(Reuters) – Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:
Post-pandemic workspace makeover
As lockdowns are gradually lifted and people anticipate returning to offices, many wonder what the post-pandemic workspace will look like.
Occupational experts say one-way corridors, buffer zones marked out by coloured carpet or tape around desks, and clear plastic screens to guard against colleagues’ coughs and sneezes may become the norm.
The changes could be hard to adapt to, and could have a negative impact on employee well-being, said organizational psychologist Brad Bell.
Remdesivir pricing
Beximco Pharmaceuticals, one of Bangladesh’s largest drugmakers, will start this month to make the experimental antiviral drug remdesivir, which has shown promise in fighting the virus.
In a first cost indication, the company plans to price each vial between $59 and $71, Beximco’s Chief Operating Officer Rabbur Reza told Reuters, adding that a patient might need anywhere from five to 11 vials.
Gilead’s remdesivir patent in theory means it has exclusive rights to make it, but global trade rules allow nations defined by the United Nations as least-developed countries, including Bangladesh, to ignore such patents and make drugs more affordable in those markets.
Bangladesh would then be allowed to export the drug to other least-developed countries, though Reza stressed Bangladesh would get first priority.
Pakistanis testing positive on repatriation
Many Pakistani citizens being repatriated from the United Arab Emirates are testing positive for the virus on arriving home, officials said on Tuesday.
The UAE government rejected the claim, saying everyone was tested before departure, with those found infected not being allowed to travel.
About 12% were testing positive on most flights, but on a couple, the proportion rose to between 40% and 50%.
“The hypothesis is that a lot of the labourers live in crowded dormitories and in those, essentially, it’s easier to infect each other,” Moeed Yusuf, a prime ministerial special assistant on national security, told Reuters.
Llama nanobodies
A llama called Winter could prove useful in the hunt for a virus treatment, say U.S. and Belgian scientists who have identified a tiny particle that appears to block the coronavirus.
The llama in Belgium is central to the studies of the scientists, from the country’s VIB-UGent center for medical biotechnology and the University of Texas at Austin, who published their research on Tuesday in the journal Cell.
Llamas and other members of the camel family are distinct in creating standard antibodies and smaller antibodies called nanobodies, with which scientists can more easily work.
The team aims to begin animal tests, with a view to allowing trials with humans to begin by the end of the year. Saelens said negotiations were under way with pharmaceutical companies.
(Compiled by Karishma Singh; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
Many years ago, the prominent American biochemist Linus Pauling discovered that increased doses of vitamin C are an excellent dope for the human immune system, which can kill to death any viruses that cause Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
My personal forty-year experience of using vitamin C for self-treatment of annual (seasonal) viral flu, including the 2003 pandemic swine flu caused by coronavirus SARS-CoV, shows that the following dosage regimen is most effective: 3 gr. after breakfast, 3 gr. after lunch and 2 gr. after an afternoon snack and dinner, a total of 10 grams in one day with my weight of 158 – 168 lbs in different years of life. It is clear that with a weight of 130 lbs each dose can be reduced by one gram, and with a weight of 200 lbs – increase. The main condition is that the vitamin must be made from natural raw materials, as evidenced by the label of the bottle “Natural Source”, and not just “Ascorbic Acid”.
A full recovery from viral flu occurs after two days of such treatment, if it is started in a timely manner at the first symptoms of the disease, and in case of delay, vitamin C should be taken for three to four days. No side effects are observed, since excess vitamin does not accumulate in the body, but is excreted in the urine. If there is heartburn, you should take any antacid before eating. In addition, it must be borne in mind that the constant use of increased doses of vitamin C for prophylactic purposes is strictly contraindicated.
So, each of us can take an active part in the fight against COVID-19 quickly and effectively destroying coronavirus as soon as it enters your body and the first symptoms of the disease appear. An absolutely safe and highly effective therapeutic agent is waiting for you in the nearest pharmacy on a shelf with vitamins.
Victor Ansky