Notes From My Journal

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What Do You Know about COVID-19? 

 

  1. The US is known to have recorded the highest number of COVID-19 cases at 7,241,000. Which country has the next highest?

___ China

___ India

___ Indonesia

 

  1. When talking about the virus, what does the “R number” refer to?

___ The lethality of the virus

___ The average number of people a person infected with the virus can pass it to

___ The rate at which the virus replicates in an infected person

 

  1. Which of the following are common symptoms of COVID-19?

___ Fever, dry cough, and tiredness

___ Sneezing, memory loss, and difficulty breathing

___ Metallic taste, nosebleeds, and diarrhea

 

  1. Vaccines have been developed and are available for the following coronavirus(es):

___ MERS

___ SARS

___ Both SARS and MERS

___ Neither SARS nor MERS

 

  1. Which of the following countries has performed the most COVID-19 tests?

___ US

___ United Kingdom

___ Italy

___ China

___ India

 

  1. What percent of the US population has died of COVID-19?

___ 6%

___ 0.6%

___ 0.06%

 

  1. How many children (under 18) have died from COVID-19?

___ 9320

___ 932

___ 93

 

  1. What percent of the deaths attributed to COVID-19 were people over 50?

___ 94.8%

___ 55%

___ 33%

 

  1. What does the body produce to fight off and kill the COVID-19 virus?

___ Antibodies

___ T-cells

___ B-cells

 

  1. According to the CDC’s current best estimate, what percent of people infected with COVID-19 are asymptomatic?

___ 10%

___ 30%

___ 40%

 

  1. Were ICU beds ever completely full in the US?

___ Yes, in NY in late May

___ Yes, in Florida in July

___ Never

 

  1. About what percent of people whose deaths were attributed to COVID-19 had pre-existing comorbidities?

___ 65%

___ 75%

___ 94%

 

  1. In late May, an article critical of Sweden’s refusal to lock down its economy predicted that its death toll would reach 60,000. What is Sweden’s current death toll?

___ 158,930

___ 58,930

___ 5893

 

  1. What is the overall survival rate from – i.e., what is the overall chance of surviving – COVID-19?

___ 79.7%

___ 89.7%

___ 99.7%

 

  1. Approximately how much damage was done to the US economy by the shutdown – i.e., how much has US GDP (gross national product) fallen since March?

___ 6.0%

___ 18.1%

___ 31.4%

 

  1. How many Americans have lost their jobs since the shutdown?

___ 4 million

___ 12 million

___ 22 million

 

  1. African-Americans are how much more likely than Caucasian-Americans to contract COVID-19?

___ 266 times more likely

___ 26 times more likely

___ 2.6 times more likely

 

  1. If African-Americans are the most likely to contract and die from COVID-19, which racial/ethnic group is the least likely?

___ Hispanic-Americans
___ Asian-Americans

___ Caucasian-Americans

 

  1. Lockdowns and shelter-in-place orders helped cities like New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island keep COVID-19 cases to a minimum.

___ True

___ False

 

  1. In all large, wealthy, and scientifically advanced countries, the number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 this year is significantly greater than the number of deaths attributed to flu or pneumonia.

___ True

___ False

 

  1. What percent of COVID-19 deaths have occurred in nursing homes and assisted living facilities?

___ 12%

___ 22%

___ 42%

 

  1. At a press conference in April, President Trump suggested drinking bleach as a potential means to kill COVID-19.

___ True

___ False

 

  1. Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) has been a controversial topic since Trump touted it at the beginning of the summer. What is the current scientific consensus?

___ It has been clinically proven to kill COVID-19 cells.

___ It has been proven to be ineffective and has serious side effects.

___ It has shown potential in a number of tests, but the results are inconclusive.

 

  1. According to an August report from The New York Times, up to 90% of the people who have tested positive (so far) for COVID-19 in America…

___ Were infected as a result of failure to social distance

___ Had a compromised immune system

___ Had statistically insignificant levels of COVID-19

 

Answers 

 

  1. India – With 6,312,584 cases, According to the World Health Organization, India currently has over 15 times as many cases as China (91,061) and Indonesia (287,008) combined.

 

  1. The average number of cases a person infected with the virus can pass it to – As put by the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan, the R number, or “reproduction number,” represents the maximum epidemic potential of a pathogen. The goal is an R number below 1.

 

  1. Fever, cough, and tiredness – According to the World Health Organization, these are the most common symptoms of COVID-19. Difficulty breathing and shortness of breath are symptoms but are less common.

 

  1. Neither SARS nor MERS – There are currently no approved vaccines for SARS or MERS.

 

  1. China – China claims to have performed the most tests, with 160 million. The US is second with 107 million. Then India at 77 million, the UK at 25 million, and Italy with 11 million, according to Statista.

 

  1. 0.06% – As of now, COVID-19 deaths represent 0.06268% of the entire US population, according to data provided by the Johns Hopkins Center for Science and Engineering.

 

  1. 93 – To date, children under 18 account for 93 total deaths due to COVID-19, according to CDC records.

 

  1. 94.8% – According to the CDC, the 139,593 deaths of those aged 50 and older make up 94.8% of total deaths attributed to COVID-19.

 

  1. All three – Antibodies are the first line of defense against dangerous viruses. But the body also responds with B-cells, which can be formed from previous responses to other viruses, like SARS or COV-2. B-cells recognize related viruses (like COVID-19), quickly proliferate, and change to secrete antibodies and neutralize the virus again. In addition to B-cells, our adaptive immune response also includes the production of T-cells. There are multiple types of T-cells, the two main ones being helper and killer T-cells. Helper T-cells overall play a supportive role, such as helping B-cells expedite the production of antibodies, whereas killer T-cells are more aggressive, actively searching for and destroying virus-infected cells.

 

  1. 40%– With an Rnumber of 2.5, the CDC reports that infected people without symptoms are 75% likely to infect relative to symptomatic people. The CDC admits, however that “The percent of cases that are asymptomatic, i.e., never experience symptoms, remains uncertain. Longitudinal testing of individuals is required to accurately detect the absence of symptoms for the full period of infectiousness.”

 

  1. Never – During the 2018-1019 flu season, the CDC reported 490,000 hospitalizations, and the issue of bed availability wasn’t pursued as it has been this year. To date, there have been 408,649 COVID hospitalizations according to The COVID Tracking Project.

 

  1. 94% – According to the CDC, only 6% of all COVID-19 related deaths had no other conditions listed.

 

  1. 5893 – The most recent count provided by the World Health Organization shows 5893 total COVID-19 deaths in Sweden, a number well below the predicted 60,000 by epidemiologist Rod Jackson.

 

  1. 99.7% – Amid the anxiety this virus has caused the country, it should be comforting that the survival rate, as provided by the CDC, is this high. Unfortunately, it’s not a statistic you hear very often.

 

  1. 31.4% – US GDP fell at a record rate of 31.4% in the second quarter of 2020 (April to June), but since the opening began, it has started to recover. A big rebound is expected in the quarter that just ended.

 

  1. 22 million – The good news is that more than 9 million (about 42%) of those lost jobs have been recouped. Restaurants lost 6.1 million jobs and recouped 3.4 million; retail lost 2.3 million and gained 1.4 million, according to MarketWatch.

 

  1. 2.6 times more likely – The CDC reported that African-Americans account for a 2.6 times increase in case risk markers.

 

  1. Asian-Americans – According to the same CDC risk markers, Asian-Americans are least in danger of being infected with and dying from COVID-19 (1 in 2470 or 40.4 per 100,000).

 

  1. False – There is no evidence of that. Despite some of the toughest controls in the country, New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island rank 15, 20, and 18 in terms of cases per population, while West Virginia, Wyoming, and Hawaii rank among the least affected states, despite having relatively relaxed shutdown standards.

 

  1. False – The ONS reported that, since June, flu and pneumonia have contributed to more deaths than COVID-19.

 

  1. 42% – Of all COVID-19 deaths in the US, 42% have occurred in nursing homes and/or assisted living facilities, according to an analysis conducted for the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity.

 

  1. False –While the President did inquire about the effects of disinfectants as a possible treatment for COVID-19 in his April 24 press conference, he never suggested ingesting bleach.

 

  1. It has shown potential in a number of tests, but the results are inconclusive – HCQ has shown some promise in some cases, especially when administered early, but it has not been clinically/scientifically confirmed or denied as a viable treatment for COVID-19.

 

  1. Had statistically insignificant levels of COVID-19 – According to an analysis published in The New York Times, about 90% of the positive tests conducted so far in the US contained viral loads of COVID-19 that were so small they should be properly categorized as “statistically insignificant.” Standard (PCR) tests for COVID-19 work by amplifying the virus’s genetic material in cycles until it is detected by a machine. If any DNA is detected by the machine, the test is marked positive. Experts have said that any more than 30 amplification cycles will cause inactive, dead, or insignificant amounts of the virus to ring positive. The US tests have been running 35-40 cycles. Testing data from Massachusetts, Nevada, and NY revealed that 90% of people that tested positive “carried barely any virus.”

 

So, how did you do on our little COVID quiz? 

Were you surprised by any of the answers? If so, don’t be alarmed. The reporting has been so partisan, it’s nearly impossible to find out the facts without digging through the reports and going directly to – and reading – the actual studies.

 

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