The last thing you’d think the world needs is to cook up yet another variant of SARS-CoV-2. But earlier this month, a team of scientists at Boston University released a pre-print study—not yet peer-reviewed—reporting that they had created a new virus containing genetic material both from the original version of SARS-CoV-2 and the Omicron BA.1 strain. The virus proved to be 80% lethal in laboratory mice—slightly less fatal than the original virus, which killed all of the mice.
Critics argued that the research was reckless, especially since questions have long persisted about whether the pandemic may have begun by scientists at China’s Wuhan Virology Institute engaging in just such viral tinkering—and then losing control of the pathogen they’d created. But the Boston University researchers were creating a virus that would help them compare the spike proteins on Omicron BA.1 to those on the original strain, and, in doing so, figuring out just what makes Omicron variants more resistant to vaccines.
As my colleague Alice Park reports, these kinds of studies are known as gain-of-function research and are widely practiced in bio-labs. Researchers try not only to aid in the development of new vaccines and treatments for disease, but also to look for possible mutations that may occur in the wild so that public-health officials and drug manufacturers can be ready for them.
“These mutations are going to occur naturally,” Dr. David Ho, professor of microbiology and immunology and director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center at Columbia University, told Alice. (Ho was not involved in the Boston University study.) “We are trying to get ahead of it—that’s just routine for many virus studies.”
But that routine work comes with the potential peril of inadvertently unleashing a new virus on the world, and there are holes in the regulatory system governing when this type of research may and may not be carried out. In the U.S., the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must review gain-of-function research before it is approved—but only if federal money is used in the work. If private money is used—as Boston University officials maintain was the case with the research—oversight responsibilities are unclear.
This is not the first time gain-of-function work has caused controversy in the U.S. In 2014, the federal government imposed a temporary ban on funding for such studies of flu, MERS, and SARS for fear of a lab leak of a more virulent strain of the pathogens. The ban was not lifted until 2017, when the federal government issued new guidelines for the work, including the creation of an independent panel to review any research proposals before they would be green-lit for government funding.
For now, the rules about future SARS-CoV-2 research remain murky and rely heavily on individual researchers to alert authorities if they create a more dangerous version of a pathogen. Going forward, Ho says, the government will likely tighten rules, requiring review of proposed work even if it isn’t paid for with government money. Adds Marc Lipsitch, professor of epidemiology at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health: “I would not like to see a blanket ban on this kind of experiment, because we are learning things from it. I would like to see much more careful review of this type of experiment so we are doing them with the understanding of what the risks and benefits are.”
More than 629 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 8:30 am. E.T. today, and more than 6.58 million people have died. On Oct. 26, there were 448,725 new cases and 2,363 new deaths confirmed globally.
Here's how the world as a whole is currently trending, in terms of cases:
And in terms of deaths:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
And here's every country that has reported over 10 million cases:
The U.S. had recorded more than 97.3 million coronavirus cases as of 8:30 am. E.T. today. Nearly 1.07 million people have died. On Oct. 26, there were 69,897 new cases reported in the U.S., and 1,095 deaths were confirmed.
Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending in terms of cases:
And in terms of deaths:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of Oct. 27. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
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WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
The U.S. economy continues to recover from the pandemic, with the Commerce Department today announcing that gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annual rate of 2.6% in the third quarter of the year. As the Wall Street Journalreports, this is in large measure due to consumers resuming such activities as dining out and travel that had been halted during earlier parts of the pandemic. This increase, while impressive compared to negative growth in the past two quarters, trails last year’s annual 5.7% growth rate, which was in part attributable to stimulus money that was pumped into the economy.
The White House is reportedly developing a “fall playbook” in an effort to head off what officials fear could be a bad COVID-19 winter, as multiple variants circulate and Americans largely eschew the latest booster, reports the Washington Post. The new plan enlists Walgreens, DoorDash, and Uber to deliver antiviral prescriptions to people for free; mounts a new public-relations push to persuade the public to get vaccinated; and encourages businesses to set up vaccine clinics for employees, offer paid time off for workers to get their shots, and improve indoor air quality in workplaces.
New York may be the canary in the coal mine for exactly the kind of winter the White House fears. As the New York Times reports, daily COVID-19 hospitalizations in New York City jumped to 1,100 people on Oct. 24, up from about 750 in mid-September. Health officials attribute the surge to the spread of multiple variants—especially BA.5, BQ.1, and BQ.1.1—as well as to the widespread lack of masking. City health officials are bracing for more hospitalizations not just from COVID-19, but also from the early arrival of flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
China is imposing a fresh round of lockdowns as the country today recorded a third straight day of at least 1,000 COVID-19 cases, reports Reuters. From Wuhan in central China to Xining in the northwest, 28 cities are now imposing quarantine measures, affecting more than 208 million people. The moves will not come cheap: the quarantined regions account for the equivalent of $3.55 trillion in economic output, a figure that is nearly a quarter of the country’s 2021 GDP.
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Today's newsletter was written by Jeffrey Kluger and edited by Mandy Oaklander.
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