The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

‘Pocket’ in virus’ spike protein could be treatment target

The spike protein on the novel coronavirus that helps it break into healthy cells has a tiny “pocket” that could make it vulnerable to antiviral drugs, researchers have discovered. Using a powerful imaging technique called electron cryo-microscopy, they studied the molecular structure of the virus and found the pocket, with a small molecule, linoleic acid (LA), buried inside. LA molecules are critical to the immune functions “that go haywire in COVID-19,” coauthor Imre Berger from the Max Planck-Bristol Centre for Minimal Biology in the UK said in a news release. “And the virus that is causing all this chaos, according to our data, grabs and holds on to exactly this molecule—basically disarming much of the body’s defenses.” 

In a paper published on Monday in Science, researchers note that common-cold-causing rhinoviruses have a similar pocket, and drugs that fit into the pocket by mimicking fatty acids like LA have lessened symptoms in human clinical trials. This suggests, they say, that drugs developed to target the pocket on the coronavirus spike protein might help eliminate COVID-19.

Only 1 in 5 infected with COVID-19 remain asymptomatic

Most people infected with the new coronavirus will have symptoms, according to researchers who reviewed data from nearly 80 studies of individuals with positive PCR tests for COVID-19. Overall, just 20% remained asymptomatic. Five of the studies provided enough data for the researchers to examine the spread of the disease. 

Compared to COVID-19 patients with symptoms, patients who never developed symptoms were 65% less likely to transmit the virus to others, the researchers reported on Tuesday in the journal PloS Medicine. “A minority of people has truly asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection and, if they are less infectious than people with symptoms, they probably account for a relatively small proportion of all transmission,” coauthor Dr. Nicola Low of the University of Bern told Reuters. 

“Most people will go on to develop symptoms and there is a substantial amount of transmission during the pre-symptomatic phase,” Ms. Low said. That means prevention measures to reduce transmission, including face covering, social distancing, physical barriers and widespread testing and contact tracing to find and isolate contagious people remains necessary. 

Heart attack treatment has slowed during pandemic

The average time from when a heart attack starts to when treatment begins has gotten longer during the pandemic, and researchers attribute most of the delay to patients’ fears of contracting COVID-19 if they go to a hospital. 

In a study published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, doctors in China found the average time from symptom onset to first contact with a healthcare provider was about an hour longer in January to April 2020 than during the same period in 2019. And this year, after arrival at the hospital, the time until a blocked artery was reopened was 22 minutes longer—and more heart attack patients died, the authors say. 

Coauthor Dr. Ming-Wei Wang from Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University told Reuters patients need to understand the importance of getting to a hospital quickly, and COVID-19 screening at hospitals should be hastened for patients with chest pain. 

Dr. Aditya Kapoor from India’s Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, who was not involved in the study, said  other studies have found similar delays. “Resource and manpower allocation to COVID-19 treatment, lockdown restrictions, and patient apprehensions related to hospital visits all play an important role,” he said.

COVID-19 antibodies found in patients’ pets

Living with a human who has COVID-19 raises the risk that dogs and cats will be infected with the new coronavirus, according to a French study. Blood tests performed on 34 cats and 13 dogs belonging to patients who had recovered from COVID-19 found antibodies to the virus, indicating likely past infection, in 21% of the pets—8 cats and 2 dogs. 

By comparison, among 38 pets in households with no known COVID-19, only one cat tested positive, according to a report of the study posted on bioRxiv on Tuesday ahead of peer review. “We cannot definitively prove that all the 10 positive animals were infected with SARS-CoV-2,” the authors said, adding that it is not known whether infected pets can spread the virus back to humans. “While viral shedding from pets does not appear sufficient for transmission to humans or other animals encountered during walks, for people in closer contact, precautionary measures should be considered.”  — Nancy Lapid/Reuters

NEW YORK — Like many Americans with aging parents, Dominque Jones-Johnson started checking in more regularly with her father when the coronavirus pandemic broke out—but unlike most families, the cost of the calls strained her budget to the breaking point.

Her father, Charles Brown Jr., is incarcerated for aggravated rape, burglary, and “crimes against nature”—she said he was falsely accused of all charges—in the Louisiana State Penitentiary, where a 15-minute phone call costs $3.15.

By May, these local calls—which would have been free for most people living in the state—had cost the family nearly $400.

“They’re making me pay to incarcerate myself,” Charles Brown Jr. told the Thomson Reuters Foundation earlier this month. A week later, he contracted COVID-19 and was put in isolation, no longer able to speak with his daughter.

Ms. Jones-Johnson, who founded the charity Daughters Beyond Incarceration, said in a phone interview that “the money stressed me out, but not talking to him stresses me out more”.

With COVID-19 curtailing visits in many prisons and jails, families rely on phone calls, video chats, and other forms of messaging, but advocates say the high costs of those services take a heavy financial toll on the people who can least afford them.

Even before the pandemic, a third of families went into debt to finance visits to incarcerated relatives and use telephone and messaging systems, said Bianca Tylek, executive director of advocacy group Worth Rises.

Now, those communications services are essential to the roughly 2.3 million people behind bars in the United States.

“People need to be in touch more than ever,” said Ms. Tylek. “And they have less money than ever to pay for it.”

A spokesman for the Louisiana Department of Corrections said it offers 30 minutes of free calls a week during the pandemic and that it “understands the importance of inmates maintaining contact with loved ones.”

INFRASTRUCTURE
In US prisons and jails, private firms build out the communications infrastructure in exchange for the opportunity to charge for their services, often splitting revenue from the calls, video chats, and messaging services with the facility.

Critics of the practice refer to it as a form of kickback, paid by the industry to win access to captive customers.

A report published last year by the nonprofit Prison Policy Initiative (PPI) found that the average cost of a 15-minute call from local jails is $5.74.

Rates in state-run prisons are significantly lower, and calls across state lines from jails and prisons have been capped at 21 cents per minute by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which currently only regulates interstate calling.

While phone calls make up the bulk of communications between prisoners and their families, video calling and e-mail services, offered via kiosks and tablets, are often set up under similar agreements.

A 2017 case-study by the Vera Institute of Justice found the video calls in Washington State—which at the time cost $12.95—proved too expensive for many inmates and nearly 90% never even tried to use the service.

Ms. Jones-Johnson must pay $7.50 for a 30-minute video call with her father.

For local and state governments, those costs can be a significant source of revenue, explained Democratic Representative Josh Elliott, who is sponsoring legislation that would make phone calls from Connecticut’s state prisons free.

In 2019, Securus Technologies, a private firm that operates the phone network, spent $40,000 to hire lobbyists to oppose Mr. Elliott’s legislation, according to government documents.

After the lobbying became public Securus, which is owned by LA-based private equity firm Platinum Equity, promised it would no longer oppose the bill, Mr. Elliott said.

“This is the most straightforward thing,” he said in a phone interview. “Make calls free so people can be in touch with their families.”

HEAVY COSTS
The pandemic has made a tough situation even tougher, said Mashonda Jones, whose son has been incarcerated for three years at the Virginia Beach Correctional Center following a conviction for breaking and entering, according to local media.

Ms. Jones runs a soul food restaurant that was forced to shut down in March because of coronavirus restrictions—her son’s facility is not allowing visitors.

With money tight, she now spends $100 a week on calls and video conferencing so that her grandchildren can stay connected with their father.

“Even though their dad is incarcerated I want them to know they still have a dad,” she said.

Global Tel Link (GTL), the company that operates the phones at the jail, offers two free five-minute calls a week, Ms. Jones said. Video conferencing at the facility costs $7.50 for 30 minutes.

“It wasn’t enough,” Ms. Jones said. “It’s just hello, how you doing, here are the kids and then he’s gone.”

A spokesman for GTL said it was “evaluating ways we may be able to improve our permanent free weekly communications program in the future.”

Kathy Hieatt, spokeswoman for the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office said in e-mailed comments that inmates pay 11 cents per minute for both local and long-distance calls, down from 15 cents per minute in 2018.

A spokeswoman for Securus said it had lowered the average cost of calls by more than 30% per minute over the last three years. The company said this month it had offered “191 million free minutes of phone connections” since the start of the pandemic.

Ms. Tylek, with Worth Rises, pointed out that adds up to less than 10 minutes of free calling a week for the more than 1.2 million in facilities with Securus phones.

EMERGING SOLUTIONS
In recent years, lawmakers and regulators have taken steps to rein in the price of connection for incarcerated families.

The Democrat-controlled US Congress passed a law in May that would empower the FCC to limit the cost of calls within states as well as between states, and would bar local and state governments from taking a cut of the revenue.

The law has not yet passed the Republican-controlled Senate.

Brian Hill, the CEO of Edovo, a start-up that builds cheaper connectivity tools for incarcerated people—including tablets and free education software—said the root problem is the profit-sharing model.

“The system taxes the families of those who are incarcerated,” he said. “Ideally, you’d get rid of revenue sharing across the board.”

Ms. Tylek, who tries to convince investors to boycott companies that profit off incarceration, said the only solution is to put the firms out of business, and have the government pick up the bill for all essential services, like phone calls.

Meanwhile, Ms. Jones-Johnson is so worried that her father won’t receive adequate treatment for COVID-19 that she’s willing to pay what it takes to check in on him.

“It’s a constant struggle,” said Ms. Jones-Johnson. “But what else can I do?” —  Avi Asher-Schapiro/Thomson Reuters Foundation