COVID Reference - Fourth Edition 2020
COVID Reference - Fourth Edition 2020
Bernd Sebastian Kamps Christian Hoffmann
CovidReference.com, Fourth Edition 2020~4 Uploaded on 15 July 2020,
Preface
Six weeks after the third edition, the world has changed again. The pandemic is raging in South America, particularly in Brazil, Ecuador and Peru. SARS- CoV-2 is under control in China, but in Iran it is not. And in Europe, where most countries have weathered the first wave and open borders to save a compromised tourist season, is now wondering if and for how long this biological drôle de guerre could last.
Science has moved ahead, too. We have seen a more complex picture of COVID-19 and new clinical syndromes; the first data from vaccine trials; first results from randomized controlled drug studies; encouraging publications on monoclonal neutralizing antibodies and serological evidence about the number of people who have come into contact with SARS-CoV-2. Unfortu- nately, we have also seen the first science scandal with fake data published in highly ranked journals. And we face new challenges like long-term effects of COVID-19 and a Kawasaki-like inflammatory multisystem syndrome in children.
For quite some time, prevention will continue to be the primary pillar of pan- demic control. In future waves of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, we will focus on the conditions under which SARS-CoV-2 is best transmitted: crowded, closed (and noisy) places and spaces. Although hospitals are not noisy, they are crowded and closed, and the battle against the new coronavirus will be decided at the very center of our healthcare system. Over the next months and maybe years, one of all of our top priorities will be to give all healthcare workers and patients perfect personal protective equipment.
Bernd Sebastian Kamps & Christian Hoffmann 7 June 2020