Covid-19

Researchers from Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) have developed a COVID-19 alert system which will send a message to users through a mobile app if they and an infected person have visited the same place within a time period that gives rise to risks of exposure. The system will not collect users’ personal information and location data, thereby protecting individuals’ privacy while alerting them on disease transmission risks associated with confirmed infection cases.

Scientists have reviewed reported cases and testing data of COVID-19 and have determined that changes in the testing rate may be masking the true growth rate and extent of the pandemic.

The older population and those with dementia around the world are facing an unprecedented threat from COVID-19 which threatens them with a higher risk of death when infected. As of 23 August 2020, in Hong Kong, the mortality rate for people aged 60 or above was around 6.27%, which was almost 105 times of those below 60 (0.06%). All deaths from the third wave of COVID-19 in Hong Kong are 60 years old or above. Data from the United Kingdom showed that having dementia was associated with a two-fold increase in the risk of death from COVID-19. In light of this, a dementia team of the Faculty of Medicine at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CU Medicine), initiated an international effort to devise strategies that can reduce the adverse impact which can come from public health interventions and protect them from getting COVID-19.

Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) will hold a two-day online international symposium with the theme "COVID-19 and Beyond, Culturally Speaking" on 15 and 16 September 2020. The novel initiative aims to analyse the COVID-19 pandemic from a cultural perspective.

A group of scientists have detected genetic material from SARS-CoV-2 in untreated wastewater samples collected in April 2020 from two wastewater treatment plants in Louisiana, USA.

Under the “Saving the Lives of Healthcare Workers” project in the Philippines, ASSIST and Project HOPE will distribute kits of personal protective equipment (PPE) to select hospitals and health facilities in COVID-19 hotspots in the Philippines.

A group of researchers have demonstrated that, from seven methods commonly used to test for viruses in untreated wastewater, an adsorption-extraction technique can most efficiently detect SARS-CoV-2. This gives us another tool to detect the presence and spread of the COVID-19 pandemic

Forty-five of the world’s most influential leaders and innovators participated in EmTech Asia. They discussed how emerging technologies will influence industries related to artificial intelligence, robotics, sustainability, healthcare, immersive media, and more.

Researchers from the Faculty of Medicine at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CU Medicine) have recently conducted a study to investigate the impact of liver injury on clinical outcomes in COVID-19 patients. Data from over 1,000 COVID-19 patients in Hong Kong was analysed and liver injury was found in around 20% of the patients. The estimated risk of COVID-19 patients with liver injury experiencing adverse clinical outcomes such as intensive care unit (ICU) admission, use of invasive mechanical ventilation or death was almost eight times of other patients. It is suggested that liver function monitoring is important regarding its association with adverse clinical outcomes in COVID-19 patients. These findings have been published recently in the world-renowned medical journal Gut. In view of the high prevalence of various chronic liver diseases in the Asia-Pacific region, CU Medicine’s researchers led a group of experts from Mainland China, Japan, Singapore and Australia to issue a position statement on the management of COVID-19 patients with liver derangement. The statement has been published recently in another international medical journal The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology.

In a May 2020 Webinar, Dr. Sam Shah, Global Digital Health Advisor and Consultant with UK’s National Health System (NHS) discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping healthcare with technology, specifically the response of UK’s NHS.

COVID19 is teaching us one more new lesson – to look for new-onset diabetes and other non-communicable diseases in COVID19 patients by post-COVID19 vigilance.

Large improvements of air quality in China during the COVID-19 lockdown have been widely reported, but new research reveals that the two pollutants most harmful to human health, fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone, were only slightly reduced.

The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown up unimaginable challenges for healthcare workers. Even simple outpatient procedures such as endoscopies can expose staff to the risk of infection.

A simple, rapid assay­­ to evaluate neutralizing antibodies that target the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor binding domain (RBD) is described in a paper published in Nature Biotechnology.

– Human dosing of LUNAR-COV19 expected soon. – Differentiated STARR™ mRNA vaccine expected to produce humoral and cellular immunity at very low doses. – New preclinical data demonstrates neutralising antibody titres continue to increase for 50 days after a single administration.

IBM teams up with UN SDSN Youth Philippines to deliver a highly trained artificial intelligence chatbot on COVID-19.

Filipino youth organization, UN SDSN Youth – Philippines, is paving the way for accessible information on the current pandemic.

Researchers from the School of Biomedical Sciences of the Faculty of Medicine at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CU Medicine) have recently applied an advanced statistical approach to analyse risk factors that may be causally related to COVID-19 infection. Results suggested that diabetes may be a risk factor leading to increased susceptibility to or severity of COVID-19 infection through changes in ACE2 expression, which is a key receptor for the virus. A substantial proportion of COVID-19 death cases in Hong Kong suffered from diabetes. There is an urgent need to confirm risk factors and the mechanisms in order to protect the susceptible groups and identify effective treatments. The current study results were recently published in the international scientific journal Diabetes Care.

The JUL 2020 regular issue of the Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences Research (JHSSR), Volume 2 (1) JUL. 2020 has been published ahead of time on 30 Jun 2020 and is now live at the Journal’s webpage.

- 2020 competition sees 30 student teams from institutions around the region competing in a showcase of mastery in state-of-the-art high-performance computing and artificial intelligence - This year’s competition includes ‘real-world’ scenarios including two new challenges to support COVID-19 research

The Faculty of Medicine at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CU Medicine) has recently conducted a global survey to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on urological care. This is the world’s first survey of its kind and includes a large sample of urology professionals from 6 continents. Results from over 1,000 participants showed that on average 28% of urology outpatient clinics, 30% of outpatient investigations and procedures, and 31% of urological surgeries had a delay of more than 8 weeks. The degree of cut-down of urological services increased with the degree of COVID-19 outbreak.

Have you ever thought about why some people are more vulnerable to catching a virus? And why some get more severe infection than others? Gut microbiota, which is a fine balance between good and bad bacteria, regulates our immune system. Imbalance in gut microbiota (dysbiosis) will make us susceptible to infections.

A new study found that animals sampled in the wildlife-trade supply chain bound for human consumption had high proportions of coronaviruses, and that the proportion of positives significantly increases as animals travel from traders, to large markets, to restaurants.

The journal provides a fast and convenient route to the most recently published articles in your subject areas. It's important to stay alert!

COVID19 is teaching us several new lessons and also preaching us to learn from the past experiences.

With increasing unemployment, economists are devising and proposing economic measures that could help ensure a sustainable increase in consumer spending and circumvent a long-term economic recession. However, whether the proposed economic measures are going to provide a long-term solution to these problems remains a concern.

Wastewater could be used as a surveillance tool to monitor the invasion, spread and eradication of COVID-19 in communities.

Researchers have succeeded in detecting anti-avian influenza virus antibody in blood serum within 20 minutes, using a portable analyzer they have developed to conduct rapid on-site bio tests. If a suitable reagent is developed, this technology could be used to detect antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the causative virus of COVID-19.

Research into how the SARS-CoV-2 virus induces death is suggesting potential treatments for its most destructive complications.

Thursday, 21 May 2020, 4:00 PM (GMT +8)