An informed guide to the pandemic, with the latest developments and expert advice about prevention and treatment. |
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Getting infected for science |
The approach, known as a human challenge trial, could shorten the time needed to find a viable vaccine, but sharply divides experts in medical ethics. Scientists have used challenge trials in the past to test vaccines for typhoid, cholera and influenza, which can be treated with drugs. Covid-19 has few proven therapies. |
The trial, which still needs approval from a British regulatory agency, will deliberately infect up to 90 healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 and 30 in a hospital isolation unit. The study’s first goal is to determine the dose of virus needed to reliably infect volunteers, without causing more severe illness. From there, the scientists at Imperial College London can immunize volunteers and then expose them to the virus in order to compare vaccine candidates. |
Proponents say the risk of killing young, healthy volunteers is low enough that it’s outweighed by the possibility of saving tens of thousands of lives. Skeptics have urged scientists to wait, pointing out that there have been unexpected illnesses in young people. They say it’s unclear that the trial could predict the efficacy of a vaccine in older or high-risk adults. |
In the United States, the race for a vaccine is giving rise to a different debate. The question at hand: Should I take one? |
Their skepticism is shared by the public, who seem to be losing desire to get a vaccine as soon as possible. In a poll of likely voters conducted by The New York Times and Siena College, 33 percent said they would definitely or probably not take a vaccine after F.D.A. approval. In a STAT-Harris poll of about 2,000 people, 58 percent of respondents said they would get vaccinated right away, down from 69 percent who said the same in August. |
Changes in pandemic education |
The school district said its new “standards-based grading” would de-emphasize behavioral factors like classroom conduct, allow students to retake tests and base each student’s final grade more on the student’s grasp of material at the end of the grading period, rather than on homework, quizzes or exams. |
The grading change has drawn criticism from some conservatives, who say it diminishes the idea of academic excellence. Proponents argue that the new grading will mitigate inequities like teachers conflating behavior with academic achievement, or affluent students having greater access to tutors. |
Students at the Billings Public Schools, the largest school district in Montana, are facing a great deal of change as well. |
If students are moved around, the thinking goes, no one will meet the definition of a “close contact” — being within six feet of an infected person for 15 minutes or more — and therefore won’t have to quarantine if a classmate tests positive. |
Infectious disease experts say that moving students around every few minutes is actually more likely to increase transmission of the virus, by exposing more people to an infected student. It will also complicate contact tracing efforts, they said. |
- New York officials said that despite an uptick in cases in New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, travelers from those neighboring states would not be required to quarantine, because enforcement would be too difficult.
- Greater Manchester, the United Kingdom’s second-largest urban area, will be put under the highest level of virus restrictions, shutting many pubs and bars and forbidding indoor socializing by people from different households.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India urged citizens to tighten up their vigilance against the coronavirus as the Hindu festival season approaches. India is rapidly catching up to the United States in terms of its reported infections.
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What else we’re following |
While I can’t travel now I’ve been livestreaming radio stations from places I’ve enjoyed visiting. The lilting accents of announcers on an Irish classical music station transport me to the craggy cliffs we walked on a family genealogy trip. The surf report from a San Diego station recalls time spent spotting gray whales from the coast there. I’m safely home, but miles away. — Kathleen J. Corbalis, Galloway, N.J. |
Let us know how you’re dealing with the pandemic. Send us a response here, and we may feature it in an upcoming newsletter. |
| Correction: In yesterday’s edition of the Coronavirus Briefing, we incorrectly said the New York City School testing positivity rate was 0.002 percent. It was 0.2 percent. |
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