As the coronavirus pandemic almost enters its sixth month of outbreaks, World Health Organization's Dr. Mike Ryan warns the world that it is still under the first wave of the virus. However, Ryan warned that a second peak of the first wave of the coronavirus could happen rapidly if countries ease up on social distancing measures too quickly without taming the outbreak.
"Right now, we're not in the second wave. We're right in the middle of the first wave globally," Ryan stated on Tuesday as COVID-19 cases are increasing rapidly in South America, most notably in Brazil, the new epicenter for the world. "We're still very much in a phase where the disease is actually on the way up."
Total Global Cases: Over 5.67 Million
Total Deaths: Over 350,000
Total Recovered: Over 2.4 Million
Wuhan Testing Campaign
Chinese state media announced on Tuesday that the city of Wuhan has collected more than 9 million samples and tested 6.5 million residents in its coronavirus testing initiative. Less than two weeks earlier, the city where the initial outbreak took place stated that it planned to test all 11 million residents of Wuhan after new infections were found after a month-long streak of no new reported infections.
The New York Times reported that the Wuhan government had covered the cost of the testing and deployed a large number of testers to help restore public confidence to help restart the city's economy. So far, the testing campaign has reached about 90% of the city and has found around 200 mostly asymptomatic cases, although many samples are still being processed.
Hydroxycholorine Research Halt
The W.H.O. on Monday also announced that it will be halting the use of hydroxychloroquine from its Solidarity Trial, which is testing several drugs and drug combinations in the hopes to find a possible coronavirus treatment with already developed medications. Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that the agency paused the use of the drug after an observational study published last week in The Lancet found that coronavirus patients taking the drug were more likely to die. Several earlier studies have also concluded that the drug either served no benefit to patients or posed possible harm due to increased risk of arrhythmia, or abnormal heart rhythm.
"I wish to reiterate that these drugs are accepted as generally safe fro use in patients with autoimmune diseases or malaria," Dr. Tedros told reporters during the agency's Monday press conference.
New Vaccine Candidates
On Monday, Novavax
The vaccine has also received a $388 million investment from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations to fund advanced clinical development.
In addition to Novavax, Merck
Merck first acquired Themis Biosciences, a developer of a range of vaccine for infectious diseases, including COVID-19. Second, Merck will be collaborating with the nonprofit scientific research organization International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) to develop a second potential vaccine. Last, Merck will be teaming up with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics to develop an antiviral treatment called EIDD-2801. Under the final agreement, Merck will secure exclusive global rights and will be responsible for clinical development, regulatory filings and manufacturing of the potential treatment.
