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Background: In July 2020, a COVID-19 outbreak was recognised in the geriatric wards at a subacute campus of the Royal Melbourne Hospital affecting patients and staff. Patients were also admitted to this site after diagnosis in residential care. Aims: To describe the early symptoms and the outcomes of COVID-19 in older adults. Methods: Patients diagnosed with COVID-19 at the facility in July or August 2020 were identified and their medical records were examined to identify symptoms present before and after their diagnosis and to determine their outcomes. Results: Overall, 106 patients were identified as having COVID-19, with median age of 84.3 years (range 41–104 years); 64 were diagnosed as hospital inpatients after a median length of stay of 49 days, 31 were transferred from residential aged care facilities with a known diagnosis and 11 were diagnosed after discharge. There were 95 patients included in an analysis of symptom type and timing onset. Overall, 61 (64.2%) were asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis of COVID-19, having been diagnosed through screening initiated on site. Of these, 88.6% developed symptoms of COVID-19 within 14 days. The most common initial symptom type was respiratory, but there was wide variation in presentation, including fever, gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms, many initially not recognised as being due to COVID-19. Of 104 patients, 32 died within 30 days of diagnosis. Conclusions: COVID-19 diagnosis is challenging due to the variance in symptoms. In the context of an outbreak, asymptomatic screening can identify affected patients early in the disease course.

BACKGROUND: In July 2020, a COVID-19 outbreak was recognised in the geriatric wards at a subacute campus of the Royal Melbourne Hospital affecting patients and staff. Patients were also admitted to this site after diagnosis in residential care. AIMS: To describe the early symptoms and the outcomes of COVID-19 in older adults. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with COVID-19 at the facility in July or August 2020 were identified and their medical records were examined to identify symptoms present before and after their diagnosis and to determine their outcomes. RESULTS: Overall, 106 patients were identified as having COVID-19, with median age of 84.3 years (range 41-104 years); 64 were diagnosed as hospital inpatients after a median length of stay of 49 days, 31 were transferred from residential aged care facilities with a known diagnosis and 11 were diagnosed after discharge. There were 95 patients included in an analysis of symptom type and timing onset. Overall, 61 (64.2%) were asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis of COVID-19, having been diagnosed through screening initiated on site. Of these, 88.6% developed symptoms of COVID-19 within 14 days. The most common initial symptom type was respiratory, but there was wide variation in presentation, including fever, gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms, many initially not recognised as being due to COVID-19. Of 104 patients, 32 died within 30 days of diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 diagnosis is challenging due to the variance in symptoms. In the context of an outbreak, asymptomatic screening can identify affected patients early in the disease course.

Background: In July 2020, a COVID-19 outbreak was recognised in the geriatric wards at a subacute campus of the Royal Melbourne Hospital affecting patients and staff. Patients were also admitted to this site after diagnosis in residential care. Aims: To describe the early symptoms and the outcomes of COVID-19 in older adults. Methods: Patients diagnosed with COVID-19 at the facility in July or August 2020 were identified and their medical records were examined to identify symptoms present before and after their diagnosis and to determine their outcomes. Results: Overall, 106 patients were identified as having COVID-19, with median age of 84.3 years (range 41–104 years); 64 were diagnosed as hospital inpatients after a median length of stay of 49 days, 31 were transferred from residential aged care facilities with a known diagnosis and 11 were diagnosed after discharge. There were 95 patients included in an analysis of symptom type and timing onset. Overall, 61 (64.2%) were asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis of COVID-19, having been diagnosed through screening initiated on site. Of these, 88.6% developed symptoms of COVID-19 within 14 days. The most common initial symptom type was respiratory, but there was wide variation in presentation, including fever, gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms, many initially not recognised as being due to COVID-19. Of 104 patients, 32 died within 30 days of diagnosis. Conclusions: COVID-19 diagnosis is challenging due to the variance in symptoms. In the context of an outbreak, asymptomatic screening can identify affected patients early in the disease course.

Soil organisms, including earthworms, are a key component of terrestrial ecosystems. However, little is known about their diversity, their distribution, and the threats affecting them. We compiled a global dataset of sampled earthworm communities from 6928 sites in 57 countries as a basis for predicting patterns in earthworm diversity, abundance, and biomass. We found that local species richness and abundance typically peaked at higher latitudes, displaying patterns opposite to those observed in aboveground organisms. However, high species dissimilarity across tropical locations may cause diversity across the entirety of the tropics to be higher than elsewhere. Climate variables were found to be more important in shaping earthworm communities than soil properties or habitat cover. These findings suggest that climate change may have serious implications for earthworm communities and for the functions they provide., Unión Europea. Horizonte 2020, Unión Europea. FP7, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICCIN), sDiv [Synthesis Centre of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Academy of Finland, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, DOB Ecology, TULIP Laboratory of Excellence, Russian Foundation for Basic Research, Tarbiat Modares University, Aurora Organic Dairy, UGC (NERO), Slovak Research and Development Agency, Science for Global Development through Wageningen University, Norman Borlaug LEAP Programme and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), Royal Canadian Geographical Society, Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland), University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, U.S. Department of the Navy, Commander Pacific Fleet, Science and Engineering Research Board, Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, India, Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) of the U.S. Department of Defense, Maranhão State Research Foundation (FAPEMA), Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, Colorado Wheat Research Foundation; Zone Atelier Alpes, French National Research Agency, Austrian Science Fund, Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank Frankfurt am Main, Welsh Government and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, SÉPAQ, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland, Science Foundation Ireland, University of Toronto (Faculty of Forestry), Haliburton Forest and Wildlife Reserve, NKU College of Arts and Sciences, Österreichische Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft, Mountain Agriculture Research Unit of the University of Innsbruck, Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi, Kerala, UNEP/GEF/TSBF-CIAT, GRDC, AWI, LWRRDC, DRDC, National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), National Agency of Scientific and Technological Promotion (FONCyT), Universidad Nacional de Luján/FONCyT, Fonds de recherche sur la nature et les technologies du Québec, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, CONACYT, NSF, Institute for Environmental Science and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Dean’s Scholar Program at UIC, Garden Club of America Zone VI Fellowship in Urban Forestry from the Casey Tree Endowment Fund, J. E. Weaver Competitive Grant from the Nebraska Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at DePaul University, Elmore Hadley Award for Research in Ecology and Evolution from the UIC Dept. of Biological Sciences, Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología (CICYT), Yokohama National University, MEXT KAKENHI, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI, ADEME, Syngenta Philippines, UPSTREAM, LTSER, Comisión Europea, National Science and Technology Base Resource Survey Project of China, McKnight Foundation, Program of Fundamental Researches of Presidium of Russian Academy of Sciences, Brazilian National Council of Research CNPq, French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Depto. de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución, Fac. de Ciencias Biológicas, TRUE, pub