What Immunity to COVID-19 Really Means

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April 10, 2020

Dear Reader, At this early stage of understanding the new coronavirus, it's unclear where COVID-19 falls on the immunity spectrum. Recovered patients appear to have antibodies for at least two weeks, but long-term data are still lacking. The FDA recently granted an emergency use authorization of a blood test for antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Right now, researchers are scrambling to find out how long these antibodies last and if they protect against reinfection. Today's main story explains how antibody tests could provide a clearer picture of the pandemic—and eventually might be the key to getting our lives and economies back on track.

Sunya Bhutta, Senior Editor, Audience Engagement @sunyaaa

Public Health What Immunity to COVID-19 Really Means The presence of antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 virus could provide some protection, but scientists need more data By Stacey McKenna

Public Health Why Daily Death Tolls Are So Important in Understanding the Coronavirus Pandemic COVID-19's lethality provides a grim opportunity to track its spread By Nidhi Subbaraman,Nature magazine

Public Health FEMA Report Warned of Pandemic Vulnerability Months before COVID-19 Posted in late July, the document foresaw many current impacts, including overwhelmed hospitals and disruptions in essential services By Thomas Frank,E&E News

Engineering Winged "PigeonBot" Flies with Real Feathers   A flying robot reveals how birds stay aloft and could inspire next-generation drones By Jim Daley

Evolution Why We Have So Many Problems with Our Teeth Our choppers are crowded, crooked and riddled with cavities. It hasn't always been this way By Peter S. Ungar

Public Health A New Web Tool Can Help You Figure Out if Those Symptoms Might Be COVID-19 It's not meant to diagnose, but it can flag signs and risk factors that indicate the possibility of serious disease

Behavior & Society Whatever Helps You Feel Less Afraid, Tired and Lonely, Do That Research on positive psychology may help prevent burnout By Andrea Gawrylewski

FROM THE STORE Ask the Experts: Chemistry In this installment of the Ask the Experts series, Chemistry, our professors, scientists and researchers tackle reader questions about the substances that compose all matter, their properties and how they interact and change. Queries range from elementary questions, such as why some elements change color over a flame, to how chemistry works in everyday life to how certain substances affect the body and more.

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FROM THE ARCHIVE Ignite Your Gas Furnace with Your Bare Finger Originally published in March 1861 | April 2020

QUOTE OF THE DAY "It's a time for nonjudgment, leeway for extra emotions, extra naps and extra ice cream. Whatever helps you feel less afraid, tired and lonely, do that. And do it again." Andrea Gawrylewski, Senior Editor of Special Collector's Editions, Scientific American

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