The New Yorker | For thousands of years, a parasite with no name lived happily among horseshoe bats in southern China. The bats had evolved to the point that they did not notice; they went about their nightly flights unbothered.
“Over time, as viruses evolve with their natural habitats, they tend to cause less severe disease. And that is good for both the host and the virus.”
OneZero | In an attempt to stem the tide of the coronavirus pandemic, more than 25 governments around the world have instituted temporary or indefinite efforts to single out infected individuals or maintain quarantines. Many of these efforts, in turn, undermine personal privacy.
“It’s a complex trade-off: Governments need information to create containment strategies and know where to focus resources. At the same time, governments have a way of holding onto tools that undermine citizens’ privacy long after the moment of crisis has passed.”
Nature | More than a dozen research groups worldwide have started analysing wastewater for the new coronavirus as a way to estimate the total number of infections in a community, given that most people will not be tested.
Tracking viral particles in wastewater could give public-health officials a head start on deciding whether to introduce measures such as lockdowns, she says. “Seven to ten days can make a lot of difference in the severity of this outbreak.”
The New York Times | On a recent Saturday night, Derrick Jones, a D.J. who performs under the name D-Nice, live-streamed himself working his turntables from his home in Los Angeles, where he was self-isolating.
“Time and space collapsed as tens of thousands of people experienced the same song, the same shared spirit, no matter who or where they were. Kind of like Covid-19 itself.”
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