The widespread, nationwide coronavirus outbreak in the United States is pushing the country's testing infrastructure to its limits in recent months, issuing a dark omen for the coming fall and winter months. Many government and health officials fear that a second wave of mass infections will arise in the coming months due to populations staying indoors where the virus can spread more effectively. On Wednesday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo that New York City's restaurants and bars may not be allowed to reopen for indoor service during the colder months, which could lead to a domino effect of other states and cities issuing similar orders in effort to control the virus' spread.
While many companies like Quest Diagnostics
The C.D.C. announced earlier this week, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and other federal agencies, that it is issuing a National Wastewater Surveillance System to test for COVID-19. The agency is currently developing a portal for U.S. health departments to submit their wastewater testing data into a national database for "use in summarizing and interpreting" the level of coronavirus infection throughout the country. The health agency hopes the the database will help detect the virus' asymptomatic spread within the United States.
According to the World Health Organization, signs of coronavirus infection can be found within an individuals' stool and levels of the virus' RNA can be found present in untreated sewage water. The global health agency recently stated that the monitoring of human waste water can be used as an environmental surveillance of the coronavirus within a population. Wastewater can provide communities with early detection of the virus, especially in areas with limited clinical surveillance, and can be used to monitor the level of its circulation.
Treatment Update
The pharmaceutical giant Roche
Regeneron stated that it expects to present positive data from its ongoing clinical trials for REGN-COV2 in humans next month, its next step after the drug treated and prevented coronavirus infection in animal studies. The two companies stated that they will run more clinical studies of the cocktail to evaluate the best use for it against COVID-19.
The antibody cocktail is a mix of an antibody isolated from individuals who survived coronavirus infection and a man-made antibody designed by the drugmaker. The United States has already funded Regeneron in a $450 million deal to provide up to 300,000 potential treatment does or 1.3 million prevention doses to the federal government.