Coronavirus weekly need-to-know: Home spread, antibodies, pregnancy risks & more
Each week, McClatchy News offers you a round-up of our noteworthy coronavirus coverage from across the nation.
More than 9.8 million people in the United States have tested positive for the coronavirus as of Saturday, Nov. 7, according to Johns Hopkins University. That includes more than 236,000 people who have died nationwide.
The United States leads the world in both confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths.
As Americans intensely followed election vote counting, the country recorded more than 100,000 new COVID-19 cases in just 24 hours — the most reported in a single day in the U.S. or any other country since the pandemic began.
Globally, there are more than 49.7 million confirmed cases of the highly infectious virus, with more than 1.2 million reported deaths.
Here’s the news you need to know for the week of Nov. 1.
Coronavirus spread in your home
A study based on families in Tennessee and Wisconsin found that the coronavirus spreads much faster within households than previously thought — with 51% of individuals living with an infected person contracting the virus themselves.
The researchers say immediate self-isolation and mask wearing should take place as soon as someone in your home becomes sick, especially as winter approaches and people start to spend more time indoors.
Continue reading to learn how quickly you can get sick when living with someone with COVID-19.
Antibodies last about four months, one study says
A new U.K. study of more than 3,000 health care workers found that coronavirus antibodies decline by half in just under three months and disappear after about four and a half.
The findings suggest people may not be able to depend on antibodies as a form of protection from a second infection, as several studies still aren’t clear about what level of immunity they provide and for how long.
Read on to learn more about how antibodies reacted in people of different ages, ethnicities and disease severity.
Gastrointestinal symptoms more common than we thought
A review of 36 published studies on COVID-19 that include thousands of patients found that nearly one in five infected individuals may show only gastrointestinal symptoms, such as loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain.
The number of people affected by these symptoms is likely an underestimate, the researchers say, because of under-reporting early in the pandemic before doctors knew what to look for.
Researchers explain what healthcare professionals and the public should look for and why.
Pregnant women with COVID-19 face higher risks of death
An analysis of more than 400,000 women who are between 15 and 44 years old and diagnosed with COVID-19 revealed that those who were pregnant had a 70% increased risk of dying compared to those who were not, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Pregnant women who are 35-44 years old and positive for COVID-19 were nearly four times as likely to require invasive ventilation and twice as likely to die than nonpregnant women of the same age.
Read on to learn about how pregnancy impacts risks of death, hospitalization and invasive ventilation among women of different races, ethnicities and ages.
Record number of children infected with COVID-19
More than 61,000 children were diagnosed with the coronavirus in the U.S. last week — the highest number reported in one week since the pandemic began, according to a report from The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.
Although children represent just 11% of all COVID-19 cases in states and territories that report cases by age, that percentage equals more than 853,000 infected kids.
Learn more about how the number of infected kids in each state compares to one another.
Artificial intelligence and asymptomatic coughs
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed an artificial intelligence model that could distinguish between a healthy cough and one that comes from an asymptomatic coronavirus patient.
The differences are nonexistent to the naked human ear, but the AI was able to accurately identify nearly 99% of coughs from people with COVID-19, including all of the coughs from individuals without symptoms.
Continue reading to find out how.
Indiana college student with COVID-19 dies in dorm room
A 20-year-old student at Indiana’s Grace College was found dead Thursday in her dorm room, where she was quarantining with COVID-19 symptoms, the school announced.
However, autopsy officials declared Bethany Nesbitt’s cause of death natural because of a pulmonary embolism “that had not been previously detected,” Coroner Tony Ciriello said.
First child dies of COVID-19 in Missouri
An eighth-grade boy in Missouri has died from coronavirus complications, his family says. He’s the first person in the state under the age of 18 to die from the disease, data show.
Peyton Baumgarth’s family said he was hospitalized after developing symptoms but never improved. He was admitted to the hospital on Thursday and died two days later on Saturday.
In other coronavirus coverage outside McClatchy...
Texas passes California for highest number of COVID-19 cases in US
Top Trump adviser bluntly contradicts president on COVID-19 threat, urging all-out response
Officials say a flu shot can help people avoid complications from COVID-19
Pope Criticizes People Who Complain About Pandemic Restrictions
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Self-Isolates After Coming Into Contact With Covid-19 Case
This story was originally published November 6, 2020 at 4:44 AM with the headline "Coronavirus weekly need-to-know: Home spread, antibodies, pregnancy risks & more."
