MRIGlobal

We have been tracking COVID-19 since the end of December '19. There is no need to panic, just prepare, wash your hands, and take care of your health.

The CDC and OSHA websites have wonderful guides for businesses, hospitals, and individuals to protect themselves from respiratory infections.

It is important for the US (and the world) to be focused on preparedness. Preparing between outbreaks, rather than waiting for new ones to emerge, can be accomplished for a fraction of the cost.

The common theme we're hearing visiting with delegates on Capitol Hill is that this is transcending politics. Both parties want to find fast solutions for the purpose of helping the US and the world.

The US government's projected timeline for deploying a vaccine is 12-18 months. This is impressive given that most vaccines and drugs take 10 years and billions of dollars to develop.

Coronaviruses do mutate, but that wouldn't necessarily render the vaccine ineffective.

Reinfection is unlikely with natural infection. There are two main methods of gaining immunity: one is through vaccines and the other is your body's natural response to the disease. Therapeutic treatment increases the likelihood of reinfection because it mitigates the body's immune response.

We have heard about two strains, but as far as we know, one lab in China recently reported having sufficient evidence of mutation to identify a second strain. Thus far, it seems as though news agencies are running with that sound bite more than there is significant data to support it.

That said, we would need to evaluate therapeutics and vaccines against both strains, if there indeed are two.

We think it's best with a lime