Halting the pandemic outside 'CORTINA2021' alpine world ski championships: a challenge for sport and public health in times of COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: In February 2021 the "Cortina2021" Alpine World Ski Championships took place in the mountain town of Cortina d'Ampezzo (Italy), thus gaining the definition of "first sporting event of global significance in the time of covid-19 pandemic". Though the event took place behind closed doors and in a context of national public health restrictive measures, it counted almost 6,000 participants. METHODS: A rigorous "Covid-19 Prevention and Hygiene Protocol" was drawn up by the local and regional health authorities together with the organizing committee, in order to contain the risk of viral circulation within the venue. RESULTS: Overall about 20,000 rapid antigen nasal swabs were performed to screen-detect sars-cov2 cases: only 22 of these were found positive, whereas 25 people were quarantined as close contacts. CONCLUSIONS: The experience of "Cortina2021" proves that mass gatherings can take place even in times of epidemic threats, if adequately planned and by providing public health recommendations tailored on the viral circulation foreseen by the time the event is due. If new epidemics should arise in the future, hopefully the public health management of "Cortina2021" may be a template for next mass gatherings to be held, as far as possible, despite the viral circulation.

Single-cell atlas of a non-human primate reveals new pathogenic mechanisms of COVID-19 (preprint)

Stopping COVID-19 is a priority worldwide. Understanding which cell types are targeted by SARS-CoV-2 virus, whether interspecies differences exist, and how variations in cell state influence viral entry is fundamental for accelerating therapeutic and preventative approaches. In this endeavor, we profiled the transcriptome of nine tissues from a Macaca fascicularis monkey at single-cell resolution. The distribution of SARS-CoV-2 facilitators, ACE2 and TMRPSS2, in different cell subtypes showed substantial heterogeneity across lung, kidney, and liver. Through co-expression analysis, we identified immunomodulatory proteins such as IDO2 and ANPEP as potential SARS-CoV-2 targets responsible for immune cell exhaustion. Furthermore, single-cell chromatin accessibility analysis of the kidney unveiled a plausible link between IL6-mediated innate immune responses aiming to protect tissue and enhanced ACE2 expression that could promote viral entry. Our work constitutes a unique resource for understanding the physiology and pathophysiology of two phylogenetically close species, which might guide in the development of therapeutic approaches in humans. Bullet pointsO_LIWe generated a single-cell transcriptome atlas of 9 monkey tissues to study COVID-19. C_LIO_LIACE2+TMPRSS2+ epithelial cells of lung, kidney and liver are targets for SARS-CoV-2. C_LIO_LIACE2 correlation analysis shows IDO2 and ANPEP as potential therapeutic opportunities. C_LIO_LIWe unveil a link between IL6, STAT transcription factors and boosted SARS-CoV-2 entry. C_LI