Science - USA (2020-05-01)

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PHOTO: ANDREW HARNIK/AP PHOTO

WHO advises against ‘passports’

PUBLIC HEALTH | The World Health
Organization cautioned governments
against introducing documents—
“immunity passports”—that declare people
immune to COVID-19 after they test posi-
tive for antibodies to the new coronavirus.
Authorities in some countries had floated
the idea that people with such records
could return to workplaces and restart
stalled economies without worsening the
pandemic. But, “There is no evidence that
people who have recovered from COVID-
19 and have antibodies are protected from
a second infection,” the agency wrote
in a scientific brief issued 24 April. The
antibodies, created by the immune system’s
response to the disease, may not protect

well or for long. Some people who seemed

to have cleared the virus have later tested

positive again. It isn’t known whether they

suffered a relapse of the original infection

or were infected a second time.

More COVID-19 money for NIH

FUNDING | The U.S. National Institutes of

Health (NIH) received $1.8 billion last week

in the most recent massive stimulus pack-

age approved by Congress. That brings the

agency’s total to $3.6 billion in three recent

bills aimed at fighting the coronavirus pan-

demic and offsetting its economic impact.

Legislators hope the new money will speed

development and distribution of two kinds

of tests: one for quick and easy detection

of the virus, and the other for antibodies

that presumably confer some protection for

those who have recovered from COVID-19.

As in the two previous packages, NIH offi-

cials were given some flexibility in deciding

what kinds of research to support with the

new money as well as who can apply for it.

Internet giants track outbreaks

DISEASE MONITORING | Facebook and

Google have teamed up with Carnegie

Mellon University to map local COVID-

19 outbreaks across the United States,

the university announced last week. The

project’s maps, online at covidcast.cmu.

edu, are meant to provide fine-grained

information about the spread of infec-

tions to help state and local policymakers

adjust social distancing restrictions, says

NEWS

“

I have not seen any projections of sea level rise

slowing down as a result of the COVID crisis.

”

Brian Strong, chief resilience officer for San Francisco, which is trying to balance the

growing cost of the virus with a $5 billion upgrade to its sea wall, in The New York Times.

Among those wearing masks last week was Nancy Pelosi (D–CA), speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, preparing to vote on an economic stimulus measure.

IN BRIEF

Edited by Jeffrey Brainard

DISPATCHES FROM THE PANDEMIC

452 1 MAY 2020 • VOL 368 ISSUE 6490