COVID-19 Update: Friday, October 16

It’s a little heavy today. Numbers, Europe, Long-COVID, and Sperm.

1. Numbers are increasing not just in the US but around the world. Globally we added 2.4 million new cases, the largest weekly increase since the beginning of the pandemic. The US added 385k new cases this week, the biggest weekly increase since early August. Deaths in the US held steady but serious cases continue to increase. Serious cases tend to be where our deaths come from and typically there is a lag between someone becoming seriously ill and someone dying so we monitor the serious cases to predict future deaths. I have pasted some charts below to show the trends over time.

2. European countries such as France, Germany, and Ireland are adding additional restrictions as cases increase. France is particularly hard hit with hospitals and medics reporting they are becoming overwhelmed.

3. Long COVID seems to be a combination of 4 possible syndromes impacting several areas in the body. One working theory is that symptoms appear in one part of the body, then go away and new symptoms appear somewhere else. Here is an article where you can read more: https://evidence.nihr.ac.uk/themedreview/living-with-covid19/

4. Additional research is ongoing regarding the impact COVID may have on male fertility. You may recall we discussed this previously, the current understanding is that SARS-CoV-2 has a negative impact on sperm formation and function. You can read more here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33025529/ This is not a research paper but an overview.

Chart 1: This shows our change in cases week over week – i.e. new cases each week since Memorial Day. You can see we are trending back up.

Chart 2: This shows our new deaths each week beginning from Memorial Day. You can see that overall we are trending down.

Chart 3: This shows our change in serious cases (the pool from which our deaths most likely come). Those below the line are weeks in which we saw negative increases. As you can see, we have begun to trend the wrong way.

Chart 4 is our CFR (case fatality rate). This is the percentage of known cases that die. This number is still trending down which is great news. The downward trend is due to several things including (but not limited to) increased testing (the more mild and asymptomatic cases we find the more it helps this number) and improved treatment/care.

FINAL THOUGHTS: We have once again made it to Friday and that deserves to be celebrated because one thing there is not nearly enough of in 2020 is things to celebrate. Celebrate the little things. Take the weekend off from politics, social media, and negativity and focus on the things that bring you joy. We have made it ½ way through the October level of 2020, that is something to celebrate! See you back on Monday.