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A new paper explains exactly what makes it different than other coronaviruses and how we know that it wasn’t created in a lab.

Computer programs that scientists use to model the interactions between a virus's spike and ACE-2 don’t predict that the receptor SARS-CoV-2 has would work very well. And yet, it does—as Wrapp found, 10 times better. It’s an indication that the alterations in the binding were selected for through natural selection, not genetic engineering. (https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/xgqkn4/the-novel-coronavirus-was-not-made-in-a-lab-nature-medicine-study-confirms)

Coronavirus Patients May Carry Virus for a Week after Symptoms Have Resolved (https://www.genengnews.com/news/coronavirus-patients-may-carry-virus-for-a-week-after-symptoms-have-resolved/)

A lot of people don't have the symptoms that are considered standard.

The new study published online by the American Journal of Gastroenterology tracked 204 COVID-19 patients at three different Wuhan hospitals. Nearly half arrived at the hospital with digestive issues like loss of appetite and prolonged diarrhea as their chief complaint, not respiratory ailments.

On Sunday, an association of ear, nose, and throat specialists, the American Academy of Otolaryngology, proposed that patients who have lost their sense of smell or taste be considered for COVID-19 screening. It noted that patients without any other symptoms have tested positive for the novel virus. “We’re learning more and more about this virus and it’s exposing how egregiously narrow the scope of our current testing protocol is,” Spiegel said. (https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/939vmy/diarrhea-fever-coronavirus-covid-19)

The right way to clean and disinfect household surfaces (https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/clean-disinfect-surfaces-coronavirus/2020/03/26/d2c764f0-6f69-11ea-b148-e4ce3fbd85b5_story.html)

(I’ve included the whole article here, because you can only access it by subscription to Medscape and the argument is complex.)

In a striking contrast to prevention guidelines in the Western world, Asian countries such as China, Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong have made masks a cornerstone of their strategy in fighting the pandemic. China has even enforced compulsory face mask policies in some regions.

The rationale against mask use in the community partially relies on the premise that people without symptoms don't spread the virus. But this view is changing as new data are accumulated. Even the CDC has acknowledged reports of asymptomatic and presymptomatic transmission: "Some spread might be possible before people show symptoms…but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads."

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine evaluated a group of returning travelers from Wuhan, China, to Frankfurt, Germany. The researchers discovered "that shedding of potentially infectious virus may occur in persons who have no fever and no signs or only minor signs of infection."

Asymptomatic transmission was also estimated in multiple modeling studies of the outbreak. A study published in the journal Science shows that "nondocumented infections were the infection source for 79% of documented cases." Jeffrey Shaman, the lead author, stated that this "stealth transmission" is flying under the radar and becoming a major driver of the epidemic.

Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, expressed similar views and urged health authorities to "tell the public what we know and don't know."

As the weight of evidence shifts toward supporting a major role for asymptomatic transmission, the use of personal facemasks, especially in crowded areas, becomes instrumental in preventing community spread of the virus. We can no longer rely on symptoms or screening to tell us whether mask protection is needed.

So why voice a need for widespread mask use in desperate times when we do not even have enough masks for hospitals?

The reason is that by making the facts public, more resources may become available. The message that masks not only can protect healthcare workers but also can help control the outbreak may recruit more efforts, allocate more resources, and make this a national top priority.

This was exactly what happened in Asia, where universal mask wear has been advised. Both Taiwan and South Korea faced shortages of masks, and they responded by increasing mask production. Taiwan opened 60 new productions at various manufacturing plants across the country to produce 10 million masks a day.

The same can be done in the United States. Resources can be mobilized to fill that need. The president has the power to order the industry to produce more masks by further executing the Defense Production Act. In the meantime, homemade cloth masks could be used in the community, similar to CDC advice to HCWs "when no facemasks are available." Limited data suggest that cloth masks protect against droplet transmission better than no barrier.