Coronavirus vaccine could be ready by April, Chinese officials say

Chinese officials say they’ll have a coronavirus vaccine ready next month for emergency situations and clinical trials.
Eight institutes in the country are working on five approaches to inoculations in an effort to combat COVID-19, according to the South China Morning Post. The contagious illness has sickened more than 118,000 people and killed at least 4,200 worldwide, mostly in mainland China, as of Tuesday afternoon.
“According to our estimates, we are hopeful that in April some of the vaccines will enter clinical research or be of use in emergency situations,” Zheng Zhongwei, director of the National Health Commission’s Science and Technology Development Center, said Friday.
While it would take at least 12 to 18 months to ensure the vaccines are safe for the general public, under Chinese law, they can be deployed earlier for urgent use in a major public health emergency, as long as the benefits outweigh the risks.
Zheng waved off concerns about the safety of the vaccines, saying they were being developed in ­accordance with “scientific and standardized technical requirements,” The Australian reported.
In the US, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company Moderna Inc., shipped its vaccine to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for testing late last month. Initial results could be released by July or August.
https://nypost.com/2020/03/10/coronavirus-vaccine-could-be-ready-by-april-chinese-officials-say/

UK health minister Nadine Dorries tests positive for coronavirus

A British health minister has tested positive for the coronavirus.
Conservative politician Nadine Dorries is the first member of parliament to catch COVID-19, the BBC reported.
Dorries, who has served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care since 2019, is self-isolating at home.
“Public Health England has started detailed contact tracing and the department and my parliamentary office are closely following their advice,” she said in a statement.
Dorries, 62, attended an International Women’s Day event with Prime Minister Boris Johnson Thursday, the day before she fell ill, according to The Mirror.
She was also in close contact with hundreds of people in parliament in the past week,
Dorries helped draft legislation to tackle the coronavirus outbreak.
Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, tweeted that he was “really sorry to hear” Dorries had tested positive.
“She has done the right thing by self isolating at home …,” Hancock wrote. “We all wish her well as she recovers.”
The UK has 382 cases of the virus and six people there have died of the flu-like illness.
https://nypost.com/2020/03/10/british-health-minister-nadine-dorries-tests-positive-for-coronavirus/

International sports events hit by the coronavirus epidemic

Here is a list of international sports events hit by the coronavirus outbreak:

ITALY

* All sports events have been canceled until April 3.

OLYMPICS

* The Tokyo 2020 Olympics torch lighting ceremony in ancient Olympia will be held without spectators.

NORTH AMERICA

* Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League have temporarily restricted locker room access to players and essential staff.

ATHLETICS

* The World Athletics Indoor Championships, scheduled for Nanjing from March 13-15, have been postponed until next year.
* The Paris and Barcelona marathons have been postponed.

SOCCER

* FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation have agreed to postpone the Asian World Cup qualifying matches in March and June.
* Four Champions League games — Valencia v Atalanta (March 10), Paris Saint Germain v Borussia Dortmund (March 11), Barcelona v Napoli (March 18), and Bayern Munich bit.ly/3cMNMFK v Chelsea (March 18) will take place without fans.
* La Liga matches will be played without fans for at least the next two rounds of fixtures, the Spanish league said on March 10.
* Manchester United’s Europa League last-16 tie against LASK will be played in an empty stadium.
* The Slovenian Football Association has said here all local and international matches in the country will be played without spectators until further notice.
* Borussia Moenchengladbach will play Cologne in an empty stadium on March 11 in the Bundesliga, while the Ruhr valley derby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 on March 15 will also be played without fans.
* The French Ligue 1 game between RC Strasbourg and Paris St Germain scheduled for March 7 was postponed.
* The Europa League last 16, first leg between Olympiakos against Wolverhampton Wanderers on March 12 will go ahead in Piraeus without spectators.
* All French Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 soccer matches until April 15 will be played without spectators.
* The March 31 friendly international between Germany and Italy in Nuremberg will take place behind closed doors.
* Poland’s international friendlies against Finland on March 27 and Ukraine four days later will take place without spectators.
* Players in England’s Premier League will forgo traditional pre-match handshakes.
* Players from Danish clubs Brondby and Lyngby are in isolation after they met former international Thomas Kahlenberg, who has tested positive for the virus.
* The Swiss league has been put on hold until at least March 23.
* All Romanian league matches will be played without fans until further notice.
* All Bulgarian league matches in the next two rounds will be played without fans.
* Ticket are not currently being sold for the Euro 2020 qualifying playoff semi-finals between Bulgaria and Hungary and Bosnia and Northern Ireland.
* Slovakia will host Ireland in their Euro 2020 qualifying playoff semi-final on March 26 without any spectators.
* New seasons in the Chinese, Japanese and South Korean professional leagues have been postponed.
* Asian Champions League matches involving Chinese clubs Guangzhou Evergrande, Shanghai Shenhua and Shanghai SIPG have been postponed. The start of the knockout rounds has been moved back to September.

FORMULA ONE

* The Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai has been postponed.
* The Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead on March 22 without fans.

MOTOGP

* The opening three rounds of the season in Qatar, Thailand and Texas will not go ahead as scheduled.

TENNIS

* The BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells has been canceled.
* The WTA has canceled the Xi’an Open and Kunming Open.

RUGBY

* Three Six Nations matches have been postponed.
* The women’s Six Nations game between Scotland and France scheduled was postponed after a home player tested positive for coronavirus.
* The Singapore and Hong Kong legs of the World Rugby Sevens Series have been postponed from April to October.

ROWING

* Two World Rowing Cups, the European Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta and the final Paralympic Qualification Regatta, all due to be held in Italy between April 10 and May 10, have been canceled here

TABLE TENNIS

* The world championships in Busan, South Korea, have been pushed back provisionally from March to June.
* The April 21-26 World Tour Japan Open in Kitakyushu has been postponed.

WINTER SPORTS

* Germany’s Ice Hockey League (DEL) suspended the championship with immediate effect and canceled the playoffs, saying no championship would be awarded in 2020.
* The Women’s World Ice Hockey Championships in Canada have been canceled.
* The speed skating world championships in Seoul have been postponed until at least October.

BOXING

* The Olympic boxing qualifiers for Asia and Oceania were moved to Jordan from China.

GOLF

* The Honda LPGA Thailand event and the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore have been canceled.
* The Maybank Championship in Kuala Lumpur and the China Open have been postponed.

CYCLING

* The final two stages of the UAE Tour were canceled after two Italian participants tested positive for coronavirus.
* Four teams have pulled out of several cycling races in Italy.

AUSTRALIAN RULES

* The AFL game between St Kilda Saints and Port Adelaide Power scheduled for May 31 in China has been moved to Melbourne.

WEIGHTLIFTING

* The Asian Championships, scheduled to take place in Uzbekistan, have been canceled.

BASEBALL

* The final qualification tournament for the Olympics in Taiwan has been put back from April to June 17-21.
* Japan’s professional league has postponed the start of the new season.

CRICKET

* The ICC postponed the men’s Cricket World Cup Challenge League A that was set to begin on March 16 in Malaysia.

JUDO

* The International Judo Federation canceled all Olympic qualification events through to the end of April.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-sport-factbox/sports-events-hit-by-the-coronavirus-epidemic-idUSKBN20S1ZD

Washington state may have 64K COVID-19 cases without ‘real action’ – governor

Washington Governor Jay Inslee on Tuesday said he was considering mandatory measures to prevent an increase in coronavirus cases that could reach 64,000 in the state within eight weeks unless “real action” was taken.

Inslee said epidemiologists warned there were likely as many as 500 to 2,000 coronavirus cases in Washington, and given the rate of spread of the highly contagious respiratory illness, the number could double every five to eight days.
Washington state cases jumped by 105 to 267 cases on Tuesday with 24 deaths, nearly all of them in the greater-Seattle area.
“Whether it’s 500 today or 1,500 or 2,000, that just goes to a very large number, very quickly,” Inslee said.
Asked by reporters whether he was considering mandatory measures like school closures statewide, or just in hard-hit areas, Inslee said he expected to have news on that “in very short order.”
“Shutting down any social activity has profound consequences in people’s lives,” said Inslee. “You have to see if there are ways to reduce them or ameliorate that.”
“If there are 1,000 people infected today, in seven to eight weeks there could be 64,000 people infected in the state of Washington if we don’t somehow slow down this epidemic,” Inslee said. “And in the next week it could be 120,000 and in the next a quarter of a million.”
There were reports following Inslee’s briefing that he suggested a statewide lockdown was possible.
“He did not say that,” Inslee spokeswoman Tara Lee said in response to a question on these reports.
New York is closing schools, houses of worship and other large gatherings in the suburb at the center of that state’s outbreak.
Most schools have stayed open in the Seattle area, drawing criticism as the area reported nearly all coronavirus deaths in the United States.
“New York under the leadership of Governor Cuomo is taking some of the strongest and sensible mitigation steps in U.S.,” tweeted Scott Gottlieb, former head of the Food and Drug Administration. “It stands in stark contrast to Washington State, which has been slow to act forcefully in Seattle.”

Washington coronavirus deaths have been among nursing home residents, with two more care facilities reporting fatalities on Tuesday.
Nineteen residents of the Life Care Center Kirkland have died, as well as one at an Issaquah home and another at a Seattle senior-living facility, King County reported.
After a delay, testing of Life Care Center staff has begun in earnest, spokesman Tim Killian said on Tuesday. So far, 55 of the nursing home’s original 120 residents have tested positive for the virus and 64 of its 180 staff are at home sick with virus symptoms, he said.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-washington/washington-state-could-have-64000-coronavirus-cases-without-real-action-governor-warns-idUSKBN20X2R8

U.S. will soon issue coronavirus recommendations to four states: Pence

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Tuesday that federal authorities would unveil recommendations in the next 24 hours aimed at stopping the spread of coronavirus in the four states hardest hit so far by the outbreak.
“In the next 24 hours, we will be working with not only Washington state, but California, with New York and Florida and unveiling our recommendations – CDC’s recommendations,” Pence told reporters at the White House, referring to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-states/u-s-will-soon-issue-coronavirus-recommendations-to-four-states-pence-idUSKBN20X38X

Coronavirus fears prompt Biden, Sanders to cancel campaign rallies

Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders called off their primary election-night rallies over coronavirus fears, forgoing the traditional spectacle of addressing cheering supporters as polls close in six states across the country.

The dueling Tuesday night rallies, the first major U.S. campaign events to be canceled because of the outbreak, had been scheduled for Cleveland in Ohio, which along with Florida, Illinois and Arizona hold nominating contests next Tuesday ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
Six states, including Michigan, were holding their contests on Tuesday to help choose the Democratic nominee to challenge Republican President Donald Trump in November’s general election.
“We are heeding the public warnings from Ohio state officials, who have communicated concern about holding large, indoor events during the coronavirus outbreak,” Mike Casca, the Sanders campaign communications director, said in a statement.
Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s communications director, said the rally would be canceled “in accordance with guidance from public officials and out of an abundance of caution.” Biden planned instead to speak to reporters in Philadelphia, where he also was expected to address the coronavirus crisis.
The campaign has narrowed to a two-way battle between Biden, the former vice president running as a moderate, and Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont and a self-described democratic socialist.
Both candidates have criticized the Trump administration over its response to the coronavirus, which causes a highly contagious and sometimes fatal respiratory illness known as COVID-19.
The disease has so far sickened more than 800 in the United States and killed 28, mostly in Washington state. Washington also conducts its primary on Tuesday, though voting in that contest occurs by mail.
Both campaigns said they would consult with health officials about future events, hours after Ohio Governor Mike DeWine called for all large-scale indoor gatherings to be avoided.
While the outbreak has shaken financial markets, forced school closures and prompted organizers to cancel concerts, conferences and sporting events, the candidates have largely pressed on as usual, holding events and shaking hands.

Trump, who has sought to play down the extent of the threat, has held several campaign rallies in recent weeks aimed at stealing the spotlight from the Democrats seeking to challenge him in the November election.
Concerns over the virus have had an impact on local election officials, who are preparing for the possibility of absent poll workers, creating long lines at voting locations. A Democratic presidential candidate forum in Florida scheduled for Thursday was canceled.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-election/coronavirus-fears-prompt-biden-sanders-to-cancel-campaign-rallies-idUSKBN20X37A

Regeneron, Sanofi to Test Arthritis Drug as Coronavirus Treatment

Drugmakers Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Sanofi SA are racing to launch clinical trials exploring whether their arthritis drug could treat symptoms of novel coronavirus infections.
The study preparations mark the latest effort in an emerging front in researchers’ hunt for effective treatments for Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus. In the U.S., there aren’t any drugs or vaccines approved for the condition.
The research aims to see whether certain drugs already on the market to tackle immune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis could help ease damage to the lungs and respiratory system caused by the immune system’s overreaction to the virus causing Covid-19. The drugs wouldn’t treat the underlying virus.
The research aims to see whether certain drugs already on the market to tackle immune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis could help ease damage to the lungs and respiratory system caused by the immune system’s overreaction to the Covid-19 virus, rather than killing it.
The Sanofi and Regeneron drug, called Kevzara, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2017 to treat rheumatoid arthritis.
“The goal would be in the next couple of weeks to have the trial up and running, and in weeks to months after that to have the data,” Regeneron Chief Scientific Officer George Yancopoulos said in an interview on Tuesday.
Boosting the rationale for studying Kevzara’s effect on Covid-19 was a recent report by Chinese researchers that a similar-acting drug, Actemra from Roche Holding AG, had helped a small group of patients with severe or critical Covid-19 disease recover.
Several patients in the study “got out of death’s bed and walked out of the hospital” after receiving Actemra, Dr. Yancopoulos said. However, he cautioned that the study required repeating because it was small, not controlled and didn’t have defined parameters for success.
Genentech, a Roche subsidiary, said it is exploring opportunities to conduct U.S. studies of Actemra in Covid-19 patients with pneumonia, said a company spokeswoman. A study of the drug on Covid-19 was recently begun by the First People’s Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China, she said.
Both Actemra and Kevzara block proteins called interleukin-6, or IL-6, that trigger the body’s immune and inflammatory response. Normally the response helps fight infections. If the immune system overreacts, however, it can attack healthy tissue and organs.
In some novel coronavirus patients, the immune response may be accelerating and damaging the lungs even after significantly diminishing the amount of virus in the body, said Naimish Patel, Sanofi’s head of global development for immunology and inflammation, in an interview.
Blocking IL-6 may put the brakes on the immune system and keep the body from attacking itself, he said.
“Even though the virus is diminishing, it’s sending signals to the immune system to keep attacking,” said Dr. Patel. “If there’s too much inflammation, you end up killing cells that aren’t infected and leading to more damage than you really need.”
Symptoms associated with Covid-19 include fever, low oxygen levels in the blood and difficulty breathing.
One concern about deploying drugs that dampen the immune system is that patients could become more prone to infection, said Timothy Sheahan, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina, who conducts laboratory research into drugs for coronaviruses, including Gilead Sciences Inc.’s remdesivir.
Several drugmakers in addition to Gilead are looking for drugs aiming to cure novel coronavirus infections, while Sanofi and other companies are working on vaccines to prevent the infections.
Regeneron is leading efforts to study Kevzara in the U.S. and is in talks with the FDA, New York state Health Commissioner Howard Zucker and hospitals designated to care for Covid-19 patients and could serve as research sites for the trial, Dr. Yancopoulos said. The study would evaluate the drug only in patients with severe to critical disease.
The company, based in Tarrytown, N.Y., is likely to kick off the trial in New York, he said.
The FDA didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Dr. Zucker didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sanofi, based in Paris, is responsible for studying the drug in Covid-19 overseas and hopes to begin studies as soon as possible, perhaps in weeks, Dr. Patel said.
“Given the quickly evolving situation around Covid-19, we are working to leverage the knowledge of both companies in evaluating how Kevzara may be a potential treatment option for some patients,” a Sanofi spokeswoman said.
Regeneron and Sanofi co-developed Kevzara as part of a yearslong R&D collaboration. In December, the companies said that as part of a restructuring of the collaboration, Sanofi will take full ownership of the drug. But the restructuring terms aren’t final yet and could change and the companies are actively discussing how the drug’s potential treating Covid-19 may factor into the completed pact, a Sanofi spokeswoman said.
Dr. Yancopoulos said the companies jointly decided that Regeneron would lead the U.S. research program in Covid-19 “because it’s the right thing to do,” and they will figure out the details later.
Separately, Regeneron is developing new antibody drugs to kill the virus itself and aims to have the drugs ready to study in humans by the end of August, the company has said.
https://www.marketscreener.com/REGENERON-PHARMACEUTICALS-10649/news/Regeneron-Pharmaceuticals-Sanofi-to-Test-Arthritis-Drug-as-Coronavirus-Treatment-2nd-Update-30139963/