20/03: Inhalers & Opera for the people!
I’m Nick and this is your daily COVID-19 update. All data from JHU CCSE. If you find this newsletter useful or uplifting, please share it.
Europe
105 198 confirmed cases ( + 17 647 from yesterday)
5 873 recovered
4 845 deceased
Top affected countries
Each day I will share something that gives me hope. Something that inspires me in these challenging times. Sometimes that will be good news on COVID-19 (there is, and will be, good news!), resources to keep us busy during quarantine, or simply something I think might bring a spark of light to your day.
This is my way of saying: “Sure, the world’s on fire - but look, there’s also this”.
Progress towards a COVID-19 inhaler
Everywhere in there world, scientists are rallying and working relentlessly towards a potential treatment or vaccine for COVID-19. The speed with which progress is being made, and the extent to which red tape is being cut to make this progress possible are awe inspiring.
At the Rijks Universiteit Groningen, in the very north of The Netherlands, pharmaceutical researcher Paul Hagedoorn is making fast progress on a possible drug against the coronavirus.
Working of observations in the medical literature which indicate that the malaria drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine might be effective against the coronavirus, Hagedoorn is developing special inhalers that would allow for efficient delivery of the drug directly into the lungs of COVID-19 patients.
The university’s Medical Ethics Review Committee (METC) is making every effort to allow human testing to start as soon as possible. Made possible by the fact that Hagedoorn isn’t developing a new drug, but rather using an existing drug and administering it in a novel manner, human trials are expected to start within a month.
Read more about Hagedoorn’s work on the university newspaper website:
Opera for the people!
What’s the most high-brow and expensive activity that you can think of? Right, going to the Opera! But now that everyone’s quarantined at home - the playing field has levelled.
The NY Metropolitan Opera has announced that the 2019-2010 season has been canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak, but that for the next two weeks they will make a new opera available for free streaming on their Opera On Demand streaming service. Their statement:
During this extraordinary and difficult time, the Met hopes to brighten the lives of our audience members even while our stage is dark. Every day for the duration of the Met’s closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, a different encore presentation from the company’s Live in HD series will be made available for free streaming on the Met website, with each performance available for a period of 20 hours, from 7:30 p.m. EDT until 3:30 p.m. the following day.
The schedule certainly looks promising:
Friday, March 20 : Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment
Saturday, March 21: Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor
Sunday, March 22: Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin
Monday, March 23 : Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde
Tuesday, March 24: Wagner’s Das Rheingold
Wednesday, March 25: Wagner’s Die Walküre
Thursday, March 26: Wagner’s Siegfried
Friday, March 27: Wagner’s Götterdämmerung
Saturday, March 28 : Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Sunday, March 29 : Wagner’s Tannhäuser
If you’re quick, you might still catch La Traviata - available from yesterday’s program.
That’s it for today! Wash your hands and, please, be kind.
Nick