Several readers have written to inform us about Richard Bartlett, a Texas doctor and onetime congressional candidate who says he has discovered a “silver bullet” for COVID-19. His proposed cure? Inhaled steroids.

This would be world-changing news, probably deserving a Nobel Prize, if true. It would save thousands of lives, end the economic and social upheaval caused by preventive measures, and save billions of dollars on hospital treatments.

As the ancient Spartans famously said: “If.”

An Alaskan reader challenged us to share 10 reasons to take the coronavirus pandemic seriously—to believe that it is “not a hoax,” as she put it. Her state’s experience with the coronavirus has encouraged its residents to see it as a faraway problem: The entire state has suffered only 17 deaths so far, whereas a single nursing home in my area saw a higher death toll. 

In the race to defeat the coronavirus, the finish line is the mass production of a safe, effective vaccine.

Just as Jonas Salk’s vaccine helped transform polio from feared menace to historical curiosity in most countries, a good vaccine against today’s coronavirus would restore the world’s confidence, both socially (potlucks! concerts! sports!) and economically. So where does the vaccine race stand now?

In March, a study in Wuhan, China, suggested that coronavirus patients might benefit from a potent steroid called methylprednisolone.

The Lancet and The New England Journal of Medicine—among the world’s most prestigious science journals—each retracted a headlining study about COVID-19 on Thursday. The implications extend beyond those journals, though, and threaten to erode public trust in medical research at a time when it is most needed.

Reports of coronavirus victims often include pictures of intensive care units filled with intubated patients—that is, patients with breathing tubes connected to ventilators. Long used to help patients who are under anesthesia or whose breathing has failed, ventilators mechanically push air into the lungs under pressure. Like any powerful tool, they should be used wisely—and reports are starting to suggest that, in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, wise use of ventilators may mean less use of them.

In early March I discussed past research showing a link between vitamin D deficiency and increased susceptibility to seasonal respiratory illnesses. While that research, published in 2017, did not address the new coronavirus, the insights about immunity likely apply to a wide range of viral illnesses, possibly including COVID-19.

Now, a new study suggests researchers should look more closely at vitamin D’s role in COVID-19 cases.