Corona Daily 404: Sweatshirt, Hoodie, Surgical Mask and Backpack

On 4 June, two men entered the Liberty Bank on Crowder Boulevard in New Orleans. Based on CCTV evidence, the FBI statement provided their details. Both were African American males, aged anywhere between 17-25. The taller in height (6’- 6’2”) was lighter (160-180 pounds). He wore all black with red lettering on the hoodie, a blue medical mask and a blue/black backpack. The other male (5’6”-5’9”/180-200 pounds) wore a grey hoodie, black t-shirt, black hat, blue medical mask and pink/white backpack. The two robbed the bank and left on foot with an undisclosed amount. Anyone with information is requested to contact the FBI or police. You may offer information anonymously.

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On the same day, in the Citizens Bank of Plainfield Pike in Cranston, a man presented a note to the teller demanding cash. As much as is known, he carried no weapon. The man in a gray baggy sweatshirt, surgical mask, black champion football cap, white sneakers with white laces left the bank on foot, with an undisclosed amount.

In June 2020, America’s bank robbery database is soaring as rapidly as its corona cases. Most robberies were similar - surgical mask, hood, note to the teller, no weapons, no violence, leaving on foot.

Some minor variations. In the Citizens Bank at 1798 Smith street (19 June), the masked man wore gloves as well and gave the teller a plastic bag along with the note. At CVS at Harbour Boulevard in Destin (9 June), a white male wearing a mask, sunglasses and a pulled down hat demanded narcotics.

Someone the police nicknamed “double dipper bandit” robbed the Chase bank at S.Tower road twice (5 May/ 2 June). He is described as a white male, 30-40 age, 6 feet, and thin build. (Maybe the bank can add him to its payroll.)

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The case of Richard Kuder, 23, was different. On 11 June, he handed a note to the teller of the Central bank (Ozarks, Springfield). He took $7200 from the teller. Then he moved to the front of the CCTV, removed his mask to show his full face. That afternoon, he paid his overdue rent and bought presents for his girlfriend and her son. On 16 June, he gave his written confession. He is now in jail. Before you feel sorry for him, you should know he has been to jail many times. This was probably his straightforward plan to go back there.

It’s heartening to see many white males among the robbers. They have saved many black men from being identified as bank robbers by default.

Most bank robberies have happened in the USA, I suppose, because it is a nation that has more guns than people. A bank teller assumes the masked man has a gun even when he doesn’t.

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In India’s state of Haryana, the police have made it compulsory to remove the mask in front of CCTV once before entering a bank.

Software wizards have started working on taking face recognition to the next level. There are reports Apple’s face recognition fails when a mask is worn. This month, Sensory, a Silicon Valley Company, has introduced its new platform, TrulySecure. Its features make it a pandemic special. It can recognize users wearing masks. (TrulySecure claims to accurately detect coughs and sneezes as well.)

Masked bank robbers may have a very small window before CCTVs can see through the masks.

Ravi

Corona Daily 405: Wearing a Face Mask

Until March this year, I had never worn a face mask. When I lived and worked in Russia, temperatures would reach minus forty in January. Outdoors; my head, ears and neck were covered, but the nose and mouth were free to breathe and speak.

When India went into lockdown, I tried a handkerchief first. I had read about the mask shortages in the USA. What chance did India have to cover 1.4 billion faces?

I was wrong. In Mumbai (Because of the lockdown,  I can share my firsthand perspective only about Mumbai), masks have been available in plenty. At the chemist, online from Amazon, on the streets. For low-technology or no-technology products, India is a true champ. A rectangular piece of cloth with a couple of strings is all it takes to make sure a policeman or an activist will not stop you on the road.

*****

I remember in the first week everyone pulled the mask down to the chin to talk. When buying groceries, a customer and a seller would both pull it down during the transaction. A busy grocer simply kept it on the chin. It took about two weeks for people to figure out you could talk through the mask.

The N95 mask guarantees 95% filtering of airborne particles, provided it is properly fit, and worn on and taken off with great care. That research put me off. I would have considered a “N100 mask”, but it doesn’t exist. I wear a simple cloth mask.

Masks have seriously affected human interaction. People continue to smile inside the mask, but a smile can’t be heard like a laugh. If you are observant you can occasionally deduce a smile when the eyes crinkle.

My communication is affected in a major way. Last Sunday, with a slight relaxation in lockdown rules, I drove to the south of Mumbai. Two moustachioed inspectors were guarding the Gateway of India. I began walking towards it, as if the world was normal. One policeman charged towards me with his baton.

I drew his attention to the board at the barricade. In big letters, it said WELCOME. The policeman didn’t understand the joke (a) because his ability to appreciate humour was limited and (b) because I was wearing a mask.

Depending on the listener, I crack jokes with a smiling face or a straight face. Now my humour is no longer selling. When we talk, our words are accompanied by facial expressions. (That’s why the virtual world had to invent emojis). We judge the emotions of the people by their face, not only by their words.   

I now feel more sympathetic to the Burqa-clad Muslim women who must communicate without any facial expression.

*****

Since April, I have said hello or waved to dozens of people with little idea who they were. On Sunday, during my long run, a cyclist wearing a helmet, sunglasses and mask passed by me, calling me by my first name. I am still trying to figure out who that girl was.

People in Mumbai have mostly accepted mask-wearing as the new norm. Last week, I saw on two occasions men pulling their masks down to spit on the road. At least in some respects, life is returning to normal.

Ravi

Corona Daily 406: Change Please

Many places in the USA are opening up. Finding a parking place is a little easier, but there is no change to feed into the parking meter. Americans can see Coke in the vending machine, but without change they can’t buy it. Many supermarkets have made shopping trolleys free; the requirement to drop a coin to unlock them is waived. But the checkout lady may offer the customer candy or gum instead of change.

USA is facing a severe coin shortage as a result of the pandemic.

In March, Americans saw TV news about the Chinese and Koreans giving banknotes UV light treatment, and then placing them in quarantine for fourteen days. Coins, the health experts said, were even more dangerous. The virus lingers much longer on metal. Americans chose to be safe. Coin circulation came to a halt.

US Mint produces coins in Denver and Philadelphia. To protect the mint workers, production was cut down drastically.

The Federal Reserve is responsible for managing and distributing coins. They supply coins to banks, who in turn supply them to retailers, who give it as change to the customers, who feed them into the vending machines, parking meters, in the amusement park attractions. This circular process almost stopped. Coupled with the mints not producing enough; pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters are not easy to find.

From 15 June, Federal Reserve has officially started rationing coins. The official term is ‘strategic allocation of coin inventories’. Banks are getting about 40% of what they need. Rural banks are suffering more. Bankers are worried about a possible news headline: “banks run out of money”. The Federal Reserve has assured them coins will make a comeback.

*****

In Europe, millions are moving to digital payments. Debit and credit cards are cashless. But for obvious reasons, the next step is contactless payments. Apple pay, Google pay, PayPal are flourishing. Online shopping has shot up. Many elderly people are signing up for online banking for the first time.

Making the economy cashless even in developed countries is not as easy as we imagine. In the UK, 1.23 million adults don’t have bank accounts. Only 40% of those aged 65+ have internet access via smartphone. All over the world, the poorest, illiterates, technical illiterates (usually old) prefer cash. Some of them earn in cash. It is easier to budget expenses; you can’t spend more cash than you have. Cash offers anonymity to honest people as well.

*****

Australia, on the other hand, is planning to produce fewer physical coins. There is less demand for them now. Since March, ATM withdrawals have gone down by 30%. Reserve Bank of Australia had to produce 2.5 billion extra banknotes, because Australians began withdrawing their savings.

In the developing countries of Asia and Africa, inflation had already made many coins obsolete. A likely threat in the coming months is a run on the banks. People tend to hoard cash as a precaution. Like in Australia, they will need to withdraw heavily from their bank accounts. If 2-3 major banks collapse, trust in the entire banking system gets eroded.

Saving the country’s banking system from bankruptcy will be the biggest challenge for these governments.

Ravi

Corona Daily 407: Afterlife benefits

This week, USA showed itself to be the greatest welfare state - it provides for its citizens even in the afterlife.

As a measure of pandemic relief, a total of $1.4 billion was distributed among 1.1 million dead Americans. Some widows received two debit cards, one in the name of their late husbands. Certain politicians brushed it off as an error, mitigated by the coronavirus shock and the speed with which the stimulus needed to be delivered.

This same nation, in a matter of hours, had published the photos and biographies of the 19 terrorists despite four plane crashes vaporizing all passengers beyond recognition.  USA can’t send debit cards and checks to 1.1 million dead people by mistake, and it didn’t. On 25 June, GOA (Government accountability office), the watchdog, published a 400 page-report that includes analysis of this incident.

USA is mostly run by three-letter abbreviations. IRS (Internal Revenue Service) is the tax collector. BFS (Bureau of fiscal service) sent people the stimulus checks. Both these services are part of the Treasury. SSA(Social security administration) is an independent agency that holds the database of more than 125 million dead Americans.

IRS, the tax collector, can access the SSA’s Death Master File. BFS, the stimulus payer, can’t. When the government decided to make the EIP (Economic Impact Payments) of $1200 to Americans below a certain income level, IRS lawyers discussed the recipients’ eligibility. They determined IRS can’t deny payments to those who have filed tax returns for 2019. Once they file the tax return, they are entitled to the stimulus, even if dead.

BFS was under pressure to dispatch checks and debit cards as rapidly as possible. It had no access to death data. IRS would not give them that access, unless Congress approves it. And Congress was in lockdown. BFS decided to refer to the 2008 textbook. Americans are exceedingly fortunate the last two great crises happened in election years. George Bush in 2008 and Donald Trump in 2020 were in a hurry to help. A school child could have applied a death filter (if IRS had allowed it), and all 1.1 million Americans would have fallen off. However, such a filter was not applied in 2008. So BFS decided not to apply it this time.

Many checks carried the printed word ‘deceased’ after the name of the late citizen. $1200 was sent either by direct transfer, checks or debit cards. A son could easily spend on the debit card given to his late father.

Once the auditors began probing, the Treasury, IRS and its lawyers got together hurriedly. After a stormy video discussion, lawyers agreed the receiving person must be alive on the date payment is made. Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary said heirs of the dead should return the funds.

To be legally correct, IRS should notify a citizen about his ineligibility. You are a nonresident alien. Not eligible. You are in prison. Not eligible. You are dead. Not eligible. Notifying the dead is a legal complication. It is simpler to pay them off. Legal experts are now debating whether the descendants are required to return the money.

The watchdog has now recommended Congress should approve giving Treasury access to the death files. Once that happens, unfortunately, Americans will lose their afterlife benefits.

Ravi

Corona Daily 408: Before You Flush the Next Time

The lockdown has made scientists super active. On 16 June, a group of Chinese scientists, PhDs in physics, published a paper that links toilet flushing with coronavirus transmission. They found that flushing a toilet can generate a cloud of aerosol droplets (called Toilet Plume) that rises up to three feet (106.5 cm to be precise).

At the beginning of the pandemic, as even McDonalds and Starbucks started to close, public bathrooms became a deficit. Those planning long road trips had to cancel the plans or be creative. Now that the lockdown is easing in many places, people are venturing out to beaches, cinemas, morning runs, and long drives. Is it safe to use public washrooms? Dr Jen Gunter, a Californian gynecologist offers a series of suggestions.  

Consider large bathrooms with multiple stalls for better air circulation. Better if the exhaust is working. If someone exits a bathroom cabin before you, wait for a minute before entering. Wait longer if you see the toilet seat lid is up. Don’t touch anything with bare hands. Use toilet paper, but wash hands immediately. If the flush is automated, step back to avoid the spray. Wear masks in public washrooms. Avoid reusable hand towels. Get out quickly, don’t answer phones, don’t check messages, just get out.

*****

Most important, close the lid before flushing. Dr Gunter compares a closed lid to face masks. Professor Charles Gerba, an authority, has researched this subject for fifty years. He took close-ups of the ejecting germs from the toilet and described the photos as “Baghdad at night during a US air attack”.

In little droplets of water, whatever is in the toilet can spray on nearby clothes, cosmetics, soap, shampoo, hair dryer and…. Toothbrushes. Dr Gerba closes the lid before flushing for decades, even at home.

If a public toilet is without a lid, he advices the users to flush and run away.

In one experiment, Dr Gerba placed six cages with mice at different heights in a small bathroom. Then he flushed a mouse pneumonia virus transmitted by inhalation. Those mice placed higher than three feet escaped infection, others got infected.

The Chinese scientists have recommended the manufacturers should redesign toilets so that the flush doesn’t work unless the toilet lid is down.

*****  

In countries like India, with five star hotels shut, clean public bathrooms are impossible to find. It is recommended you drink less before stepping out. Dehydration may be better than covid-19. Dr Gunter says women can squeeze and relax pelvic floor muscles in quick succession five times. Quick flicks relax the bladder, postponing the urge. (Sorry no suggestions for men).

A UK study found that 85% of British women crouched or uncomfortably hovered over the toilet. 12% applied seat covers (rarely available), and 2% sat directly on public toilet seats. Dr Gunter advices women to sit on toilet seats without fear. That makes it safer for those who follow. Men must raise the seat, which is something most husbands have heard from their wives.

Now, following the latest advice, men must continue to raise the seat, but close the lid before flushing.

Ravi

Corona Daily 409: The Year of the Midwives

In May 2019, when WHO decided to declare 2020 as the “Year of the Nurse and the Midwife”, it had no idea how fortuitous the choice was. (The decision was based on the 200th birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale).

Since March, midwives are in great demand everywhere. Many pregnant women are terrified of delivering in a hospital. Women in the second and third trimesters are seeking alternative birth options.

In this matter, developed countries may be backward. Between 2000 and 2017, the maternal mortality rate has become worse only in 13 countries of the world. United States of America is one among them, in the civilized company of countries like Syria and Venezuela. Sweden has a 300-year tradition of professional midwifery. India has over two million qualified nurse-midwives and another million diploma midwives. The world is still short of 9 million midwives.

*****

Currently, the fear is mutual. Pregnant women are worried they may catch the virus in the hospital. The midwife is worried the pregnant woman may transmit the virus to her. During childbirth, social distancing is not possible. In New York City, one out of seven women admitted for delivery tested positive. Most were asymptomatic. Still, they reported a feeling of being shunned by the hospital staff. Their babies were taken away from them at birth, and given back a few days later. Some midwives offered help only through Facetime or Zoom. Initially, the expectant partner was not allowed in the room. Later, Governor Cuomo issued an order allowing the partner or any uninfected substitute.

The pandemic has reshaped the delivery process. Women in labour pain wearing masks, being looked after by midwives in protective gear is a bizarre if not a grotesque experience.

In parts of Scotland, home births were banned, but can now resume from 29 June. A woman wanting to deliver at home must sign an agreement promising a series of safeguards for the attending midwife. If the house has two toilets, one must be reserved exclusively for the midwife. (About toilets and virus, tomorrow).

Netherlands is more civilized. In the last two months, births were allowed to happen in empty hotels where midwives could get enough space to feel safe.

*****

WHO says safe and effective midwifery can prevent 83% of maternal deaths, stillbirths and newborn deaths. Experienced midwives can handle most low-risk women through labour, leaving only the most complicated cases to obstetricians. Even a non-professional midwife (called doula) is a great comfort for the pregnant woman.  

The medical profession, however, is commercial in many places. Modern doctors are trained to advise medical intervention every time. A C-section has become fashionable. In the USA, 35% of deliveries are C-section. WHO thinks the rate should be between 10% and 15%.

Caesarian is a major surgery that increases the risk of infection, hemorrhage and blood clotting. That risk has to be weighed against the risk of delivering at home.

Birth, a fundamentally natural process, may go back to become natural. A sustained trend of natural birthing will be a great positive contribution of the pandemic.

Ravi  

Corona Daily 410: Eight Hospitals in Fifteen Hours

Thirty-year old Neelam Kumari Gautam worked on an assembly line producing electrical wire. She was happy the lockdown had started during her pregnancy. Her husband Bijendra Singh, 31, serviced machines at a printing press. Their joint annual income of Rs 6 lakh ($8000) was enough to take care of them, their six-year old son, and the baby that would arrive sometime in June. The family lived in Ghaziabad, Delhi’s satellite city.

*****

On 5 June, Neelam woke her husband up at 5 am. Her excruciating labour pains were accompanied by rising blood pressure and breathlessness. Fortunately, her brother-in-law, Shailendra, owns an auto rickshaw. He took the couple to the ESIC model hospital. Neelam had an ESIC (employee insurance) card that qualifies her for cashless treatment there. The first thing the doctor said to Neelam: ‘I will slap you if you take off your mask.’ He then asked the couple to move to another hospital.

By 7 am, the rickshaw reached Shivalik Hospital, which had given Neelam pre-natal care earlier. Doctors feared she had coronavirus, and abruptly asked her to leave. Later, its director Ravi Mohta said: ‘We are a small mother and child hospital. We did what we could.’

In the rickshaw, Neelam was panting, sweating, holding her husband’s arm tightly. Fortis hospital is a health care giant. Neelam went in at around 11 am. Fortis would issue a statement two days later: ‘Due to unavailability of rooms in the ICU, she was given oxygen in the waiting area. The husband was counseled and explained the need for transfer to another hospital.’

Their next stop, the Jaypee hospital, later issued a statement. ‘She had covid-19 symptoms like fever and breathlessness. According to government instructions, we referred her to GIMS, where covid patients are treated.’

Sharada hospital in greater Noida treats covid patients. Its spokesperson, Dr Ajit Kumar later said: ‘We had no space in the ICU, and ICU allotment happens through the CMO office. So, she was referred to a higher center.’

It was eight hours since they had left home in the morning. The temperature was hovering around 38 C. At 1330, Bijendra called the police. Two police officers met them at the entrance of GIMS (Government Institute of Medical Sciences), a large public hospital. Police tried to persuade the doctors, but couldn’t get the patient admitted. The family paid Rs 5500 for a private ambulance which took them to the Max Super Specialty hospital, 25 miles away. It had no beds. Later, Vaishali, the hospital’s spokesperson said: ‘As per our records, no such patient was registered in our emergency.’

The ambulance carried them back to GIMS. In the ambulance, Bijendra repeatedly pleaded with his wife to keep her spirits up. She did not respond. At GIMS, they tried to resuscitate her, but it was too late to do anything. At 08.05 pm, fifteen hours and eight hospitals since leaving home, Neelam was pronounced dead. Her baby also died.

Dr Rakesh Gupta, director, GIMS, later said, ‘yes, they came to us, but we didn’t have a bed. And the second time they came, the woman was dead.’

Atul Garg, the minister for medical, health and family welfare said, ‘I will inquire and get back. Since I am on visit to districts in western UP, I had no information about the case.’

A preliminary government investigation said: ‘Hospital administration and staff have been found guilty of carelessness.’

*****

Ravi

Corona Daily 411: Pandemics and Hollywood

How long will cinemas remain shut? When will we see Avengers-type movies again? Will the pandemic affect Hollywood in any way?

*****

Ironically, Hollywood – as we know it today - was an outcome of the Spanish flu pandemic (1918-1920). The credit for that goes to Adolph Zukor, the founder of Paramount Pictures.

At the start of the 1918 pandemic, movies were silent. Filmmakers were independent, artists and distributors were fragmented. Family owned movie theatres were known as mom-and-pop theatres. Once the pandemic began, 90% of those theatres were closed for six months or so. The closing of cinemas disrupted everything, movie-watching, making and selling. Los Angeles studios imposed a ban on filming crowd scenes. From October 1918, all film productions were shut down for over a month.

Mary Pickford and Lillian Gish, the top lady stars, were infected but recovered. Mask-wearing was voluntary. Male stars were reluctant to wear masks. It diluted their invincibility and manliness. The leading star of that period - handsome, blond Harold Lockwood, 31 years old, had already featured in forty films. On the sets of shadows of suspicion, he fell ill and died in a few days.

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Adolph Zukor was a visionary. He wanted to control the entire chain – make movies, distribute them, and decide how they were shown. Exhibitors and mom-and-pop theatres were ruined by the pandemic. Zukor began buying the movie theatres. If someone was unwilling, he threatened to build a theatre across the road. In 1919, he bought 135 theatres in the southern states. That guaranteed his films would be shown.

Paramount is still one of the “Big Five” Hollywood studios (along with Walt Disney, Warner, Universal and Columbia). The studio system also began with the 1918 pandemic. Studios locked up stars, directors, technicians to work for them. Zukor developed the film rental concept, whereby the distributor charges the exhibitor a percentage of the box office receipts. That practice is still prevalent in many countries. He also introduced the concept of ‘block booking’ whereby a studio could force a movie theatre to sign an annual contract to exclusively show movies made by that studio.  

Just as supermarkets, hypermarkets and shopping malls gradually killed the mom-and-pop retail stores, Zukor’s tireless enterprise put an end to the family owned theatres. He succeeded in achieving vertical integration and complete top-down control. An unfortunate side effect was the disappearance of independent filmmakers. Women and non-white filmmakers went out of business. Hollywood essentially became a white male studio-driven industry. The so-called golden age of Hollywood started. Post-pandemic feature films became longer, with bigger budgets.

We see the Zukor model adopted today by streaming services like Netflix. Netflix wants to produce films/web series, distribute them around the world, and bring them to your small screen by charging a subscription fee.

*****  

Hollywood’s consolidation by establishing a studio system shows what can happen in a pandemic. Not only to a movie industry, but any business. Small fish face financial ruin, and either die or are eaten by the big fish. The big fish take over that industry, and become more powerful than before.

This consolidation is not a short-term effect. The model Adolph Zukor created one hundred years ago is still the backbone of Hollywood.

Ravi

Corona Daily 412: Lockdown Shoots

Franck Riester, France’s cultural minister, last week confirmed actors kissed for the first time on French film shoots. L’amour is not dead. Both actors had tested negative before kissing, he added.

Around the world, less than a handful films/TV series were shot in the last three months. Katla, a sci-fi series, directed by an Icelandic director Baltasar Kormakur was shot in Reykjavik.

On arrival, all the 80+ crew members were tested. Every morning, temperatures were measured. A colour-coded armband system was used. Yellow for those near the camera. Black for actors, makeup and costume professionals. Red for producers, script supervisors and visual effects. Blue, very rare, for people like the director with access everywhere. Each colour pod had not more than twenty people. Colour pod mixing was discouraged on sets and off-sets. All costs were financed by Netflix.

All meals were in individual boxes. Every hour, a special team sanitized all doorknobs, toilets and other surfaces. Except for actors facing the camera, everyone wore masks. Makeup artists and production designers wore gloves. In the four weeks of shooting, no intimate scenes were included. Only two crew members who felt feverish were sent into isolation for two weeks. Nobody else was infected.

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Harvest of the heart, a romance was perhaps the only film shot in America. It was shot for 16 days starting 27 May. “Covid coordinator” is a new title in the credits. This person was responsible for set sanitization, and ensuring no visitors, no restaurants, no gyms, no gatherings. People lived in Airbnb apartments to avoid hotels. The 14 cast and 22 crew worked outdoors all the time. The script was altered to exclude love scenes, even handshakes. (Spoiler alert: A single kiss at the end of the film). Actors were given the option of doing hair and makeup themselves.

Insurance was a big problem. No insurance company wants anything to do with coronavirus. The film producer found a single company that excluded coronavirus, and charged an exorbitant premium.

*****

Australia’s long-running soap Neighbours is reported to be the first TV series that has resumed production. The shoot started on 21 April.

They follow a four square meter rule. This is the personal space nobody else should invade. A trained nurse is present on the sets. Male actors shoot without any makeup. Again no kissing, no handshakes, no intimacy. The cameraman and editor are expected to use trick technology to bring actors together. Cell phone sharing is prohibited.

On the entire set, offices and bathrooms have swinging doors. You can gently kick the door to enter.

Keeping abreast of the news is discouraged for both cast and crew.

*****

Hollywood has come up with two white papers offering guidelines for safe shoots.

Cast and crew should be quarantined for two weeks before the start of the shoot. Locations and sets should be covered for three days or more for the viruses on all surfaces to die. Scripts must be modified to get rid of extras – crew members to replace them as needed. Reduce action and increase special effects. Sweden recommends not taking actors above 70.

*****

Many Netflix/ TV watchers have expressed a strange feeling of discomfort when watching large families dining together, people shaking hands or an old rugby game. It may be a 1980s movie, but hugging and kissing on screen is making viewers cringe. Real life and cinema always follow each other. If social distancing becomes an on-screen norm, and requires a corona test before every shoot, the French kiss may soon disappear from the screen.

Ravi  

Corona Daily 413: Blockbuster of the Month

Eric Tabach, utterly bored and frustrated by the lockdown, had an idea. Eric is a small time actor and YouTuber. For a few years, he had worked as a viral video producer at BuzzFeed.

He spoke to Christian Nilsson, one of the little known film makers in New York. Christian liked Eric’s idea. Yes, he would be happy to make the film with Eric. Inspired, on 9 May, Christian sat in front of his laptop, and by midnight, had completed the script. A horror film, its title was “Unsubscribe”. The plot was lockdown friendly. A sinister internet troll tricks a group of YouTubers into joining a Zoom call. The killer stalks the characters on camera.

Eric started speaking to everyone who bothered to answer his call. He explained his idea, and shared the plot. Apologetically, he admitted it was a zero budget movie. Surprisingly, some well known actors agreed to act for free. They were utterly bored themselves. Charlie Tahan (Ozark fame) would play the killer, Michelle Khare, the other lead. A few other well known YouTube actors joined in.

The whole project was shot in a week’s time in May. Of course, all the actors performed on Zoom, without ever leaving their homes. Eric needed a couple of weeks to edit. A composer friend obliged by making an original score for the film. The horror film was now ready for release.

*****

From his BuzzFeed days, Eric knew an industry practice called “four-walling”. A filmmaker buys the entire cinema theatre for a fee. Cinemas are happy to let the filmmaker collect money from tickets, if any. Four-walling is like self-publishing. It is a loophole that allows a filmmaker to claim an official release. If lucky, the film can get reviews in reputed newspapers.

Eric contacted the Westhampton Beach movie theatre in New York, and rented it for a whole day. The theatre owners were surprised but happy to get a client.

On the night of the screening, Eric and Christian wore tuxedos, groomed their hair as well as they could, and asked a passerby to take their picture in front of the theatre. “Unsubscribe- Sold Out” in the background made them truly proud.

They sat with large cups of popcorn, and saw the film again and again. Five times in total. They were the only two spectators in the entire auditorium.

*****

Now Eric started calling IMDb.  IMDb is the owner of Box Office Mojo, the company that audits and publishes the American box office rankings. They didn’t believe that the film existed, and that people like Charlie Tahan played in it. Finally, Eric sent them a copy of the film. IMDb called Tahan and the other actors, they confirmed they had actually acted in Unsubscribe.

The total revenue of Unsubscribe was $25,488. On 10 June, it became the #1 movie of America, the blockbuster of June 2020. Eric Tabach, as he had planned from the outset, joined the illustrious list of Stephen Spielberg, James Cameron, Ridley Scott and Christopher Nolan.

Ravi

Corona Daily 414: The Model Mouse

Jackson laboratory, Maine (JAX) specializes in breeding laboratory mice. It also has facilities in China. On 3 February, Qiming Wang, a researcher in the Shanghai office emailed the American lab and described the situation in China. Every weekend he would take a bullet train to be with his family in Wuhan. Some people in his building had tasted positive. Scary time. How could JAX help?

The Jackson lab researchers discussed ways to develop new mice to understand the novel coronavirus. Someone remembered Dr Perlman’s mice. During the SARS epidemic, Stanley Perlman had genetically engineered mice. In a 2007 paper, he wrote SARS was unlikely to be the last coronavirus. His mice might be useful in future.

Since that time, Dr Perlman had cryo-preserved (stored at extremely low temperatures) vials of sperm from these mice. In February, he emptied his freezer, and sent the entire semen stock to Jackson labs. In a few weeks, with an IVF treatment for mice, hundreds of Perlman mice were born.

*****

For animal trials, mice are less expensive, easy to maintain, and multiply quickly. Before trying a drug or vaccine on humans, it is usually tried on mice.

Our bodies have an enzyme called ACE2. Mice don’t have this human enzyme. In 2003, SARS virus couldn’t infect them. Dr Perlman had genetically modified the mice to add the human ACE2 receptors in them. SARS ended too quickly for the Perlman mice to be used widely.

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ACE2 serves as an entry point for the novel coronavirus. With its spikes it clings to the ACE2 receptors. The 2020 Perlman mice refused to get ill with Covid-19. Scientists found out why. The human ACE-2 was added in the mice, but the mouse ACE-2 was not deducted. Also the human version of the gene was wrongly placed.

Dr Wang Youchan from Beijing succeeded in removing those shortcomings. The latest genetically modified mice have only the human ACE-2 in the exact specific location on the X chromosome. Dr Wang used a state-of-the-art gene editing technology that did not exist in the times of the Perlman mice. As far as the virus is concerned, the Dr Wang mice are almost human.

*****

Dr Wang’s tests show the virus attacks the mice’s lungs, tracheas (windpipes) and digestive systems. Older mice are getting more ill than younger ones. One surprising thing is that the virus is replicating in the brains of the mice. In humans, that is not detected so far, except the loss of smell in some patients. Covid-19 has not been fatal to mice, but they get sick, lose weight and develop lung damage.

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There is a huge demand for genetically modified mice. Drugs and vaccine creators order custom-made mice for diabetes, cancer, blood disorders or any other disease. China sells a pair for $17,000. Currently the market is worth $ 1.40 billion. The pups of those mice may not inherit those (artificial) traits. In other words, they may be born natural, with no human genes.

In the last three months, many universities, and research labs had to euthanize (in simple language, kill) their colonies of lab mice, because nobody could look after them. But sperm vials of the important or rare mice are usually cryo-preserved.

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Not all rodents are a menace. Lab mice sacrifice their health or life so that the human race can save itself.

Ravi