Contagion Live News Network: Coronavirus Updates for April 16, 2020

Welcome to the Contagion Live News Network I’m Michaela Fleming and this is your coronavirus update for Thursday April 16^th.

There are now more than 2 million cases of COVID-19 worldwide. Six hundred thousand of those cases are in the United States.

Social distancing may be far from over in New Jersey — the headquarters of Contagion®. Governor Phil Murphy recently said that he would not be shocked if social distancing continued into June or even July. Cases in the Garden State have been rising by the thousands each day and have surpassed 70,000. According to Murphy, when social distancing is lifted a new reality may include decreased capacities in restaurants and places where gatherings are held along with symptom screening prior to entry.

Be sure to check out Contagion®’s updated listicle on COVID-19 clinical trials that has been adapted from clinicaltrials.gov.

Last night we featured an article on Abbott Laboratory’s launch of a COVID-19 serology test and 2 emergency use authorizations for COVID-19 antibody tests.

New COVID-19 articles also zero in on the potential impact that COVID-19 can have on mental health. A new study has found that health care workers treating COVID-19 face a higher risk of insomnia. Additionally, a letter included in the CDC’s Emerging Infectious Diseases examined the emergency psychological crisis interventions that were implemented in China in the wake of COVID-19 spread. Finally, a viewpoint in JAMA Internal Medicine breaks down guidance on psychological first aid which can help offset short and longer-term mental health consequences of social distancing.

Also be sure to check out our latest expert interview. In this interview we were joined by Dr. Jeannette Bouchard, an infectious diseases pharmacy fellow at the University of South Carolina and Prisma Health.

For other stories relevant to COVID-19 and the latest infectious disease news, visit ContagionLive.com. To track the spread of the pandemic in the United States and abroad, be sure to use the Contagion® Outbreak Monitor.

For the Contagion Live News Network, I’m Michaela Fleming. Thanks for tuning in.