Two new peer-reviewed studies are showing a sharp drop in mortality among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The drop is seen in all groups, including older patients and those with underlying conditions, suggesting that physicians are getting better at helping patients survive their illness.

“We find that the death rate has gone down substantially,” says Leora Horwitz, a doctor who studies population health at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine and an author on one of the studies, which looked at thousands of patients from March to August.

The study, which was of a single health system, finds that mortality has dropped among hospitalized patients by 18 percentage points since the pandemic began. Patients in the study had a 25.6% chance of dying at the start of the pandemic; they now have a 7.6% chance.

That’s a big improvement, but 7.6% is still a high risk compared with other diseases, and Horwitz and other researchers caution that COVID-19 remains dangerous.

Read it all.

Two new peer-reviewed studies show a sharp drop in mortality among hospitalized Covid patients. The drop is seen in all groups, including older patients and those with underlying conditions, suggesting providers are getting better at treating the illness. https://t.co/tAMGC5OsPM

— Scott Gottlieb, MD (@ScottGottliebMD) October 20, 2020

Judging by recent media coverage, Dan would seem to be the poster child for a wave of pandemic-related divorces that have swept America since March. “Why the coronavirus pandemic is leading so many couples to divorce,” read one New York Post headline this spring. The New York Times recently took a similar line: “Considering a Coronavirus Divorce? You’re in Good Company.”

But in real life, the net effects of the pandemic are not nearly as negative as many media reports would suggest.

Consider Katie, a 37-year-old wife and mother living in Virginia. The lockdown was initially stressful for her and her husband as they scrambled to forge a new schedule to cover their two jobs and child care for their toddler. But once they rearranged their schedule, things got better — in part because her husband took on a greater share of child care than he had prior to the pandemic and in part because they began taking walks and talking more in covid time. “It may sound strange, but the stay-at-home order and pandemic truly strengthened our marriage,” Katie observed.

Distress about the state of our unions certainly seems warranted. The tensions arising from being with your partner all day, every day; the disagreements about how to handle sanitation, socializing and schooling; and the stresses occasioned by lost lives, lost jobs and political tempests seem to never end. A major new survey of American families, the American Family Survey (AFS), found that 34 percent of married men and women ages 18 to 55 report the pandemic has increased stress in their marriage.

Yet Katie is not alone. Most married people in America report their unions have gotten stronger, not weaker, in the wake of covid-19. The AFS found that 58 percent of married men and women 18 to 55 said the pandemic has made them appreciate their spouse more, while 51 percent said their commitment to marriage had deepened. Only 8 percent said that the pandemic had weakened their commitment to one another.

Read it all.

Divorce is Down in COVID Time:

In 4 out of 5 states where divorce data is available, @lymanstoneky and I found that divorce filings are down in 2020.https://t.co/3wCee5XjGW @PostOpinions pic.twitter.com/kE0aXUPsWo

— Brad Wilcox (@WilcoxNMP) October 21, 2020

Scientists have developed, for the first time, a score that can accurately predict which patients will develop a severe form of Covid-19.

The study, led by researchers at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, is published in The Lancet’s translational research journal EBioMedicine.

The measurement, called the Dublin-Boston score, is designed to enable clinicians to make more informed decisions when identifying patients who may benefit from therapies, such as steroids, and admission to intensive care units.

Until this study, no Covid-19-specific prognostic scores were available to guide clinical decision-making. The Dublin-Boston score can now accurately predict how severe the infection will be on day seven after measuring the patient’s blood for the first four days.

Read it all.

Could be good news. "New Blood Test Accurately Predicts Which COVID-19 Patients Will Develop Severe Infection – https://t.co/UkOVD3x2On

— Kay Hymowitz (@KayHymowitz) October 19, 2020

The state of Maine has the nation’s oldest population, with an average age of 45.1 versus 38.5 for the U.S. overall. It is also among the country’s poorest. Fewer than one third of residents hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. Yet despite these risk factors, Maine has a remarkably low prevalence of COVID-19: at last count, there have been 5,780 cases (about 430 per 100,000 people), 463 hospitalizations and 143 deaths. The state’s COVID-19 test positivity rate—averaging roughly 0.5 percent—is the lowest in the nation. In comparison, equally rural and far flung North Dakota, with roughly 60 percent of the population of Maine and an average age of 35.5, has suffered 28,244 cases (about 3,700 per 100,000 people), 357 deaths and a test positivity rate of roughly 8.1 percent.

The face of Maine’s successful policy is Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Shah’s rock star status is reflected in his impressive Twitter following, a Facebook fan club and even an electronic road sign on the state’s Route 196 that blinks “In Shah We Trust.” The fact that a self-described “brown guy with a funny name from another state who has been here for 400 days could be viewed as a voice for science,” Shah has tweeted, “speaks more about the character of Maine people than anything else could.” Clearly, that “voice for science” has had a powerful influence. Cell-phone-tracking data indicate that Maine residents have sharply curtailed travel since March. And surveys suggest a general adherence to public health advice on mask wearing and social distancing, even in outdoor spaces such as hiking trails.

Trained in law and economics as well as medicine, Shah takes a broad view of public health that relies on equal parts science, persuasion and empathy. His twice-weekly public radio briefings follow three principles: never shy away from the truth, answer questions directly, and acknowledge the statistics and numbers without overlooking the human element. Our national approach, he says, does not adhere to those principles.

Read it all.

Gotta love Maine! https://t.co/v77EKcSf7y

— Gail Carlson (@GailLCarlson) October 17, 2020

Pfizer Inc.laid out a timetable for reaching key milestones in the development of its Covid-19 vaccine that could mean the shots start becoming available in the U.S. before year’s end.

Chief Executive Albert Bourla said Friday the company could start to see from a large study whether the vaccine works by the end of this month and would have data on its safety by the third week of November. If the preliminary results indicate the vaccine can work safely, Pfizer could ask U.S. health regulators to permit use by late November, Mr. Bourla said.

The timetable, which Mr. Bourla provided in a letter posted to Pfizer’s website, suggests the shots could start going into use in late November, or more likely in December, since regulators would probably need some time to review the study data as well as Pfizer’s manufacturing operations.

New York-based Pfizer is developing its vaccine candidate with German partner BioNTech SE.

It is far from certain the vaccine would prove to work safely in the trial now enrolling some 44,000 volunteers. And the timetable could be pushed back for a number of reasons, including if it takes longer than Pfizer expects for study subjects to get exposed to the virus.

Read it all.

Drug giant Pfizer said it could be ready to apply for emergency-use authorization of its Covid-19 vaccine by late November, assuming it receives positive efficacy and safety data from late-stage human trials https://t.co/qrffJBBO7S

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) October 16, 2020

For the first time in over a month, South Carolina logged more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases on Thursday.

The 1,072 new cases are the highest number of positive tests the state Department of Health and Environmental Control has announced in a single day since Sept. 4, according to records maintained by The Post and Courier. DHEC’s amended data, which includes cases that were reported late, shows the department tallied 1,000 cases Oct. 8.

It’s a marked change from midsummer, when DHEC’s amended data shows the state regularly counted over 2,000 cases per day. Experts warn that cases could swell in the fall as cool weather drives people indoors, but expect masks and social distancing to mitigate the spread.

Read it all.

For the first time in over a month, South Carolina logged over 1,000 new coronavirus cases today.https://t.co/E9tV3jTTcC

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) October 15, 2020

A church in the North West of England is pioneering mental health support as reports of mental health issues rise during the Covid-19 pandemic.

St Cuthbert’s Church in Croxteth Park, Liverpool, has seen an increasing demand for what it offers to those with mental health problems.

Speaking ahead of World Mental Health Day 2020, he vicar, the Revd Laura Leatherbarrow, said: “There’s a feeling across the board of people who have never suffered with mental health issues before are now getting anxious – or getting back depression or being diagnosed with depression for the first time.

“I’ve certainly seen Covid having a profound effect on all ages – younger as well as older.”

Read it all.

Jürgen Klopp's personal letter to an 11 year old child who wrote to him about his stress and anxiety over starting secondary school this September gone.

He is much more than just our manager. 👏 #LFC pic.twitter.com/qqgddokfp3

— LFC Transfer Room (@LFCTransferRoom) October 11, 2020

When the coronavirus pandemic shuttered offices around the United States in March, many companies told their employees that it would be only a short hiatus away from headquarters.

Workers, they said, would be back in their cubicles within a matter of weeks. Weeks turned into September. Then September turned into January. And now, with the virus still surging in some parts of the country, a growing number of employers are delaying return-to-office dates once again, to the summer of 2021 at the earliest.

Google was one of the first to announce that July 2021 was its return-to-office date. Uber, Slack and Airbnb soon jumped on the bandwagon. In the past week, Microsoft, Target, Ford Motor and The New York Times said they, too, had postponed the return of in-person work to next summer and acknowledged the inevitable: The pandemic isn’t going away anytime soon.

“Let’s just bite the bullet,” said Joan Burke, the chief people officer of DocuSign in San Francisco. In August, her company, which manages electronic document signatures, decided it would allow its 5,200 employees to work from home until June 2021.

Read it all.

More companies are delaying return-to-office dates to next summer, an acknowledgement that the pandemic is unlikely to abate anytime soon https://t.co/LD5tInOoKd

— NYT Business (@nytimesbusiness) October 13, 2020

Fewer infants died in South Carolina last year, pushing the state’s infant mortality rate slightly closer to the national average.

But data published by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control shows that all improvement was observed exclusively among White babies, further widening the large racial gap that exists between White and Black infant deaths.

In 2019, Black infants born in South Carolina were nearly three times as likely as White babies to die before their first birthday.

DHEC spokeswoman Laura Renwick said agency experts haven’t finished analyzing the 2019 infant mortality data. The department’s official report is expected to be ready sometime later this month, she said.

Read it all.

In 2019, Black infants born in SC were nearly three times as likely as White babies to die before their first birthday, according to data from @scdhec.https://t.co/eTZlvgUwKb

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) October 11, 2020

Living God, who art the source of all healing and wholeness: we bless thee for the compassionate witness of thy servant Edith Cavell. Inspire us, we beseech thee, to be agents of peace and reconciliation in a world beset by injustice, poverty, and war. We ask this through Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, who livest and reignest with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, unto the ages of ages. Amen.

British nurse Edith Cavell is executed by a German firing squad #OnThisDay in 1915 for helping 200 Allied soldiers escape from Belgium.

“Standing, as I do, in view of God and eternity, I realize that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone." pic.twitter.com/OUKFikCA7E

— Marina Amaral (@marinamaral2) October 12, 2020

University of South Carolina researchers have developed a model of the coronavirus pandemic showing that masks have stemmed the spread of disease and prevented tens of thousands of infections in places that have adopted them widely.

The team’s aim is to put hard numbers on a refrain that public health experts have repeated for months: that masks make a difference and could bring the virus to heel. The lead researcher says he wanted to give decision-makers a clear view of how big that difference is.

That’s particularly significant in South Carolina, which doesn’t have a statewide mask requirement. Instead, questions about whether to wear a mask are far more localized here. It’s up to local governments to decide whether to require them, and for the millions of people here who aren’t bound by mandates, wearing a mask is an individual decision.

Read it all.

The researchers' aim is to put hard numbers on a refrain that public health experts have repeated for months: that masks make a difference and could bring the virus to heel.https://t.co/cOifHcGM5s

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) October 10, 2020

A team of California-based researchers have developed a test that can detect the coronavirus in five minutes using gene-editing technology and a modified mobile phone camera, a discovery that could solve the issue of under-testing in epidemic-stricken countries.

Led by University of California, Berkeley’s Dr Jennifer Doudna, who is the joint winner of this year’s Nobel Prize for chemistry, the test’s successful development was announced in a research paper published on September 30. The paper is still in preprint, meaning it has not been peer-reviewed.

As Covid-19 cases continue to shoot up in some of the world’s largest countries like the US, India and Brazil, huge backlogs of tests have strained public health systems. Most Covid-19 tests currently take at least 24 hours, but sometimes backlogs can lead to delays spanning several days.

Read it all.

#CovidTesting that can detect pathogen in 5 minutes developed by Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna

California-based researchers develop a test that can detect the coronavirus using gene-editing technology and a modified mobile phone camera. #COVID__19https://t.co/449B5lOsOS

— Ketan (@ketan72) October 10, 2020

President Trump has been criticized for receiving experimental Covid-19 treatments that aren’t available to ordinary Americans. But man-made antibodies like those Mr. Trump received may soon be rolled out for broader public use. Such treatments may be a bridge to a vaccine.

Covid vaccines are being developed at a brisk pace, but their widespread use is on track for next year. Even if the Food and Drug Administration authorizes a vaccine this winter for those at high risk of Covid complications, the immunity benefit to the population will come gradually as access is expanded and more Americans are vaccinated.

One goal has been to have drugs like antibody treatments available this fall. Instead of using a vaccine to spur our bodies to produce antibodies, these drugs deliver synthetic versions that aim to neutralize the virus before complications develop. Mr. Trump probably benefited from the antibody cocktail he received, developed by Regeneron. These drugs could also rescue patients when vaccination doesn’t work or treat those who get sick after declining to be vaccinated. Regeneron and Eli Lilly have submitted data from clinical trials as a basis for emergency use authorization. Amgen and Vir Biotechnology also have such drugs in advanced development.

Eli Lilly’s submission was based on trial results reported earlier this week showing that its antibody treatment reduces hospitalizations and serious complications. The antibodies appear to be most helpful to those at highest risk. Earlier data showed that the antibodies bring down virus levels in infected patients with no obvious safety risks.

Read it all.

.@ScottGottliebMD & Mark McClellan: “Man-made antibodies like those Mr. Trump received may soon be rolled out for broader public use. Such treatments may be a bridge to a vaccine.” https://t.co/I9Mz6g0hq6

— Michael R. Strain (@MichaelRStrain) October 8, 2020

A new round of election stress disorder is spreading across the U.S., according to experts. They say the tension is even worse this time because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Stress levels have been sky-high for months now. We’ve been dealing with the coronavirus since March and tensions have escalated the last few weeks before the election.

Marsha Palanci says she’s been feeling election anxiety.

“I was keeping pretty zen about the whole situation, until I watched the debates, and then that went out the window and I have been incredibly stressed,” Palanci said.

“I’m getting a lot of emergency calls of resentment or anger,” therapist Dr. Steven Stosny said.

Read it all.

Election stress disorder is spreading across the U.S. as a therapist warns the anxiety is worse than 2016. @StahlCBS3 has the details. https://t.co/GTgYwIasiy

— CBS Philly (@CBSPhilly) October 7, 2020

Excessive social media use during the pandemic is a predictor of symptoms of depression and secondary trauma, suggests a new study by researchers at Pennsylvania State University and Jinan University in Guangzhou, China.

The study, published last month in Computers in Human Behavior, surveyed 320 participants living in Wuhan about how they accessed and shared health information with friends, family members, and colleagues over WeChat, China’s most popular social media app. They also used a stress scale to measure anxiety and depression by asking participants to rate statements such as “I felt that life was meaningless” and “I had disturbing dreams about the coronavirus epidemic.”

Bu Zhong, a journalism professor at Penn State and a coauthor of the study, said that the team began looking into the effects of social media use on people’s mental health right after Wuhan was locked down to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.

“We didn’t expect that this would become a global pandemic,” he said. “We were just thinking that we could reveal some invisible harms caused by the outbreak. In China’s situation, local media was not reporting on COVID-19. If you just read the local newspaper and watched television, you didn’t get information about the virus. This made people extremely stressed, and they began relying overwhelmingly on social media.”

Read it all.

Excessive social media use linked to depression during pandemic https://t.co/2ZxbhKzz8a

— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (@PittsburghPG) October 7, 2020

When Tammy Gimbel called to check on her 86-year-old father two weeks ago, he sounded weak. He was rushed to Sanford Medical Center in North Dakota’s capital, where doctors said he had the coronavirus. But all the hospital beds in Bismarck were full, his relatives were told, and the only options were to send him to a hospital hours away in Fargo, or to release him to be monitored by his daughter, who was herself sick with the virus.

Ms. Gimbel and her father hunkered down in a 40-foot camping trailer in her backyard to try to recover. He only got worse.

“There I sat in my camper, watching my dad shake profusely, have a 102 temperature with an oxygen level of 86,” Ms. Gimbel recalled. “I am sicker than I had been the whole time, and I wanted to cry. What was I going to do? Was I going to watch my dad die?”

As President Trump returned from the hospital, still telling Americans not to be afraid of Covid-19, the coronavirus has exploded in North Dakota. In the past week, North Dakota reported more new cases per capita than any other state. Hospitalizations for the virus have risen abruptly, forcing health care officials in some towns to send people to faraway hospitals, even across state lines to Montana and South Dakota.

Read it all.

When Tammy Gimbel’s father was taken to a South Dakota hospital two weeks ago, he was told all the hospitals in town were full. He and Ms. Gimbel, who both had the coronavirus, hunkered down in her trailer to try to recover. He only got worse. https://t.co/ULibwkDubn

— NYT Science (@NYTScience) October 8, 2020

How is someone supposed to react when a brother or sister in Christ brings an addiction to light? There isn’t a flow chart to follow, and few resources exist, especially in the midst of a pandemic. From my experience, I’ve come to believe the answer is Christian friendship. I mean friendships based in a shared hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ, marked by faithful encouragement and mutual trust.

In my community in rural Appalachia, 65 percent of people say substance abuse is the top issue affecting their quality of life. In our three-year-old church plant, more than half of the congregation has been impacted by substance addiction. As my husband and I have ministered here, we’ve seen people in varying scenarios of substance misuse and every stage of recovery.

Recent reports say that misuse of opioids and overdoses have increased in more than 40 states during the pandemic. This isn’t surprising. Addiction is too often a lonely and isolating condition.

For people of the faith who battle against substance dependence, isolation from the Christian community can exacerbate feelings of despair, shame, and worthlessness. Yet many also avoid connection because they fear condemnation. They worry about being judged if they use again or if, during recovery, they use the legal, proven medications that can help with opioid addiction, like buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone. These are frowned on by some faith communities.

Read it all.

What do you do when your brother or sister in Christ admits to an opioid addiction? Be a friend. https://t.co/GgVBaSmrHe

— Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) October 5, 2020

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned of potentially tragic economic consequences if Congress and the White House don’t provide additional support to households and businesses disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

“The expansion is still far from complete,” Mr. Powell said in his strongest remarks to date on the subject, delivered to a virtual conference of private-sector economists Tuesday. “At this early stage, I would argue that the risks of policy intervention are still asymmetric. Too little support would lead to a weak recovery, creating unnecessary hardship.

By contrast, the risks of providing too generous relief are smaller, he said. “Even if policy actions ultimately prove to be greater than needed, they will not go to waste,” he said.

A few hours after Mr. Powell spoke, President Trump said he was suspending negotiations with congressional Democrats over steps to extend unemployment benefits that lapsed in July and to provide additional aid to hard-hit businesses, cities and states.

Read it all.

“The recovery will be stronger and move faster if monetary policy+fiscal policy continue 2 work side by side 2 provide support to the economy until it is clearly out of the woods,” #Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said" https://t.co/QBf23Fbdql #economy #stimulusbill #politics #covid19

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) October 7, 2020

A two-track recovery is emerging from the country’s pandemic-driven economic contraction. Some workers, companies and regions show signs of coming out fine or even stronger. The rest are mired in a deep decline with an uncertain path ahead.

Just months ago, economists were predicting a V-shaped recovery—a rapid rebound from a steep fall—or a U-shaped path—a prolonged downturn before healing began.

What has developed is more like a K. On the upper arm of the K are well-educated and well-off people, businesses tied to the digital economy or supplying domestic necessities, and regions such as tech-forward Western cities. By and large, they are prospering.

On the bottom arm are lower-wage workers with fewer credentials, old-line businesses and regions tied to tourism and public gatherings. They can expect to bear years-long scars from the crisis.

The divergence helps explain the striking disconnect of a stock market and household wealth near record highs, while lines stretch at food banks and applications for jobless benefits continue to grow.

Read it all.

The Covid-19 economy is dealing radically different fates to Americans. Low-wage, service-sector workers face prolonged pain, while many white-collar employees in tech and finance have already bounced back. https://t.co/bQ7mafeis0

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) October 5, 2020

Nearly a third of hospitalized Covid-19 patients experienced some type of altered mental function — ranging from confusion to delirium to unresponsiveness — in the largest study to date of neurological symptoms among coronavirus patients in an American hospital system.

And patients with altered mental function had significantly worse medical outcomes, according to the study, published on Monday in Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology. The study looked at the records of the first 509 coronavirus patients hospitalized, from March 5 to April 6, at 10 hospitals in the Northwestern Medicine health system in the Chicago area.

These patients stayed three times as long in the hospital as patients without altered mental function.

After they were discharged, only 32 percent of the patients with altered mental function were able to handle routine daily activities like cooking and paying bills, said Dr. Igor Koralnik, the senior author of the study and chief of neuro-infectious disease and global neurology at Northwestern Medicine. In contrast, 89 percent of patients without altered mental function were able to manage such activities without assistance.

Read it all.

Confusion, delirium, memory loss, coma-like unresponsiveness, and other kinds of deteriorating neurological function afflict nearly a third of hospitalized coronavirus patients. Many had trouble doing everyday tasks when they went homehttps://t.co/aoVu0SfcAM

— Alfons López Tena (@alfonslopeztena) October 6, 2020

Even before Covid-19 hit, white-collar workers were under immense pressure as India’s growth stalled. Suicides among professionals have climbed for two consecutive years, averaging 23 a day in 2019, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.

“It’s the uncertainty that causes the maximum distress,” said Lakshmi Vijayakumar, a psychiatrist and suicide expert in Chennai, who added that the pandemic had led to significantly more suicides among professionals. “They are burnt out and Zoomed out,” she said. “There is the fear of infection and financial insecurity.”

The pandemic has compounded India’s economic challenges, with millions losing their jobs. The country’s economic output shrank by 24 per cent in the three months to June compared with the same period last year, the steepest fall among the world’s largest economies.

While casual labourers are beginning to pick up more work, middle-class professionals are still struggling.

Read it all.

.@SJFindlay: “Even before Covid-19 hit, white-collar workers were under immense pressure as India’s growth stalled. Suicides among professionals have climbed for two consecutive years, averaging 23 a day in 2019” https://t.co/StlN4qS4mi

— Rohan Sandhu (@Rohan_Sandhu) October 6, 2020

Movie studios have delayed dozens of big releases over the past six months as cinemas sat empty or showed films only to limited audiences.

The postponed titles include likely blockbusters such the superhero movies Wonder Woman 1984 and Black Widow along with A Quiet Place Part II and Candyman. In addition, Disney shifted several high-profile releases to online-only, including Mulan.

“The prolonged closures have had a detrimental impact on the release slate for the rest of the year, and, in turn, our ability to supply our customers with the lineup of blockbusters they’ve come to expect from us,” Greidinger said. “As such, it is simply impossible to continue operations in our primary markets.”

While the company calls the closures temporary, it did not name a date for a possible resumption of business, saying it will “continue to monitor the situation closely.”

Read it all.

The Regal theater chain — the second-biggest in the U.S. — will shut down all of its 536 locations on Thursday.

Roughly 40,000 Regal employees across the country now face a work furlough, the company tells NPR.https://t.co/qP151LBrUJ

— NPR (@NPR) October 5, 2020

In a pandemic, it is better to own a company built on customer data than one with bricks and mortar retail outlets. Indeed, it may turn out to be smarter to own companies rich in intangible assets from any sector rather than bet on the Big Tech companies that have been driving the S&P 500. This will be particularly true if regulators begin to pick apart the business models of Facebook, Google and the like.

Finally, coronavirus-related digital shifts may put a lot more downward pressure on pricing power than expected, according to Robert Kaplan, head of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank. In a recent essay on US economic conditions and monetary policy in the wake of the pandemic, he noted how people’s work and shopping habits have changed. They are doing more online, which allows digital platforms to grow bigger, and this in turn has damped business pricing power.

“To respond to this trend, businesses are investing substantially more in technology to replace people, lower their costs and improve their competitiveness,” he wrote.

Read it all.

The economic recovery from the pandemic is likely to be led by digital firms and investment – that could mean a slower job recovery and reduced risk of higher inflation: FT column by @ranaforoohar https://t.co/q19enVV4DQ

— Tony Tassell (@TonyTassell) October 4, 2020

Read it all.

About 10 percent of American adults, 22.3 million, reported they sometimes or often didn’t have enough to eat within the past week. That is up from 18 million before March 13. https://t.co/kztkhvKKsZ

— Jake Bernstein (@Jake_Bernstein) October 3, 2020

The first indication that things weren’t quite right was when I was walking my dog on Monday evening last week. I was aware that my muscles were aching, but, as I was otherwise fine, I thought no more of it. However, at three the next morning, I woke shivering all over. An hour later, I was drenched in sweat. My temperature was 38.4º. I knew I needed to self-isolate and get a test. Feeling so grim that I couldn’t sleep, I curled up on the sofa, and at 6 a.m. started trying to book a test online.

Four and a half frustrating hours later, I got a drive-through appointment for later that afternoon. I wasn’t that worried. I had been careful, and I didn’t know anyone else locally who had been ill; so I thought that I had one of the colds that seemed to be doing the rounds. I had a horrid sore throat and congested sinuses, which seemed to support my assumption. It was just irritating having to self-isolate until the test came back.

The test centre were friendly and efficient, and told me I would probably have the result within 24 hours; so we started planning what we would do when I got the all-clear. My husband had a list for the supermarket. I was going to walk the rather bored dog.

I spent most of the next 24 hours in bed, dosed up on paracetamol to hold the fever and aches at bay (although I did lead a brief online midweek service from my living room). Then, on Wednesday afternoon, I woke up from yet another nap to find a text on my phone. I had tested positive for Covid.

There have been many surprises about this diagnosis. The first is the sheer amount of Covid-related admin there is.

Read it all.

Infected vicar: ‘I thought I had been careful’ https://t.co/Xc6sjBxwg5

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) October 2, 2020

President Trump revealed early Friday morning that he and the first lady, Melania Trump, had tested positive for the coronavirus, throwing the nation’s leadership into uncertainty and escalating the crisis posed by a pandemic that has already killed more than 207,000 Americans and devastated the economy.

Mr. Trump, who for months has played down the seriousness of the virus and hours earlier on Thursday night told an audience that “the end of the pandemic is in sight,” will quarantine in the White House for an unspecified period of time, forcing him to withdraw at least temporarily from the campaign trail only 32 days before the election on Nov. 3.

The dramatic disclosure came in a Twitter message just before 1 a.m. after a suspenseful evening following reports that Mr. Trump’s close adviser Hope Hicks had tested positive. In her own tweet about 30 minutes later, Mrs. Trump wrote that the first couple were “feeling good,” but the White House did not say whether they were experiencing symptoms. The president’s physician said he could carry out his duties “without disruption” from the Executive Mansion.

Read it all.

Breaking News: President Trump tested positive for the coronavirus, throwing the nation’s leadership and his re-election campaign into uncertainty.https://t.co/GJjHpsPamk

— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 2, 2020

South Carolina restaurants will no longer be legally obliged to conform to social distancing restrictions designed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Henry McMaster announced Thursday.

Among the dining protocols that will be made optional by McMaster’s modification of his July 29 executive order are capacity limits and table spacing.

A provision prohibiting guests from congregating at bars will remain in place, along with a rule requiring employees to wear face coverings.

An 11 p.m. restaurant alcohol sales cutoff, covered by a separate executive order, also still stands.

Read it all.

JUST IN: Gov. McMaster plans to relax seating restrictions on SC restaurants, lifting 50% occupancy limit https://t.co/4VmqiokGC2

— Andy Shain (@AndyShain) October 1, 2020

A team of Indian and U.S. researchers examined data from 575,071 individuals who were tested after coming into contact with 84,965 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19. That’s an average of seven contacts per case, and a cohort more than 10 times larger than in a previous study from South Korea that mapped how the virus was transmitted.

“It’s the largest epidemiological study anywhere on COVID by far,” said the lead author, Ramanan Laxminarayan of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy, in New Delhi.

Laxminarayan and his colleagues found that just 8% of people with COVID-19 accounted for 60% of the new infections observed among the contacts. Meanwhile, 7 out of 10 COVID-19 patients were not linked to any new cases.

The finding underscores the essential role of super-spreaders in the COVID-19 pandemic: One individual or event, such as in a poorly ventilated indoor space, can trigger a high number of new infections, while others might not transmit the virus at all.

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Largest study of COVID-19 transmission highlights essential role of super-spreaders https://t.co/oZdDGu6LZ6

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) September 30, 2020

David King, director of the Lake Institute, said the institute surveyed 555 congregations for the study, mostly from a wide range of Christian traditions, along with a few Jewish and Muslim groups.

While not a representative sample, he said, the study gives a snapshot of how congregations have fared during the COVID-19.

Most have done pretty well, with both participation and finances holding steady.

About half (52%) have seen more people participating during the pandemic. At more than half, giving has remained the same or increased, while 41% of congregations say giving has gone down. Only 14% have had to cut or furlough staff, in part because many congregations (65%) had received a Payroll Protection Program loan from the Small Business Administration.

King said he was surprised by how well congregations adapted during the pandemic, especially in the early days last spring.

“Congregations really buckled down and did amazing work, quickly pivoting to online services and responding in a lot of creative ways,” he said.

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NEW Ahead of the Trend

New study shows that during COVID-19 most congregations "have done pretty well, with both participation and finances holding steady."@RNS @LakeInstitute https://t.co/4GvYF16ZWm

— theARDA.com (@ReligionData) October 1, 2020