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As the number of people who have had Covid-19 grows, medical experts are trying to determine when it’s safe for them to have elective surgery. In addition to concerns about respiratory complications from anesthesia, Covid-19 may affect multiple organs and systems, and clinicians are still learning the implications for surgery. A recent study compared the mortality rate in the 30 days following surgery in patients who had a Covid-19 infection and in those who did not. It found that waiting to undergo surgery for at least seven weeks after a Covid-19 infection reduced the risk of death to that of people who hadn’t been infected in the first place. Patients with lingering Covid-19 symptoms should wait even longer, the study suggested. (6/24)

Research indicates that SARS-CoV-2—the virus that causes COVID—can directly attack the epithelial cells that line the GI tract, entering via the molecular doorway of angiotensin‐converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). These cells express high levels of ACE2, as do the cells lining the lungs, the primary site of infection. But the gut is not merely a passive target for the virus. Evidence suggests it is also a player in determining the severity of COVID-19. (Legg, 6/24)

Infection with the Alpha (B117) SARS-CoV-2 variant may pose a heightened risk of poor COVID-19 outcomes, according to two observational studies from England and Denmark published yesterday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. ... Of the 198,420-person primary care group, 59.4% were infected by Alpha, 0.4% were admitted to a critical care unit (CCU, similar to a US intensive care unit), and 0.4% died by 28 days. Of the 4,272 CCU patients, 62.8% were infected by Alpha, and 15.5% died in the hospital. (Van Beusekom, 6/23)

KHN: A Break From Breathlessness: How Singing Helped Me Through Long Covid

Singing was the only time I felt in control of my lungs and, paradoxically, able to forget about them. It was October and my shortness of breath had worsened after weeks of teasing improvement. I felt breathless walking or resting, lying down or sitting, working or watching Netflix, talking or silently meditating. But not while singing. (Zuraw, 6/25)

In the earliest days of the pandemic, it was the small, long-underfunded coterie of dedicated coronavirus researchers answering almost all of the world’s questions about the emerging threat. But as SARS-CoV-2 took off, researchers from other specialties flooded in, drawn by the scale of the emergency, a desire to put their skills to use, and the competitive nature of scientific inquiry. For experts with even marginally relevant expertise, the question became, “What can I do?” (Joseph, 6/25)