In the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic lurk so many other health crises. Mental health is plummeting as anxiety and depression soar; overdose deaths are also climbing, as are suicides among children. The stress, fear and grief surrounding COVID-19 all contribute. But so do the measures put in place to help people avoid the virus, like quarantine, lockdowns and social distancing.
One of the hidden health threats of the pandemic has been a rise in domestic violence around the world. Lockdowns and quarantines have forced partners to stay in the same physical space—even when one of them desperately wants to get away, my colleague Jeffrey Kluger reports. In Hubei, China, incidents of domestic violence have increased 300%; in Portland, Ore., they've increased 22%. As is the case with COVID-19 itself, people of color are most likely to be affected by intimate partner violence during the pandemic.
"I was struck by how sudden the uptick in abuse was," Jeffrey says. "This was no lagging indicator of the pandemic. The quarantine switch was thrown and, in many cases, the abuse began."
Almost everything about being forced to remain at home with one's abuser, in close quarters and out of sight from others, has made it difficult for people to get help during this time. Calling hotlines or otherwise reaching out for help is a lot harder when you can't get time or space to yourself. Shelters also have less space to spare, since many are operating under reduced capacity to try to limit viral spread. But survivors are still finding ways to seek help; U.K. domestic violence hotline calls surged 200% in the spring of 2020 compared to pre-lockdown times, for example.
"Even in a setting in which their abusers are with them—able to monitor them—all day, every day, they're still getting their calls for help out," Jeffrey says. "Sometimes this means slipping into the bathroom and texting. Sometimes it means waiting—and enduring the abuse—until a partner goes out briefly and then calling a shelter."
Once a person does leave their abuser, lockdown and quarantines have paradoxically proven helpful to some survivors. Experts suggest that on average, survivors return to the toxic relationship a number of times before they finally break away. With social isolation measures in place, however, many have been able to keep their distance. But until the pandemic is over, domestic violence will remain a heightened threat. If you or someone you love needs help, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).
While 37.8 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been shipped to various U.S. states as of this morning, only about 26.4 million doses have been administered thus far, according to TIME's vaccine tracker—representing 8% of the overall U.S. population who have received at least one dose.
In addition to preventing severe disease and death, the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford COVID-19 vaccine appears to also reduce transmission of the virus. In a trial, people who received the vaccine were 67% less likely to show signs of infection via weekly nasal swab tests, the New York Timesreports. The full data have not yet been released or peer-reviewed. But this preliminary finding suggests that getting the vaccine greatly reduces the spread of the virus.
COVAX, the international project co-led by the World Health Organization promoting equitable vaccine distribution, announced it will partner with the Serum Institute of India to produce 240 million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, according to a report it published today detailing the group's initial global rollout plans. COVAX will also receive 96 million additional doses made by AstraZeneca-Oxford, with delivery estimated to begin later this month. Additionally, it expects to receive 1.2 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in the first quarter of this year.
TODAY'S CORONAVIRUS OUTLOOK
The Global Situation
More than 103.8 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 1 a.m. E.T. today, and more than 2.2 million people have died. On Feb. 2, there were 453,081 new cases and 14,795 new deaths confirmed globally.
Here's how the world as a whole is currently trending:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
And here is every country with over 1.5 million confirmed cases:
A World Health Organization team in China investigating the origins of the coronavirus visited a laboratory today that studies dangerous pathogens—and has been the focus of several conspiracy theories, CNN reports. Officials in the former Trump Administration had suggested without evidence that the virus may have escaped from the lab, called the Wuhan Institute of Virology. However, infectious disease experts in the U.S. and around the world have said that the virus is unlikely to have emerged from a lab; instead, it more likely jumped from animals to humans.
Many businesses in Poland are defying government shutdown orders, the New York Timesreports. Under the lockdown restrictions, gyms, bars and restaurants cannot open until mid-February at the earliest, but that hasn't stopped hundreds of such businesses from prematurely opening—and facing fines up to $8,000. Cases in Poland have gone down in the past few weeks, but since the start of the pandemic, the country has reported more than 1.5 million cases and more than 37,000 deaths.
The Situation in the U.S.
The U.S. had recorded more than 26.4 million coronavirus cases as of 1 a.m. E.T. today. More than 446,000 people have died. On Feb. 2, there were 110,679 new cases and 3,389 new deaths confirmed in the U.S.
Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
While the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not currently recommend wearing two masks at the same time, the agency is looking into whether double-masking makes a difference in protecting against infection and slowing viral spread, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at today's White House COVID-19 press briefing. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, who often double-masks, said that he does so based on common sense, but added that data on the efficacy of dual-masking are coming.
Health officials in several states, including New Jersey, California, and Alabama, are linking some recent COVID-19 deaths to the B.1.1.7 variant rapidly spreading in the U.K., CNN reports. Fewer than 500 cases of infection with this variant have been found in 33 states, according to the CDC, but that number is likely an underestimate, since genetic viral sequencing is presently so limited in the U.S.
After the crush of fall and winter holidays, the early months of a new year are blessedly light on celebrations. But the Super Bowl is coming this Sunday, and health experts are worried it may cause yet another spike in infections as people gather indoors for watch parties. "Watch the Super Bowl on TV, enjoy it, have a party in your house with your family with the people who are there," Fauci said today on Good Morning America. "You don't want parties with people that you haven't had much contact with. You just don't know if they're infected. As difficult as that is, at least this time around, just lay low and cool it."
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of Feb. 3, 1 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
Why You Shouldn't Try to Game the System to Get a Vaccine
Do you work from home? Instead of spending hours trying to nab yourself a vaccine appointment—as so many Americans are doing—it's your moral imperative to help others at greater personal risk go first, or at least to sit back and wait until there’s more supply, writes Steven Thrasher for Scientific American. Read more here.
Side Effects Just Mean Your Shot Is Working
If you have a sore arm, chills or fever after receiving a second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, rejoice—that means your body is gearing to fight an infection when you need it to, Katherine Wu writes in The Atlantic. Read more here.
The Biggest Superspreaders Are Surprisingly Young
Adults ages 20-49 have been driving the spread of the pandemic in the U.S. since October, according to a new study published in Science. The data suggest that vaccinating younger adults in this age group is vital to slowing the spread. Read more here.
FIGHTING MISINFORMATION
No aspect of the pandemic has been more confounded by falsehoods disseminated online than vaccines. Plenty of trustworthy websites can give you answers—for example, on the Poynter Institute site, you can search a huge database of fact-checked falsehoods. But we wanted to share a different sort of tool, called HealthGuard. It’s basically a browser extension that, once installed, will display icons next to links on search engines and social media indicating whether a site is trustworthy. From now until June 30, the extension, which normally costs $35 a year, is free to all. It won't solve the misinformation crises, but hopefully it helps a bit. Click here to learn more, and get it for free if you'd like.
Thanks for reading. We hope you find the Coronavirus Brief newsletter to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at coronavirus.brief@time.com. If you have specific questions you'd like us to answer, please send them to covidquestions@time.com.
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Today's newsletter was written by Mandy Oaklander and edited by Alex Fitzpatrick.
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