1 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:10,200 Speaker 1: Welcome to Prognosis. I'm Laura Carlson. It's day one fifty 2 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:15,680 Speaker 1: nine since coronavirus was declared a global pandemic. Today's main story. 3 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:19,800 Speaker 1: Many are still hoping some college sports can move ahead 4 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 1: in the fall, but amid the controversy about whether that's safe, 5 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:29,880 Speaker 1: a new threat has merged, a possible COVID nineteen complication 6 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 1: that can be fatal for young athletes. But first, here's 7 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 1: what happened in virus news today. COVID nineteen cases in 8 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: US nursing homes surged last month, surpassing the previous peak 9 00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:54,640 Speaker 1: in May. That's according to a new report from the 10 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:59,320 Speaker 1: American Healthcare Association and the National Center for Assisted Living. 11 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:04,320 Speaker 1: The report shows that nursing home cases are up dramatically 12 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:08,840 Speaker 1: in the very same places where virus levels have spiked 13 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 1: in the general population. Seventy eight percent of new nursing 14 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:17,199 Speaker 1: home cases in July were in Sun belt states, where 15 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:23,319 Speaker 1: the virus is spreading rapidly. Hong Kong's government extended all 16 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:28,360 Speaker 1: existing social distancing measures for another week. The measures include 17 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:32,200 Speaker 1: an evening dine in ban at restaurants, a two person 18 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:38,199 Speaker 1: public gathering limit, and mask requirements. A government spokesman said 19 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:42,920 Speaker 1: that the COVID situation was severe and allowed no room 20 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:47,039 Speaker 1: to let up on distancing rules. He also said the 21 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:51,240 Speaker 1: country should get prepared for a possible winter search or 22 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 1: a fourth wave coinciding with the usual flu season. Finally, 23 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:03,120 Speaker 1: many people are still opting not to fly. Ryanair Holdings, 24 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:06,680 Speaker 1: Europe's largest discount airline, said it would cut its flight 25 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:12,400 Speaker 1: capacity by in September and October because so few people 26 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:18,040 Speaker 1: have booked flights. The company blames continuing uncertainty over recent 27 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:21,880 Speaker 1: COVID case rates in some countries for the weekend bookings 28 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:31,960 Speaker 1: and now for today's main story. As some college athletes 29 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 1: prepare to get on the field this fall, a dangerous 30 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:39,680 Speaker 1: possible side effect of COVID nineteen as many people worried 31 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 1: about a dozen student athletes have experienced heart inflammation after 32 00:02:44,919 --> 00:02:48,800 Speaker 1: being diagnosed with the disease. The n c a a's 33 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:53,800 Speaker 1: chief medical officer discussed the cases of myocarditis, a heart 34 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 1: condition that can cause sudden death in young athletes, at 35 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:01,360 Speaker 1: a briefing last week. His remarks came two days after 36 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 1: the Big Ten and Pack twelve announced they would postpone 37 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:09,960 Speaker 1: fall sports. I talked to Angelica Levito who reports that 38 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:14,080 Speaker 1: the new complication is casting a shadow over college athletics 39 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:18,919 Speaker 1: and creating questions about what the disease does to young 40 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:28,040 Speaker 1: people as some university sports get going for the fall seasons. 41 00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:33,680 Speaker 1: How have college athletes been affected by COVID nineteen. We 42 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:37,480 Speaker 1: have already seen a number of college athletes catch COVID nineteen, 43 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:40,120 Speaker 1: whether that it was at sports camps or just throughout 44 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 1: the summer. And of those people who have caught COVID nineteen, 45 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 1: about a dozen student athletes have developed a heart condition 46 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:52,920 Speaker 1: called myocarditis. And this heart inflammation basically makes it more 47 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:56,040 Speaker 1: difficult for someone's heart to pump blood and in some 48 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:59,640 Speaker 1: cases can cause an arrhythmia, which can be deadly. And 49 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:03,320 Speaker 1: that's problematic because when you're an athlete, you're really working 50 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:06,120 Speaker 1: your heart and that can cause pretty much the ideal 51 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 1: conditions for arrhythmia. That is causing some concern among schools. 52 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 1: Who are, you know, worried about what we know and 53 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:17,240 Speaker 1: what we don't know about COVID nineteen. Why are we 54 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:22,080 Speaker 1: seeing this myocarditis or hard inflammation more in athletes than 55 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:25,640 Speaker 1: in other COVID nineteen patients. I'm really glad you asked 56 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:27,760 Speaker 1: that and the doctors I talked to you said that 57 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:31,200 Speaker 1: we need to be careful not to create this association 58 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 1: between athletes and myocroditis. We're probably hearing about it and 59 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:38,839 Speaker 1: more in athletes because they are being screened for these 60 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:41,880 Speaker 1: hard issues because they want to be really really careful 61 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:45,520 Speaker 1: to not work out. If you are diagnosed with myocarditis, 62 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:48,440 Speaker 1: you're not supposed to exercise for three to six months. 63 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:52,400 Speaker 1: So that's why schools leagues are making every effort to 64 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:55,880 Speaker 1: try and screen people, and some people might not ever 65 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:59,360 Speaker 1: know they have myocroditis um. Some people might not report 66 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:02,479 Speaker 1: any symptom um. Therefore, it makes it really difficult for 67 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:06,240 Speaker 1: us to understand how many people actually have it versus 68 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:10,000 Speaker 1: how many athletes have it. So there's a potential that 69 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:13,520 Speaker 1: this is a more common side effect or complication of 70 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:17,080 Speaker 1: COVID nineteen, and we're just seeing it pop up more 71 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:22,000 Speaker 1: in athletes than has been necessarily found in others. That's correct. 72 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:26,400 Speaker 1: So we do know that viruses like influenza cause myocarditis 73 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:30,680 Speaker 1: in some patients. Again, it's incredibly rare, but we really 74 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:33,480 Speaker 1: don't know the full scope because there are so many 75 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 1: patients that might never know they have it, And so 76 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:42,200 Speaker 1: what are these universities and colleges and sports teams doing 77 00:05:42,279 --> 00:05:45,440 Speaker 1: now that it has been shown to be affecting their athletes. 78 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:49,200 Speaker 1: That's a good question. And you did see the Big 79 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:52,240 Speaker 1: Ten and the Pact twelve decided to postpone their fall 80 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:56,720 Speaker 1: seasons altogether because of the unknowns about the possible long 81 00:05:56,839 --> 00:06:01,080 Speaker 1: term health effects of COVID nineteen. Inter terms of other colleges, 82 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:03,760 Speaker 1: I'm not sure what their protocols are, but we are 83 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:07,040 Speaker 1: seeing in in some of the pro sports, for example, 84 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:10,680 Speaker 1: leagues are including um a heart assessment as part of 85 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:15,000 Speaker 1: the return to play protocol. And let's talk more broadly 86 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 1: in terms of implications for college athletes. You mentioned that 87 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:25,000 Speaker 1: there's quite a long downtime that people should not exercise 88 00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:28,760 Speaker 1: for months if they are found to have myocarditis. I mean, 89 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:31,000 Speaker 1: what are some of the implications for those who are 90 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:34,760 Speaker 1: involved in college sports right now? What what perhaps is 91 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:39,880 Speaker 1: their future? Well, it depends because not everyone who develops 92 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:44,560 Speaker 1: COVID nineteen develops myocard itis. Again, doctors say that it's 93 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 1: probably pretty rare. However, you can imagine that if you're 94 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:51,039 Speaker 1: an athlete and you develop this hard inflammation and you're 95 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:53,360 Speaker 1: forced to sit out for three to six months, it 96 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:56,680 Speaker 1: could end your season. For example, of the Boston Red Sox, 97 00:06:56,760 --> 00:07:00,120 Speaker 1: their star pitcher Edward Rodriguez has to sit out the 98 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:02,839 Speaker 1: rest of the season because he had this condition. So 99 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:06,279 Speaker 1: if you're an athlete, it can be problematic. So is 100 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:08,599 Speaker 1: mile cardi does something that we have to worry about 101 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:12,800 Speaker 1: predominantly with those of college age or even professional athletes, 102 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:16,000 Speaker 1: or is this something that can affect anyone at any age. 103 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:20,520 Speaker 1: So I spoke to a number of pediatric cardiologists and 104 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:23,720 Speaker 1: they both told me that so far, what they've seen 105 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:28,440 Speaker 1: suggests that this is incredibly rare among children. It's already 106 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:32,480 Speaker 1: rare among adults, but even more so among children. One 107 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:35,440 Speaker 1: doctor I spoke to even said he has kids who 108 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:38,720 Speaker 1: are in elementary school and he will be sending them 109 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 1: back to competitive sports. And so, so far, what we 110 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:44,640 Speaker 1: know is that even though this could be a risk 111 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:48,080 Speaker 1: for older people, whether you're a college student, maybe even 112 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 1: a high school student, or a professional athlete, there is 113 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:53,840 Speaker 1: of course a risk, but it does appear that for 114 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:57,720 Speaker 1: kids there's even less of an already pretty small chance 115 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:03,040 Speaker 1: of getting this. So overall, all, how common is myocardis? 116 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:06,520 Speaker 1: How often are we seeing this in COVID nineteen patients 117 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:09,960 Speaker 1: or just generally. So it's really too early to say 118 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:14,800 Speaker 1: how many patients who contract COVID nineteen developed this heart inflammation. 119 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:17,560 Speaker 1: There was a German study that created a lot of 120 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:20,760 Speaker 1: noise and really brought this into focus. It was a 121 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:23,760 Speaker 1: small study and it only included about a hundred patients, 122 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: and of those patients, sixty displayed the heart inflammation, which 123 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:31,360 Speaker 1: raised a lot of alarms. However, it also has had 124 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:34,880 Speaker 1: sort of some controversy because the median age of the 125 00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:38,400 Speaker 1: people analyzed was forty nine and it's harder to compare 126 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:42,600 Speaker 1: young athletes versus older people, so that makes it a 127 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 1: little bit of a doctors call it non apples to 128 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:49,800 Speaker 1: apples comparison. Whoever, doctors I talked to you said, even 129 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:53,080 Speaker 1: if it's not a perfect comparison, they should also still 130 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 1: be mindful that there is still a risk. And what 131 00:08:56,679 --> 00:09:01,040 Speaker 1: has physicians said about how myocardis is a new or 132 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:04,880 Speaker 1: emerging side effect of COVID nineteen. This is such a 133 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:08,720 Speaker 1: new virus, and every doctor I spoke to when reporting 134 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:11,240 Speaker 1: this story said the same thing. There's so much we 135 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:14,200 Speaker 1: don't know. We've learned a lot in the past eight 136 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:17,280 Speaker 1: months or so, but they're still just a lot that 137 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:19,920 Speaker 1: we really aren't sure about and we just need to 138 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:23,880 Speaker 1: learn more, and that athletes should understand that we don't 139 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:26,559 Speaker 1: know everything, and so when they're making decisions on whether 140 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:29,160 Speaker 1: to play or whether to sit out, they need to 141 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:32,040 Speaker 1: really be aware that there's a lot we don't know yet. 142 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:41,800 Speaker 1: That was Angelica Levito, and that's it for our show today. 143 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:45,199 Speaker 1: For coverage of the outbreak from one twenty bureaus around 144 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:50,040 Speaker 1: the world, visit Bloomberg dot com slash Coronavirus and if 145 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:52,520 Speaker 1: you like the show, please leave us a review and 146 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:56,320 Speaker 1: a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It's the best 147 00:09:56,360 --> 00:10:00,240 Speaker 1: way to help more listeners find our global reporting. The 148 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:05,000 Speaker 1: Prognosis Daily edition is produced by Topher Foreheads, Jordan Gaspore, 149 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:10,320 Speaker 1: Magnus Hendrickson, and me Loraa Carlson. Today's main story was 150 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:15,120 Speaker 1: reported by Angelica Levito. Original music by Leo Sedrin. Our 151 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:19,720 Speaker 1: editors are Rick Shine and Francesca Levi. Francesca Levi is 152 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:23,000 Speaker 1: Bloomberg's head of Podcasts. Thanks for listening.