How Corona Will Permanently Change the World

Some prominent intellectuals and pundits weigh in on how they see the world changing post-COVID.  Much of it is good news, if a bit of wishful thinking.  Worth the read.

Link to article on Politico.com

Washington Post State of COVID

Excellent update of the current state of COVID.  Study linked in the article pegs R-Naught of COVID at 2.38. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/three-months-into-the-pandemic-here-is-what-we-know-about-the-coronavirus/2020/03/28/6646f502-6eab-11ea-b148-e4ce3fbd85b5_story.html

"Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared Diamond

This well-known classic first published in 1997, and for which Diamond won a 1998 Pulitzer Prize, remains an excellent primer in how homo sapiens interact with infectious disease.  Diamond's emphasis is on how infectious disease has shaped modern human distribution of dominance outcomes.  One of Diamond's theories developed here is that the geographic shape of Asia has been determinative of eventual European-originated hegemony of the modern Earth.  Asia, being geographically very "wide" along the axis from western Europe to eastern Russia along a temperate latitude is the most advantageous region on Earth to support the development of domesicable animals and sustainable agriculture.

Link to Book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Guns-Germs-Steel-Fates-Societies/dp/0393317552

Link to National Geographic Film based on the book on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i885hopsw6E

"And The Band Played On," 1993 Film

If you're into studying the history of viruses this is a riveting 1990's film with an all-star cast led by Matthew Modine.  It covers the real-life history of the AIDS virus in North America beginning in the early 1980's in Los Angeles and San Francisco and documents the public health and governmental response, some good, and some very, very bad.  Both educational and highly entertaining. Based on a book of the same name by Randy Shilts which by my account has since been supplanted in its historical accuracy of the AIDS pandemic by "The Chimp and the River" by David Quammen.

Link to "And The Band Played On" on Amazon

Link to book on Amazon

"The Chimp and the River: How AIDS Emerged from an African Forest" by David Quammen

The authoritative general reader story of how the AIDS virus traveled from a single Chimpanzee in southeastern Cameroon circa 1908 to become the most deadly virus in the past hundred years. Well researched and well-written, Quammen turns very technical biological data into a page turner.  After finishing this one, the reader will know much that is informative of how COVID-19 is operating in 2020.

Link to "The Chimp and the River" on Amazon

"Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic" by David Quammen

A highly readable and relevant 2012 tour de force survey of zoonosis.  Quammen examines in detail the circumstances and theories surrounding the animal-to-human infections of Ebola, malaria and HIV/AIDS as well as the scientific history of public health responses. If you're stuck at home for COVID-19, this is the book you should read.

Link to Book on Amazon

"Outbreak," 1995 Film Staring Dustin Hoffman

One of the Top 10 most streamed films on Netflix this week, this film feels dated in its premise and special effects, but interesting from a science standpoint.  Hoffman plays a Colonel at USAMRIID who tracks down the viral host and develops a vaccine in about 48 hours.  If you're stuck at home binge watching and thinking about viruses, it's worth a spin.  I haven't a source to confirm it, but I'm pretty sure this is inspired by the 1994 popular book "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston.

Link to "Outbreak" on Amazon

Movie: Contagion

You very well may have heard about this one in the popular media over the past couple weeks.  A 2011 film directed by Stephen Soderbergh, "Contagion" can seem like a documentary about the events of late 2019 and early 2020. A quality film with an all-star cast and a realistic premise, I enjoyed the level of scientific detail. A zoonotic spillover from a single swine in China sweeps the world with a novel, airborne virus.  Lawrence Fishburne and Kate Winslet, working for the CDC, come in to save the day.  Good movie.

Link to Contagion" on Amazon 

Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Dashboard

Link to Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Map

"How The Pandemic Will End" Longform Article by Ed Yong at Atlantic

An original and thoughtful, if at time alternately dark and hopeful, review of COVID-19 in mid-March, 2020.

Link to "How The Pandemic Will End" on The Atlantic