirus. In fact, older men are up to twice as likely to become severely sick and to die as women of the same age. But why? |
A new study published in Nature today suggests that men, particularly those over 60, produce a weaker immune response to the virus than do women. That’s in line with what we already know about differences between men’s and women’s immune systems: Women generally mount faster and stronger responses, perhaps because their bodies have evolved to fight pathogens that threaten unborn or newborn children. |
The Nature study tracked 17 men and 22 women who were hospitalized after they became infected with the coronavirus. The scientists found that the women’s bodies produced more T cells, which can kill virus-infected cells and stop the infection from spreading, and at a faster pace. |
This powerful reaction isn’t always positive. An immune system in a high state of alert can be damaging, and autoimmune diseases are much more prevalent in women than in men. |
The findings underscore the need for vaccine companies to parse their data by sex, and they suggest that men, especially older men, may need to depend more on vaccines to protect against the infection. |
Tracking cases at colleges |
A New York Times survey of more than 1,500 American colleges and universities has revealed at least 26,000 cases since the pandemic began, many of them from the new fall semester. Seven universities — all of them large public schools in the South — have announced more than 500 cases. |
What else we’re following |
Lockdown in South Africa has been one of the strictest in the world. During this period, I took a look at my dusty old Yamaha DTE 175, which was my first purchase after leaving school in 1976 — it hasn’t been ridden for 20 years yet holds many happy memories. We restored it to working order and took it for a ride in the countryside as soon as restrictions allowed. — Elwyn van den Aardweg, Durban, South Africa |
Let us know how you’re dealing with the outbreak. Send us a response here, and we may feature it in an upcoming newsletter. |
| Tom Wright-Piersanti contributed to today’s newsletter. |
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