Questions tagged [covid-19]
Describes the clinical disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus
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How accurate are coronavirus tests?
As of time of writing it's quite common to see headlines about so-and-so who have tested positive for Covid-19, e.g. Canadian PM Justin Trudeau's wife, Sophie, tests positive for coronavirus, ...
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BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine efficacy after 1st dose - explain the statistics
Pfizer's paper (Safety and Efficacy of the BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine) published recently states the following in the Efficacy subsection of the Results section:
Between the first dose and the ...
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Does COVID-19 have a case fatality rate of 41%? Is this formula correct?
According to the data on the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Tracker, as of 3rd February 2020 there were 17491 confirmed cases of COVID-19 globally, 536 total recoveries and 362 deaths.
From my non-expert ...
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Why aren't we sterilizing N95 masks?
Please forgive the obvious question.
H2O2 vapor sterilization is deadly for the layperson but should be workable for hospitals. I can't find the small Chinese study I read the other day about it. ...
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Was there ever a vaccine candidate that showed negative side effects many months or years after the patient was injected?
The current prognosis for a COVID-19 vaccine to become available is "12-18 months" and a big part of the reason for such a long timeline is the fact that scientists want to ensure that the vaccine is ...
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What is the main way COVID-19 spreads?
Reading numerous news articles about COVID-19, I got confused as to what is its main transmission route. In particular, I am confused as to whether it is
direct landing of respiratory droplets in ...
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How do mRNA vaccines work and what are their advantages over traditional vaccines?
How do mRNA vaccines work?
To my intuitive understanding, for an mRNA vaccine to work, the mRNAs injected into the patient need to first enter a cell and get translated into proteins. Those proteins ...
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Why are people with COVID-19 symptoms being denied tests in the US?
I have heard several times now, from both people I personally know and from others who have posted their stories online that they do not qualify for COVID-19 testing.
From the stories I have heard, ...
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How can one predict whether an individual infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus will be asymptomatic?
According to
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2020/03/25/Coronavirus-Iceland-s-mass-testing-finds-half-of-carriers-show-no-symptoms, half of
the SARS-CoV-2 virus virus carriers show no ...
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Would symptoms differ from eating virus contaminated food versus breathing in virus?
Would symptoms differ from eating virus contaminated food versus breathing in virus?
Would symptoms be a good indicator where the virus is located?
The COVID-19 causes respiratory symptoms and I guess ...
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Why are Novel Coronavirus anitbody tests disparaged?
The Novel Coronavirus antibody test has been around since February 2020 when it was invented at a Chinese University. It can measure both IgM to show infection in progress and IgG to indicate full ...
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Details on "Health Impact Events" on V-safe Active Surveillance for COVID-19 Vaccines
Some dubious websites (which I won't link) are claiming that COVID-19 vaccine caused disabilities in more than 3.000 people. As a support of this claim, they cite the table "V-safe Active ...
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Which DIY mask is most effective?
There have been a number of do-it-yourself (DIY) mask designs released and tested by both universities and other institutions on account of world wide Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) shortages. ...
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Why don't we take a random sample of the population to estimate the amount of COVID-19 cases?
Current statistics on number of cases will always be a few days behind reality due to the time between infection and going to get tested, asymptomatic people, etc. But why not take a random sample of ...
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Is the day-of-week variance in COVID-19 case numbers a well-established phenomenon?
Right now (April 27), the JHU data on new COVID-19 cases in the US show a very distinct weekly rhythm; reports are lowest on the weekends and peak in mid-week. This isn't at all surprising — any ...
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What data is there for physicians to advise patients taking Ace Inhibitors during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is a membrane-bound aminopeptidase that has a vital role in the cardiovascular and immune systems4. ACE2 is involved in heart function and the development of ...
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Is there a benefit of a COVID-19 vaccination if one had COVID-19 before?
I see the clear benefit of the vaccination if one didn't have the disease. However, there are a lot of people who had the disease already. So I assume they also have the anti-bodies?
Or is this a ...
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Is it possible to get Covid-19 and have 0 symptoms along the complete journey and hence cure by yourself without knowing?
In this link, in the section How long is it between when a person is exposed to the virus and when they start showing symptoms? mentions
Recently published research found that on average, the time ...
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Will COVID-19 survivors develop immunity from future infections?
For this question, assume that the virus does not mutate.
Can survivors be expected to develop immunity?
Why or why not (what is the thought process)?
The CDC FAQ indicates that they do not know:
Q: ...
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COVID-19 vaccination second doses: why two doses and why the specified interval?
Certain COVID-19 vaccines such as the Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna are specified to be administered in two doses separated by a 21 and 28 day interval, respectively. My questions are:
Why administered ...
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What is the expected false positives/negatives for COVID-19 tests?
As of March 13, 45/301 people have tested positive/negative for COVID-19
in Florida. What is the expected false positives/negatives here?
UPDATE (March 14): 71/478 from what I consider the best ...
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Why were so many Covid-19 negative tests among close contacts of the early Chinese cases?
In an ECDC report from Jan 17, it is said that
In China, 763 close contacts have been identified and monitored. Of these, 644 have completed the observation
period, while 119 remain under medical ...
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Why is the reported number of COVID-19 deaths lower on Sundays and Mondays in the US?
I was looking at the Daily Deaths from COVID-19 from Worldometers and I noticed that the number is always lower on Sundays and Mondays.
Why is that? Am I interpreting the graphs correctly?
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Is the code from the mRNA vaccine executed by the cells as a one-off? [closed]
Is the code from the mRNA vaccine executed by the cell that has taken it up as a one-off or does the cell produce the spike proteins endlessly (like a programming loop) until the cell is killed by the ...
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Why will COVID-19 last for 12 to 18 months?
In this YouTube video min 0:32, Dr. Samir Gupta, says
It typically would last for 12 to 18 months
In How the Pandemic Will End in the ll. The Endgame section:
No matter which strategy is ...
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Why it's said a coronavirus vaccine wont be ready for using in 12-18 months when for the H1N1 2009 outbreak there were vaccines available in 6 months?
From different sources we hear that a coronavirus vaccine might be ready in weeks / April / 3 months, but that they would require testing and mass production and it won't be ready to use until 12/18 ...
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Would a COVID-19 controlled burn facilitate herd immunity?
In forest management, a controlled burn is “used for hazard reduction [to] decrease the likelihood of serious hotter fires” [W]. In backfiring strategy, “firefighters attempt to halt the advance of a ...
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What is known about transmission of coronaviruses through food?
I've seen a lot data about COVID-19 virus (SARS-CoV-2) on dry surfaces. But what about wet mediums, in particular food? In the West, it's easy enough to disinfect supermarket packages (before opening ...
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what does 95% effectivenes mean for vaccines (covid) [duplicate]
Often we see in news they say AstraZeneca is 95% effective, while Chinese vaccine is 50%. I have question how to interpret these numbers.
Does this mean that if you get vaccinated with AstraZeneca ...
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How extensive is the US Govt machine readable dataset on covid-19
How extensive is the US Govt machine readable dataset on covid-19 and where can I find this data?
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Alternatives other than face-mask-respirators for protection against COVID-19 [closed]
Could someone please tell me if these alternatives can also protect one against being infected by COVID-19 virus, when being outside (in grocery stores, markets, etc)?
If yes, how much of protection ...
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Important thresholds in the number of postive cases of COVID-19 per capita
What are some important quantitative thresholds on the charts tracking the number of positive cases of COVID-19?
I've been monitoring the number of positive cases of COVID-19 for a couple years now, ...
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Do vaccinated people not have zero risk of mortality by Covid 19?
This video by Vox says people who are vaccinated have zero risk of mortality by Covid 19.
But NDTV reports (at 00:21 and again at 07:53 in the video) that even fully vaccinated 8 frontline medical ...
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What's the best time of year to purposely contract COVID? [closed]
Before the vaccine for German measles was available, girls were encouraged to expose themselves to a friend or acquaintance who had the disease, to acquire immunity, so that they would not end up ...
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Has there been any medical studies as to whether drinking a 'Hot Toddy' can help to ward off or to help heal someone who has COVID-19? [closed]
I am curious to know if there has been any medical studies that have been conducted to ascertain if drinking a 'Hot Toddy' every day will decrease the odds of someone being infected by the COVID-19 ...
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Why use a placebo in some potential COVID-19 vaccine trials?
With potential COVID-19 vaccine trials beginning around the globe, one vaccine approach is to induce the creation of antibodies in the participants.
The first phase of the trial will check whether ...
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Are Covid-19 vaccines much more deadly than people (and scientists) think?
The other day I read this chart on an Italian newspaper article
I looked for the source, and I found only this tweet:
https://twitter.com/Drs4CovidEthics/status/1432193260949172230
from Doctors for ...
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Is there any identified policy China is doing to successfully reduce COVID-19 the other countries aren't using?
Over the last days (beginning of March 2020), active cases of COVID-19 from China have dropped at a rate of 1,000-2,000 per day. China is the only country which seems able to reduce the amount of ...
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Is there any figure about the accuracy of COVID-19 tests? [duplicate]
Recently I saw the local media (Romania) presenting a case that was initially considered COVID-19 positive and two subsequent tests led to negative results. As far as I know no official bothered to ...
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What data and research is available on the mortality risk (infection fatality rate) of COVID-19?
Given controversy and confusion over aspects of COVID-19, particularly over comparisons and contrasts with the mortality risk of seasonal flu, this question seeks data and findings on the mortality ...
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Are there diseases for which infection does not grant lasting immunity but a vaccine does?
There has been a lot of discussion about whether people who have COVID-19 and recover will have long-lasting immunity. At the same time, work is underway to create a vaccine for this disease. But if ...
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Does viral load of the initial COVID-19 infection affect its severity?
If someone gets infected by a droplet containing a high load of the SARS-CoV-2 virus would he be more likely to develop more severe symptoms compared to someone who gets infected by a droplet ...
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How is Lopinavir + Ritonavir expected to stop COVID-19?
There are four drugs being tested for effectiveness against COVID-19 in the SOLIDARITY trial. Three of them have obvious potential mechanisms of action:
Remdesivir is an RNA polymerase inhibitor. ...
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Would facemasks reduce virus transmisions in vulnerable populations?
The US surgeon general has asked (tweeted) the public to not buy face masks, because the claim is that healthcare workers need them more.
CDC does recommend:
Facemasks should be used by people ...
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Do we have scientific evidence of immunity to SARS-CoV-2 at all? [closed]
There is still no scientific evidence of immunity to SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus.
The serious virologist say:
“We don’t know yet “ ... “we can’t say “ “we hope “ “ we assume “
HILLARY ...
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Does the SARS-CoV-2 (Novel Coronavirus) live longer in a fridge or freezer?
I've read the virus lives longer on metal / plastic surfaces about three days. When I go grocery shopping I rotate dry goods and canned goods such that the virus on the outside would be dead when I ...
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Are there reliable studies on the viability of the SARS-CoV-2 virus with respect to temperature?
There have been "suggestions" (facebook, media etc) that the novel coronavirus is heat sensitive. Specifically that the virus is "killed" or impotent when subjected to temperature of 77F.
Are there ...
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Can the capacity for COVID-19 tests be amplified by testing multiple samples mixed together and testing each only if positive?
If I understand it right, the following steps are to be taken into account:
Taking the sample: for the proposed method more samples would have to be taken.
Transporting the sample: more samples ...
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Where to find a database containing COVID-19 information?
Is there any global database that enables the stochastic analysis of questions such as age distribution of fatalities, etc?
A Google search produced only a WHO article database: https://www.who.int/...
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What would count as definitive proof that humans can develop COVID-19 immunity?
There are currently numerous debates over whether or not people who have recovered from COVID-19 develop immunity to the disease. By the standards of the the scientific community, what kind of proof ...
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