By Dr. Stuart Weiss

Rapid Test Center of New York
Dr. Stuart Weiss, FACEP, FAAP, CBCP

October 27, 2020
CoViD-19 News and Information you can trust
Welcome to our new subscribers from the Rapid Test Center.

So where are we now??

I was asked this question on a client call today so I thought many people may be thinking this.

Unfortunately, we are entering what may be the worst time period for the pandemic in the United States. These next few months will see many people getting sick and increasing hospitalizations and deaths.

What's worse, the White House seems to have given up on things with the Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows saying this weekend that we're not going to control the virus in the United States. Well, that's a hell of an attitude and he's right. With the administration's failed pandemic policy, we are never going to get on top of this until we someday have a vaccine.

So, we're entering a period where we will see more daily new cases than ever before. We keep breaking new case number records every day. There are still some states that do not have universal face covering mandates. States in the midwest and mountain areas of our country are struggling to keep up with the new case numbers. 226,613 Americans have died from coronavirus related causes so far. 46 States have increasing case numbers according to the New York Times. In Europe, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain are seeing increasing case numbers as well. Asia seems to be doing well. In Asia, it is a sign of respect to wear a face covering and everyone does it.

There seem to be six major strains of virus circulating around the world. It appears that the virus may have mutated to become more contagious but it seems to be less lethal. According to the Dept of Homeland Security Master Question List of 10/20/2020, the ID-50 (the dose where 50% of animals or humans will become infected) for humans is likely less 10,000 PFU (plaque forming units), possibly even lower at less than 1,000 PFU. They report that studies in the U.K. in Jan 2021 will be done where they will expose humans to the virus to determine the ID50 for human. By comparison, monkeys require up to 700,000 PFU to get sick and ferrets require only 2000 PFU to get sick. If you want to read the latest update, go to this site: https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/mql_sars-cov-2_-_cleared_for_public_release_20201020.pdf
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here are about 176 vaccine candidates currently under development. Around 150 are in Phase I/II early studies, 16-17 are in Phase II/III studies, 10 are in early Phase III studies and 4 are in late Phase IV studies and getting closer to an understanding on their efficacy and safety. These four are a chinese vaccine, Astrazeneca, Moderna and Pfizer. The problem with these vaccine is that they require extremely cold storage temperatures (minus 80) so that makes shipping and storing in physician offices and pharmacies challenging.

We have gotten smarter in treating very sick people. Remdesivir has been approved as an antiviral medication for early in the disease and steroids play an important role later in the disease. Various monoclonal antibody mixtures are being developed and you read about one version from Regeneron. They have applied for emergency use authorization for this medication.

For the most part, the usual public health measures are all we have. Everybody knows what they are by now but people are suffering from CoViD fatigue. I know I am but I still wear my face covering, wash my hands and socially distance myself. Its the only thing I can do so I do it, albeit reluctantly.

Our testing center is back open. Suddenly and unexpectedly, a truck pulled up and dropped off some test cartridges. We also have acquired a second testing platform that is actually more accurate than the ID NOW system. We will be offering both and continue to explore new testing technologies.

There are some great new technologies on the horizon. One is especially exciting for large scale events.

Stay safe and try to remember to protect yourself and your families, especially as the holidays approach.

Be well,
Dr. Stu Weiss

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