This year has been momentous, with a new virus, a new job writing about that virus (114 articles!) and many new sources, readers and Twitter followers. To chronicle this insane year, I'm compiling some of the stories I'm proudest of. A thread.

Exactly a year ago, my family and I were headed back from Vietnam, with no idea how close we had been to the outbreak brewing in China. It took me a while to realize the gravity, but this first story I wrote about the virus still (mostly) holds up:
https://t.co/KQ5QMmY7MG
In March, it became increasingly obvious from research being published that the virus could spread in the absence of symptoms. Yet US officials were still mostly pooh-poohing it. In this article I talked to scientists who knew better:
https://t.co/485KxSXHeS
We know now that some of the worst effects of Covid-19 are because of the body's immune response, not just the virus itself. There were just early hints of that when I wrote this piece about cytokine storms.
https://t.co/WecEe8XkBf
In this story in May, I delved into what we knew about the relationship between the viral dose and the risk of infection -- a topic we still know woefully little about:
https://t.co/GqveDGgsul
I wasn't the first reporter to connect the dots on airborne transmission, but I'm still proud of this one for the impact it had. A few days after this article appeared, the WHO changed its position on airborne spread:
https://t.co/zGiS89Ej2E
In this story I tried to shine a light on other, older, pandemics that are being set back, in some cases by decades, because of the coronavirus. In another time, this would have been reported on the ground, but I tried to make the stories resonate anyway:
https://t.co/NG8zG5TpDq
This article is among my most controversial, and revealed a deep divide among PCR devotees on the one hand, and believers in rapid tests on the other. I also loved that a geeky story about a PCR metric (Ct value) was so widely read
https://t.co/rR4aBDK4Xl
I wrote a lot of stories about the CDC this year, and the Trump administration meddling in the agency's scientific work. But this article stands out, in part because of the importance of the document altered:
https://t.co/OlQyH5PtUY
I was in a continual state of shock while reporting this story about the White House Rose Garden event and the WH's stance that it did not need to trace any contacts because there was no evidence that anyone was infected there

https://t.co/mRdOZh8AiO
This story explored the possibility (now confirmed by many studies) that people with Covid develop autoimmunity reminiscent of lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, although it's still unclear how long those autoantibodies stick around
https://t.co/BcVlR6J5XS
An absolute joy to write, I could barely wait to get the good news out: that immunity from natural infection (and, presumably vaccines) might last years and maybe even decades. Of course, that was before the new variant emerged: https://t.co/ntTmKxKjbm
I'll end with this story from a couple of weeks ago about the new variant identified in Britain and what it means for us. We know more about the variant since I wrote this, but most of it still applies:
https://t.co/zFul84KhhA
Finally, I'd like to highlight a few stories that had nothing to do with the coronavirus, beginning with this one about the London Patient, the second man ever cured of HIV, revealing his identity. It was also the last story I reported in person:
https://t.co/19rkF0uvUt
This story perhaps flew under the radar because of the pandemic. It examined disturbing allegations of harassment and bullying from a global leader in tuberculosis:
https://t.co/XTWuRRBqm9
Whew, that was a lot. Goodbye and good riddance, 2020. I was wowed by your science, appalled by the public health failures, and profoundly grateful to all of my readers and sources. And of course to the spelling bee and crosswords, which kept me sane.

More from Twitter

1/ Meta thread about "Going Pro" on Twitter.

I've been a Twitter power user since 2008 or so. Long time.

I've watched it change from an impromptu conversation or watch party platform to a place for people to build their professional reputations and network.

2/ In many ways it's matured into a more effective professional platform than LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is (mostly) about collecting the professional contacts you've met.

Twitter is a place to meet new people.

That much hasn't


3/ What also hasn't changed is its power for networking.

This is particularly useful if you break out of your echo chamber and talk, build relationships with people doing tangentially related things.

You're bricklaying and with patience it pays off.


4/ What has changed is a growing population of people being *intentional* about the use of Twitter for their professional lives.

Observations on what's working for them:

5/ They "Build in public" - sharing behind the scenes perspectives on whatever it is you're doing professionally.

What do people not know about what you do?

Stick within your expertise, with focus, where people see you are an authority - that’s where you grow a following.

You May Also Like

1. Project 1742 (EcoHealth/DTRA)
Risks of bat-borne zoonotic diseases in Western Asia

Duration: 24/10/2018-23 /10/2019

Funding: $71,500
@dgaytandzhieva
https://t.co/680CdD8uug


2. Bat Virus Database
Access to the database is limited only to those scientists participating in our ‘Bats and Coronaviruses’ project
Our intention is to eventually open up this database to the larger scientific community
https://t.co/mPn7b9HM48


3. EcoHealth Alliance & DTRA Asking for Trouble
One Health research project focused on characterizing bat diversity, bat coronavirus diversity and the risk of bat-borne zoonotic disease emergence in the region.
https://t.co/u6aUeWBGEN


4. Phelps, Olival, Epstein, Karesh - EcoHealth/DTRA


5, Methods and Expected Outcomes
(Unexpected Outcome = New Coronavirus Pandemic)
These 10 threads will teach you more than reading 100 books

Five billionaires share their top lessons on startups, life and entrepreneurship (1/10)


10 competitive advantages that will trump talent (2/10)


Some harsh truths you probably don’t want to hear (3/10)


10 significant lies you’re told about the world (4/10)
कुंडली में 12 भाव होते हैं। कैसे ज्योतिष द्वारा रोग के आंकलन करते समय कुंडली के विभिन्न भावों से गणना करते हैं आज इस पर चर्चा करेंगे।
कुण्डली को कालपुरुष की संज्ञा देकर इसमें शरीर के अंगों को स्थापित कर उनसे रोग, रोगेश, रोग को बढ़ाने घटाने वाले ग्रह


रोग की स्थिति में उत्प्रेरक का कार्य करने वाले ग्रह, आयुर्वेदिक/ऐलोपैथी/होमियोपैथी में से कौन कारगर होगा इसका आँकलन, रक्त विकार, रक्त और आपरेशन की स्थिति, कौन सा आंतरिक या बाहरी अंग प्रभावित होगा इत्यादि गणना करने में कुंडली का प्रयोग किया जाता है।


मेडिकल ज्योतिष में आज के समय में Dr. K. S. Charak का नाम निर्विवाद रूप से प्रथम स्थान रखता है। उनकी लिखी कई पुस्तकें आज इस क्षेत्र में नए ज्योतिषों का मार्गदर्शन कर रही हैं।
प्रथम भाव -
इस भाव से हम व्यक्ति की रोगप्रतिरोधक क्षमता, सिर, मष्तिस्क का विचार करते हैं।


द्वितीय भाव-
दाहिना नेत्र, मुख, वाणी, नाक, गर्दन व गले के ऊपरी भाग का विचार होता है।
तृतीय भाव-
अस्थि, गला,कान, हाथ, कंधे व छाती के आंतरिक अंगों का शुरुआती भाग इत्यादि।

चतुर्थ भाव- छाती व इसके आंतरिक अंग, जातक की मानसिक स्थिति/प्रकृति, स्तन आदि की गणना की जाती है


पंचम भाव-
जातक की बुद्धि व उसकी तीव्रता,पीठ, पसलियां,पेट, हृदय की स्थिति आंकलन में प्रयोग होता है।

षष्ठ भाव-
रोग भाव कहा जाता है। कुंडली मे इसके तत्कालिक भाव स्वामी, कालपुरुष कुंडली के स्वामी, दृष्टि संबंध, रोगेश की स्थिति, रोगेश के नक्षत्र औऱ रोगेश व भाव की डिग्री इत्यादि।