• A group of 239 scientists in 32 countries plans to publish a letter directed to the World Health Organization this week citing evidence that smaller airborne particles containing COVID-19 can infect people in indoor settings, a claim that the WHO has so far been reluctant to endorse. The WHO has regularly advised handwashing as the most effective measure to prevent infection despite limited evidence showing COVID-19 transmission from surfaces, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently said that surfaces likely play a limited role in transmission of the virus. (The New York Times)

• The WHO said it is suspending its trials for hydroxychloroquine and the HIV treatment lopinavir-ritonavir for hospitalized COVID-19 patients after its interim results showed the drugs “produce little or no reduction in the mortality” of patients compared to regular care. The agency’s announcement came two days after a separate study said hydroxychloroquine use among COVID-19 patients was linked to lower death rates. (The Hill)

• The rolling seven-day average for daily new COVID-19 cases in the United States hit a new high for the 27th consecutive day with cases surpassing 48,000 on Sunday, according to tracking from a media outlet. Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said the United States is “right back where we were at the peak of the epidemic during the New York outbreak,” with the four major epicenters now located in Los Angeles, Arizona and several cities in Texas and Florida. (The Washington Post)

Trump’s ’99 percent’ coronavirus comment finds little support
Rishika Dugyala and Quint Forgey, Politico

FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn on Sunday declined to provide supporting evidence for President Donald Trump’s assertion that 99 percent of coronavirus cases are “totally harmless,” as mayors across the country battling spikes in infections balked at the unsubstantiated claim.

Case growth outpacing testing in coronavirus hotspots
Andrew Witherspoon and Caitlin Owens, Axios

The United States’ alarming rise in coronavirus cases isn’t due to increased testing — particularly not where cases have grown fastest over the last month.

More covid-19 patients are surviving ventilators in the ICU
Lenny Bernstein, The Washington Post

An increasing number of U.S. covid-19 patients are surviving after they are placed on mechanical ventilators, a last-resort measure that was perceived as a signal of impending death during the terrifying early days of the pandemic.

Study ties hydroxychloroquine use to lower COVID-19 death rate
Marty Johnson, The Hill

The study, conducted by Michigan’s Henry Ford Health System, states that hydroxychloroquine, the controversial anti-malarial drug heralded by the White House as a potential treatment for the coronavirus, “significantly” lowered the mortality rate among COVID-19 patients.

Coronavirus Researchers Compete to Enroll Subjects for Vaccine Tests
Jared S. Hopkins and Peter Loftus, The Wall Street Journal

Vaccine researchers are trying new tacks in an unprecedented effort to recruit the tens of thousands of healthy volunteers needed to finish testing coronavirus shots in late stages of development.

The Pandemic’s Big Mystery: How Deadly Is the Coronavirus?
Donald G. McNeil Jr., The New York Times

More than six months into the pandemic, the coronavirus has infected more than 11 million people worldwide, killing more than 525,000. But despite the increasing toll, scientists still do not have a definitive answer to one of the most fundamental questions about the virus: How deadly is it?

DNA Linked to Covid-19 Was Inherited From Neanderthals, Study Finds
Carl Zimmer, The New York Times

A stretch of DNA linked to Covid-19 was passed down from Neanderthals 60,000 years ago, according to a new study.

How Fauci, 5 other health specialists deal with covid-19 risks in their everyday lives
Marlene Cimons, The Washington Post

As Americans learn to live with the coronavirus, many are struggling with decisions about which practices are safe or risky for them. The Washington Post asked six public health/infectious diseases specialists about their own behavior choices.

2021 Health Plans Granted Leeway To Limit Consumers’ Benefit From Drug Coupons
Michelle Andrews, Kaiser Health News

The rule, an annual directive that sets health plan standards for 2021, permits employers and insurers not to apply drug company copayment assistance toward enrollees’ deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums for any drug. That means only payments made by the patients themselves would factor into the calculations to reach those spending targets and could make individuals responsible for thousands of dollars in drug costs.

Several Texas cities worry hospitals may run out of beds in two weeks or sooner
Valeria Olivares, The Texas Tribune

Local officials and experts in Austin, San Antonio, Houston and Fort Worth have expressed concerns in recent days that increasing coronavirus hospitalizations could overwhelm their intensive care capacities, with some saying it could happen in less than two weeks.

WHO sees first results from COVID drug trials within two weeks
Stephanie Nebehay and Josephine Mason, Reuters

The World Health Organization (WHO) should soon get results from clinical trials it is conducting of drugs that might be effective in treating COVID-19 patients, its Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday.

Data show panic and disorganization dominate the study of Covid-19 drugs
Matthew Herper and Erin Riglin, Stat News

In a gigantic feat of scientific ambition, researchers have designed a staggering 1,200 clinical trials aimed at testing treatment and prevention strategies against Covid-19 since the start of January. But a new STAT analysis shows the effort has been marked by disorder and disorganization, with huge financial resources wasted.

Elegant but unproven, RNA experiments leap to the front in coronavirus vaccine race. Will they work?
William Booth and Carolyn Y. Johnson, The Washington Post

This promising — but unproven — new generation of vaccine technologies is based on deploying a tiny snip of genetic code called messenger RNA to trigger the immune system. It has never before been approved for use.

Why coronavirus contact-tracing apps aren’t yet the ‘game changer’ authorities hoped they’d be
Ryan Browne, CNBC

Coronavirus contact-tracing apps were meant to play a significant role in how some countries dealt with the spread of the disease. But so far, they’ve had a limited impact.

Cost-Effectiveness in Health Care Is Racist
Susan Peschin, Morning Consult

Recent protests against police brutality have forced the country to face the role our institutions play in perpetuating racism. As with law enforcement, we must hold our health care system accountable for discrimination and the effect it has on health outcomes.

Antibodies Can Be the Bridge to a Vaccine
Luciana Borio and Scott Gottlieb, The Wall Street Journal

America’s coronavirus epidemic has taken a turn for the worse, with many more states showing sharp increases in daily cases compared with two weeks ago. How long will it take for researchers to catch up and develop more effective therapies against Covid-19?

The major genetic risk factor for severe COVID-19 is inherited from Neandertals
Hugo Zeberg and Svante Pääbo, bioRxiv

A recent genetic association study (Ellinghaus et al. 2020) identified a gene cluster on chromosome 3 as a risk locus for respiratory failure in SARS-CoV-2. Recent data comprising 3,199 hospitalized COVID-19 patients and controls reproduce this and find that it is the major genetic risk factor for severe SARS-CoV-2 infection and hospitalization (COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative). Here, we show that the risk is conferred by a genomic segment of ~50 kb that is inherited from Neandertals and occurs at a frequency of ~30% in south Asia and ~8% in Europe.

‘It just weighs on your psyche’: Black Americans on mental health, trauma, and resilience
Crystal Milner, Stat News

I’m feeling it, my friends and family are feeling it: the weight of this moment is immeasurable. Black Americans have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic. This has been compounded by the tragic deaths of Black men and women — lives cut short at the hands of police and vigilantes.

China Propels Global Stock Rally to One-Month High: Markets Wrap
Adam Haigh and Lynn Thomasson, Bloomberg

Global stock markets are starting the week with a bang after China’s influential state media stoked bullish enthusiasm. The dollar index fell for a fifth day and Treasuries dipped.