Can a combination of vaccination and face mask wearing contain the COVID-19 pandemic?

The COVID-19 pandemic is going into its third year with Europe again being the focus of major epidemic activity. The present review tries to answer the question whether one can come to grip with the pandemic by a combination of vaccinations and non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). Several COVID-19 vaccines are of remarkable efficacy and achieve high protection rates against symptomatic disease, especially severe disease, but mathematical models suggest that the current vaccination coverage in many countries is insufficient to achieve pandemic control. NPIs are needed as complementary measures because recent research has also revealed the limits of vaccination alone. Here, we review the evidence for efficacy of face mask wearing in various settings. Overall pooled analysis showed significant reduction in COVID-19 incidence with mask wearing, although heterogeneity between studies was substantial. Controlled trials of mask wearing are difficult to conduct, separating mask wearing effects in population studies from the impact of other NPIs is challenging and the efficacy of masks depend on mask material and mask fit. The combination of vaccination and mask wearing is potentially synergistic since vaccination protects so far well from disease development (the omicron variant is currently an unknown) but immunity from infection wanes over few months after vaccination. In comparison, masks interfere with the virus transmission process at a level of a physical barrier independent of coronavirus variant. Vaccination and masks are much less costly to apply than other NPI measures which are associated with high economic and social costs, but paradoxically both measures are the target of a vocal opposition by a sizable minority of the society. In parallel with biomedical research, we need more social science research into this opposition to guide political decisions on how to end the pandemic.     

Assessing the effectiveness of mandatory outdoor mask policy: The natural experiment of Campania

Face masks are possibly the main symbol of the COVID-19 pandemic. Once rarely used in Western countries, in the last two years they have become an object it is impossible to leave one’s home without. Italy made their use a legal requirement, even outdoors, from late 2020 to early 2022. The effectiveness of this policy in reducing COVID-19 cases has been widely debated. The recent cancellation of their mandatory use in Italy offers an interesting setting in which to test its impact, since one Italian region (Campania) extended the restriction for a further three weeks. We aim to shed some light on the real-world impact of mandatory use of face masks outdoors, identifying the effect of this policy on the spread of COVID-19. By means of a quantitative analysis, employing a synthetic control method approach, we find that Campania had statistically the same number of cases as its synthetic counterfactual, built from a donor pool formed from the other Italian provinces. Hence, results suggest that while it imposes a burden on the public, the use of face masks outdoors is not correlated with a decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases.     

The Effects of Face Masks on the Doctor-Patient Relationship in Orthopaedics

BackgroundSince the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the widespread use of face masks has grown exponentially. There is limited data highlighting the patient perception of face mask use during this pandemic, specifically in orthopaedic clinics. The purpose of this study was to determine the patient’s perception of the implementation of face masks in the orthopaedic clinic during a period of mask mandates and if this change impacted the success of their interactions with physicians. The secondary aim includes measures of patient satisfaction such as the ability to understand conversation and communicate effectively with the physician.MethodsParticipants were recruited on the day of their appointment at our institution’s orthopaedic clinic and provided with instructions via email. The online, anonymous survey included the CARE questionnaire - a tool to examine patient satisfaction by assessing perception of empathy and was conducted using Qualtrics.ResultsDoes patient preference to have their physician wear a face mask impact the success of their interactions with physicians? Overall, the use of face masks by physicians did not negatively impact patient encounters. CARE scores for patients who preferred masks (37.2) were similar to those who preferred their physician did not wear a mask (37.5). Is patient satisfaction affected by the use of face masks in the orthopaedic clinic? Patients who preferred that their doctor wear a face mask stated that it had no negative impact on the effect of communication or conversation with the physician. Other factors such as how well the patients knew the physician and patient gender had a greater impact on the CARE score than masks did.ConclusionOur study determined that the preference of face masks by patients does not impact the success of their interactions with physicians using the CARE score. The findings of this study are valuable in informing orthopaedic physicians about patient attitudes towards mask use and could influence decision making for not only the COVID-19 pandemic, but also future infectious outbreaks that may arise. Level of Evidence: III     

The Coronavirus pandemic – 2022: Viruses,variants & vaccines

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019–2020, Cytokine & Growth Factor Reviews has published several Special Issues focused on the biology, pathogenesis and therapeutic options in the treatment of COVID-19 infection, including articles on the involvement of the chemokine system in the cytokine storm in COVID-19, intervention in the early stages of COVID-19 pneumonia, the therapeutic value of corticosteroid treatment, early clinical intervention with type 1 interferons, progress in vaccine development, and organ specific complications of COVID-19. By 2022, multiple highly efficacious vaccines are available and are being administered in countries around the world, therapeutic options have been clinically evaluated and approved, and SARS-CoV-2 has arguably become the most thoroughly studied virus in history. But, with progress has also come unanticipated problems – misinformation, anti-vaxxers, opposition to protective masks, and politically motivated interference disguised as knowledge. With this issue of CGFR, we continue to document the global coronavirus pandemic and provide an update on the emergence of viral variants, the global effort to administer vaccines and the impediments to progress posed by misinformation and anti-vaccine sentiment.     

Face Mask Sampling for the Detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Expelled Aerosols

Background

Although tuberculosis is transmitted by the airborne route, direct information on the natural output of bacilli into air by source cases is very limited. We sought to address this through sampling of expelled aerosols in face masks that were subsequently analyzed for mycobacterial contamination.

Methods

In series 1, 17 smear microscopy positive patients wore standard surgical face masks once or twice for periods between 10 minutes and 5 hours; mycobacterial contamination was detected using a bacteriophage assay. In series 2, 19 patients with suspected tuberculosis were studied in Leicester UK and 10 patients with at least one positive smear were studied in The Gambia. These subjects wore one FFP30 mask modified to contain a gelatin filter for one hour; this was subsequently analyzed by the Xpert MTB/RIF system.

Results

In series 1, the bacteriophage assay detected live mycobacteria in 11/17 patients with wearing times between 10 and 120 minutes. Variation was seen in mask positivity and the level of contamination detected in multiple samples from the same patient. Two patients had non-tuberculous mycobacterial infections. In series 2, 13/20 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis produced positive masks and 0/9 patients with extrapulmonary or non-tuberculous diagnoses were mask positive. Overall, 65% of patients with confirmed pulmonary mycobacterial infection gave positive masks and this included 3/6 patients who received diagnostic bronchoalveolar lavages.

Conclusion

Mask sampling provides a simple means of assessing mycobacterial output in non-sputum expectorant. The approach shows potential for application to the study of airborne transmission and to diagnosis.     

Host variations in SARS-CoV-2 infection

The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the zoonotic pathogen that causes the “Coronavirus Disease of 2019 (COVID-19)”, and COVID-19 itself is yet to be thoroughly understood. Both the disease as well as the mechanisms by which the host interacts with the SARS-CoV-2 have not been fully enlightened. The epidemiological factors –e.g. age, sex, race-, the polymorphisms of the host proteins, the blood types and individual differences have all been in discussions about affecting the progression and the course of COVID-19 both individually and collectively, as their effects are mostly interwoven. We focused mainly on the effect of polymorphic variants of the host proteins that have been shown to take part in and/or affect the pathogenesis of COVID-19. Additionally, how the procedures of diagnosing and treating COVID-19 are affected by these variants and what possible changes can be implemented are the other questions, which are sought to be answered.     

Exome-wide association study to identify rare variants influencing COVID-19 outcomes: Results from the Host Genetics Initiative

Host genetics is a key determinant of COVID-19 outcomes. Previously, the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative genome-wide association study used common variants to identify multiple loci associated with COVID-19 outcomes. However, variants with the largest impact on COVID-19 outcomes are expected to be rare in the population. Hence, studying rare variants may provide additional insights into disease susceptibility and pathogenesis, thereby informing therapeutics development. Here, we combined whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing from 21 cohorts across 12 countries and performed rare variant exome-wide burden analyses for COVID-19 outcomes. In an analysis of 5,085 severe disease cases and 571,737 controls, we observed that carrying a rare deleterious variant in the SARS-CoV-2 sensor toll-like receptor TLR7 (on chromosome X) was associated with a 5.3-fold increase in severe disease (95% CI: 2.75–10.05, p = 5.41x10^-7). This association was consistent across sexes. These results further support TLR7 as a genetic determinant of severe disease and suggest that larger studies on rare variants influencing COVID-19 outcomes could provide additional insights.     

Facing the wrath of enigmatic mutations: a review on the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 variants amid coronavirus disease-19 pandemic

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an emerging respiratory virus responsible for the ongoing coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic. More than a year into this pandemic, the COVID-19 fatigue is still escalating and takes hold of the entire world population. Driven by the ongoing geographical expansion and upcoming mutations, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a new shape in the form of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants. These mutations in the viral spike (S) protein enhance the virulence of SARS-CoV-2 variants by improving viral infectivity, transmissibility and immune evasion abilities. Such variants have resulted in cluster outbreaks and fresh infection waves in various parts of the world with increased disease severity and poor clinical outcomes. Hence, the variants of SARS-CoV-2 pose a threat to human health and public safety. This review enlists the most recent updates regarding the presently characterized variants of SARS-CoV-2 recognized by the global regulatory health authorities (WHO, CDC). Based on the slender literature on SARS-CoV-2 variants, we collate information on the biological implications of these mutations on virus pathology. We also shed light on the efficacy of therapeutics and COVID-19 vaccines against the emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.     

Global sharing of COVID-19 vaccines: A duty of justice,not charity

Global scarcity of COVID-19 vaccines raises ethical questions about their fair allocation between nations. Section I introduces the question and proposes that wealthy nations have a duty of justice to share globally scarce COVID-19 vaccines. Section II distinguishes justice from charity and argues that beneficiaries of unjust structures incur duties of justice when they are systematically advantaged at others expense. Section III gives a case-based argument describing three upstream structural injustices that systematically advantaged wealthy countries and disadvantaged poorer countries, contributing to global disparities of COVID-19 vaccines. Section IV examines more closely the duties of justice owed, including a duty to relinquish holdings, restitute victims, and restore relationships. Section V concludes that wealthy nations have a duty of justice to share COVID-19 vaccines with poor nations and to restore relationships damaged by injustice. All nations should take steps to transform unjust structures.     

The evolving role of preprints in the dissemination of COVID-19 research and their impact on the science communication landscape

The world continues to face a life-threatening viral pandemic. The virus underlying the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has caused over 98 million confirmed cases and 2.2 million deaths since January 2020. Although the most recent respiratory viral pandemic swept the globe only a decade ago, the way science operates and responds to current events has experienced a cultural shift in the interim. The scientific community has responded rapidly to the COVID-19 pandemic, releasing over 125,000 COVID-19–related scientific articles within 10 months of the first confirmed case, of which more than 30,000 were hosted by preprint servers. We focused our analysis on bioRxiv and medRxiv, 2 growing preprint servers for biomedical research, investigating the attributes of COVID-19 preprints, their access and usage rates, as well as characteristics of their propagation on online platforms. Our data provide evidence for increased scientific and public engagement with preprints related to COVID-19 (COVID-19 preprints are accessed more, cited more, and shared more on various online platforms than non-COVID-19 preprints), as well as changes in the use of preprints by journalists and policymakers. We also find evidence for changes in preprinting and publishing behaviour: COVID-19 preprints are shorter and reviewed faster. Our results highlight the unprecedented role of preprints and preprint servers in the dissemination of COVID-19 science and the impact of the pandemic on the scientific communication landscape.

An analysis of bioRxiv and medRxiv during the first 10 months of the COVID-19 pandemic reveals that the pandemic has resulted in a cultural shift in the use of preprints for disseminating pandemic-related science.     

Could Probiotics and Postbiotics Function as “Silver Bullet” in the Post-COVID-19 Era?

We are currently experiencing the realities of the most severe pandemic within living memory, with major impacts on the health and economic well-being of our planet. The scientific community has demonstrated an unprecedented mobilization capability, with the rapid development of vaccines and drugs targeting the protection of human life and palliative measures for infected individuals. However, are we adequately prepared for ongoing defense against COVID-19 and its variants in the post-pandemic world? Moreover, are we equipped to provide a satisfactory quality of life for individuals who are recovering from COVID-19 disease? What are the possibilities for the acceleration of the recovery process? Here, we give special consideration to the potential and already-demonstrated role of probiotics and traditional medical approaches to the management of current and potential future encounters with our major virus adversaries.

     

Implementation of mass drug administration for neglected tropical diseases in Guinea during the COVID-19 pandemic

BackgroundGuinea reported its first case of COVID-19 on March 12, 2020. Soon thereafter, a national state of emergency was declared, all land borders were closed, schools were shut down, and public gatherings were limited. Many health activities, including field-based activities targeting neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), were paused. The World Health Organization (WHO) issued updated guidance on the resumption of NTD field-based activities on July 27, 2020. In response, the Guinea Ministry of Health (MoH) and its partners planned and resumed mass drug administration (MDA) in mid-August to September 2020 in 19 health districts.Methodology/principal findingsA risk-benefit assessment was conducted to identify potential risks associated with the MDA in the COVID-19 context. Following this assessment, a risk mitigation plan with barrier measures was developed to guide MDA implementation. These measures included COVID-19 testing for all national staff leaving Conakry, mask wearing, social distancing of two meters, and hand washing/sanitizing. A checklist was developed and used to monitor compliance to risk mitigation measures. Data on adherence to risk mitigation measures were collected electronically during the MDA. A total of 120 checklists, representing 120 community drug distributor (CDD) teams (two CDDs per team) and 120 households, were completed. Results indicated that washing or disinfecting hands was practiced by 68.3% of CDD teams, compared to 45.0% among households. Face masks to cover the mouth and nose were worn by 79.2% of CDD teams, while this was low among households (23.3%). In 87.5% of households, participants did not touch the dose pole and in 88.3% of CDD teams, CDDs did not touch the hands of the participants while giving the drugs. A large majority of CDD teams (94.2%) and household members (94.2%) were willing to participate in the MDA despite the pandemic. The epidemiological coverage was ≥65% for lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis and soil-transmitted helminths in 10 out of 19 HDs and ≥75% for schistosomiasis for school-aged children in 7 out of 11 HDs.Conclusions/significanceGuinea was one of the first countries in Africa to resume MDA activities during the COVID-19 pandemic without causing an observed increase of transmission. The development of a risk mitigation plan and a method to monitor adherence to barrier measures was critical to this unprecedented effort. The rapid incorporation of COVID-19 barrier measures and their acceptance by CDDs and household members demonstrated both the adaptability of the National NTD Program to respond to emerging issues and the commitment of the MoH to implement NTD programs.     

不同职业人群对口罩的选择与正确佩戴

口罩是预防呼吸道暴露的重要防线,正确选择和佩戴口罩可以降低新型冠状病毒(2019 novel coronavirus,2019-nCoV)等呼吸道传播病原感染的风险。但是,口罩类型、防护等级、职业性质、工作环境和防护要求以及正确的佩戴方式均会影响防护效果。本文以国家标准、行业标准以及诊疗方案等资料为参照,针对不同职业人群对口罩的选择与佩戴的关键点展开论述,为不同人群正确使用口罩提供参考,降低各类人群的暴露风险,以利于疫情的控制。     

What the ‘greater good’ excludes: Patients left behind by pre-operative COVID-19 screening in an Ethiopian town

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, bioethical analyses often emphasized population health and societal benefit. Hospital policies frequently focused on reducing risk of transmitting SARS-CoV-2 by restricting visitors; requiring protective equipment; and screening staff, patients and visitors. While restrictions can be burdensome, they are often justified as essential measures to protect the whole population against a virus with high rates of transmission, morbidity and mortality. Yet communities are not monolithic, and the impacts of these restrictions affect different groups differently. An ophthalmological unit outreach program in Ethiopia serves to illustrate. Pre-operative screening policies were designed to protect as many patients as possible but had adverse impacts on underserved communities. As this case study demonstrates, creating hospital policies that truly serve the good of the society may require a more holistic review of impacts on inequitably positioned communities.     

Endocrine Follow-up During Post-Acute COVID-19: Practical Recommendations Based on Available Clinical Evidence

ObjectiveCOVID-19 affects multiple endocrine organ systems during the disease course. However, follow-up data post-COVID-19 is scarce; hitherto available limited data suggest that most of the biochemical endocrine dysfunctions observed during acute phase of COVID-19 tend to improve after recovery. Hence, we aim to provide a rational approach toward endocrine follow-up of patients during post-acute COVID-19.MethodsWe performed a literature review across PubMed/MEDLINE database looking into the effects of COVID-19 on endocrine system and subsequent long-term endocrine sequelae. Accordingly, we have presented a practical set of recommendations regarding endocrine follow-up post-acute COVID-19.ResultsCOVID-19 can lead to new-onset hyperglycemia/diabetes mellitus or worsening of dysglycemia in patients with preexisting diabetes mellitus. Hence, those with preexisting diabetes mellitus should ensure optimum glycemic control in the post-COVID-19 period. New-onset diabetes mellitus has been described post-acute COVID-19; hence, a selected group of patients (aged <70 years and those requiring intensive care unit admission) may be screened for the same at 3 months. Thyroid dysfunction (euthyroid sick syndrome and atypical thyroiditis) and adrenal insufficiency have been described in COVID-19; however, thyroid/adrenal functions usually normalize on follow-up; hence, widespread screening post-acute COVID-19 should not be recommended. Pituitary apoplexy and male hypogonadism have rarely been documented in COVID-19; therefore, appropriate follow-up may be undertaken as per clinical context. Hypocalcemia during COVID-19 is not uncommon; however, routine estimation of serum calcium post-COVID-19 is not warranted.ConclusionThe recommendations herein provide a rational approach that would be expected to guide physicians to better delineate and manage the endocrine sequelae during post-acute COVID-19.     

新型冠状病毒疫苗接种与疫情进展

新型冠状病毒肺炎(简称新冠)疫情仍在发展,新型冠状病毒变异株的出现致使其传染性和致病性增强,部分国家的政府和民众防控措施松懈导致某些地区疫情加剧。新型冠状病毒疫苗广泛使用后,接种情况会影响疫情发展。本文主要阐述新冠疫情与疫苗接种、病毒变异的关联性,接种疫苗存在的问题及其应对措施,并建议在加快疫苗接种的同时应做好各项新冠防控工作。     

A novel penalized inverse-variance weighted estimator for Mendelian randomization with applications to COVID-19 outcomes

Mendelian randomization utilizes genetic variants as instrumental variables (IVs) to estimate the causal effect of an exposure variable on an outcome of interest even in the presence of unmeasured confounders. However, the popular inverse-variance weighted (IVW) estimator could be biased in the presence of weak IVs, a common challenge in MR studies. In this article, we develop a novel penalized inverse-variance weighted (pIVW) estimator, which adjusts the original IVW estimator to account for the weak IV issue by using a penalization approach to prevent the denominator of the pIVW estimator from being close to zero. Moreover, we adjust the variance estimation of the pIVW estimator to account for the presence of balanced horizontal pleiotropy. We show that the recently proposed debiased IVW (dIVW) estimator is a special case of our proposed pIVW estimator. We further prove that the pIVW estimator has smaller bias and variance than the dIVW estimator under some regularity conditions. We also conduct extensive simulation studies to demonstrate the performance of the proposed pIVW estimator. Furthermore, we apply the pIVW estimator to estimate the causal effects of five obesity-related exposures on three coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outcomes. Notably, we find that hypertensive disease is associated with an increased risk of hospitalized COVID-19; and peripheral vascular disease and higher body mass index are associated with increased risks of COVID-19 infection, hospitalized COVID-19, and critically ill COVID-19.     

Correcting delayed reporting of COVID-19 using the generalized-Dirichlet-multinomial method

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted delayed reporting as a significant impediment to effective disease surveillance and decision-making. In the absence of timely data, statistical models which account for delays can be adopted to nowcast and forecast cases or deaths. We discuss the four key sources of systematic and random variability in available data for COVID-19 and other diseases, and critically evaluate current state-of-the-art methods with respect to appropriately separating and capturing this variability. We propose a general hierarchical approach to correcting delayed reporting of COVID-19 and apply this to daily English hospital deaths, resulting in a flexible prediction tool which could be used to better inform pandemic decision-making. We compare this approach to competing models with respect to theoretical flexibility and quantitative metrics from a 15-month rolling prediction experiment imitating a realistic operational scenario. Based on consistent leads in predictive accuracy, bias, and precision, we argue that this approach is an attractive option for correcting delayed reporting of COVID-19 and future epidemics.     

Illuminating and mitigating the evolving impacts of COVID-19 on ethnocultural communities: a participatory action mixed-methods study

BACKGROUND:The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated disparities in poverty and illness for people in vulnerable circumstances in ethnocultural communities. We sought to understand the evolving impacts of COVID-19 on ethnocultural communities to inform intersectoral advocacy and community action.METHODS:The Illuminate Project used participatory action research, with cultural health brokers as peer researchers, from Sept. 21 to Dec. 31, 2020, in Edmonton, Alberta. Twenty-one peer researchers collected narratives from members of ethnocultural communities and self-interpreted them as they entered the narratives into the SenseMaker platform, a mixed-method data collection tool. The entire research team analyzed real-time, aggregate, quantitative and qualitative data to identify emerging thematic domains, then visualized these domains with social network analysis.RESULTS:Brokers serving diverse communities collected 773 narratives. Identified domains illuminate the evolving and entangled impacts of COVID-19 including the following: COVID-19 prevention and management; care of acute, chronic and serious illnesses other than COVID-19; maternal care; mental health and triggers of past trauma; financial insecurity; impact on children and youth and seniors; and legal concerns. We identified that community social capital and cultural brokering are key assets that facilitate access to formal health and social system supports.INTERPRETATION:The Illuminate Project has illustrated the entangled, systemic issues that result in poor health among vulnerable members of ethnocultural communities, and the exacerbating effects of COVID-19, which also increased barriers to mitigation. Cultural brokering and community social capital are key supports for people during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings can inform policy to reduce harm and support community resiliency.

Mahatma Gandhi observed that “the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.” Ethnocultural communities, defined by their unique shared characteristics (e.g., cultural traditions, language, country of origin),¹ face greater challenges and have higher rates of poverty and illness than the general Canadian population. Migration results in conditions that affect all social determinants of health and disproportionally affect health outcomes, herein referred to as vulnerable circumstances.^2,3 The emergence of major outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 infections in ethnocultural communities highlights both the vulnerable circumstances of these communities and the disparities they face in accessing high-quality, culturally appropriate information and support.^4–7 Studies have shown substantial variation in deaths attributed to COVID-19 based on factors such as age, sex, ethnicity, length of time in Canada, income and education.^8–11 However, given the well-known gap in reporting comprehensive COVID-19 data in relation to race and ethnicity, efforts to measure its impact are hampered.^8–12 There is an urgent need to understand the evolving challenges of COVID-19 to inform action and public policy that can mitigate these challenges.To understand evolving situations of complexity and crisis, sensemaking, defined as “a continuous process to establish situational awareness,”¹³ is a crucial undertaking.¹⁴ Using participatory action research,^15–18 we sought to understand the evolving impacts of COVID-19 on ethnocultural communities to inform broader national efforts to migitate the impacts of COVID-19. Particularly, we sought to understand how the challenges of COVID-19 are entangled with contextual factors at multiple levels, how families and communities are leveraging strengths and social capital to adapt, and the role of cultural brokers in managing the crisis.     

Evolutionary artificial intelligence based peptide discoveries for effective Covid-19 therapeutics

An epidemic caused by COVID-19 in China turned into pandemic within a short duration affecting countries worldwide. Researchers and companies around the world are working on all the possible strategies to develop a curative or preventive strategy for the same, which includes vaccine development, drug repurposing, plasma therapy, and drug discovery based on Artificial intelligence. Therapeutic approaches based on Computational biology and Machine-learning algorithms are specially considered, with a view that these could provide a fast and accurate outcome in the present scenario. As an effort towards developing possible therapeutics for COVID-19, we have used machine-learning algorithms for the generation of alignment kernels from diverse viral sequences of Covid-19 reported from India, China, Italy and USA. Using these diverse sequences we have identified the conserved motifs and subsequently a peptide library was designed against them. Of these, 4 peptides have shown strong binding affinity against the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 (M^pro) and also maintained their stability and specificity under physiological conditions as observed through MD Simulations. Our data suggest that these evolutionary peptides against COVID-19 if found effective may provide cross-protection against diverse Covid-19 variants.