Updates
FDA Approves First At-Home Coronavirus Test-NPR
The first COVID-19 diagnostic at-home self-test that provides rapid results has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the agency announced Tuesday. The Lucira COVID-19 All-In-One Test Kit is a molecular single-use test and is expected to cost $50 or less, the company said on its website. NPR, … Continue Reading
November 17, 2020
Study Finds Some Mouthwashes Can Kill Coronavirus-The Hill
Some mouthwashes can kill the novel coronavirus within 30 seconds after being exposed to it in a lab, according to a study that scientists at Cardiff University in Wales say could signal “promising signs” for mouthwashes being used to help curb the spread of the pandemic. The Hill, … Continue Reading
November 17, 2020
Who Will Be The First To Get COVID-19 Vaccines?-The Associated Press
Who will be the first to get COVID-19 vaccines? No decision has been made, but the consensus among many experts in the U.S. and globally is that health care workers should be first, said Sema Sgaier of the Surgo Foundation, a nonprofit group working on vaccine allocation issues. Once a vaccine gets a green light from the Food and Drug Administration, the panel will look at clinical trial data on side effects and how people of various ages, ethnicities and health statuses responded. That will … Continue Reading
November 17, 2020
U.S. Hospitals To Restrict Lilly COVID-19 Antibody Treatment Due To Limited Supply-Reuters
U.S. hospitals, weighing high demand and tight supplies, said they may limit use of a new Eli Lilly and Co antibody drug to COVID-19 patients with multiple risk factors for serious illness or to those whose immune systems have not begun to fight the infection. The treatment, bamlanivimab, was given U.S. emergency use authorization (EUA) last week by the Food and Drug Administration for helping newly-diagnosed, high-risk patients avoid hospitalization. Reuters, … Continue Reading
November 17, 2020
‘They’ve Been Following The Science’: How The Covid-19 Pandemic Has Been Curtailed In Cherokee Nation-STAT
While the United States flounders in its response to the coronavirus, another nation — one within our own borders — is faring much better. With a mask mandate in place since spring, free drive-through testing, hospitals well-stocked with PPE, and a small army of public health officers fully supported by their chief, the Cherokee Nation has been able to curtail its Covid-19 case and death rates even as those numbers surge in surrounding Oklahoma, where the White House coronavirus task force … Continue Reading
November 17, 2020
Why Does Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccine Need To Be Kept Colder Than Antarctica?-NPR
Two drugmakers, Pfizer and Moderna, have announced promising interim results for their vaccine candidates, raising hopes in the U.S. and abroad that the end of the pandemic may be in sight. But, if and when the vaccines are authorized by the Food and Drug Administration, distributing them presents a daunting challenge. One big reason? One of the front-runners in the vaccine race — the one made by Pfizer — needs to be kept extremely cold: minus 70 degrees Celsius, which is colder than winter in … Continue Reading
November 16, 2020
Citizen Journalist Could Be Jailed For Reporting On COVID-19 Outbreak In Wuhan-The Hill
A Chinese citizen journalist could be imprisoned for up to five years over her coverage of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China, The Guardian reports. Authorities detained Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer turned journalist, in May after she published a video critical of China's efforts to contain the virus in the central Chinese city. She was accused of “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble” for live-streaming from Wuhan via Twitter and YouTube — both of which are banned in China — and … Continue Reading
November 16, 2020
Some States Impose New Restrictions As U.S. Tops 11 Million COVID-19 Cases-CBS News
Several states have announced renewed efforts to combat the coronavirus as more than 11 million cases of COVID-19 have now been reported in the United States — with the most recent million coming in less than a week — and as many Americans prepare to observe a Thanksgiving holiday marked by the pandemic. CBS News, … Continue Reading
November 16, 2020
65 Virus Cases, With 1 Cluster, In WHO Geneva Staff-The Associated Press
The World Health Organization has recorded 65 cases of the coronavirus among staff based at its headquarters, including at least one cluster of infections, an internal email obtained by The Associated Press shows, despite the agency’s past assertions that there has been no transmission at the Geneva site. The revelation comes amid a surge of cases in Europe, host country Switzerland, and the city of Geneva, in particular, and the email said about half of the infections were in people who had … Continue Reading
November 16, 2020
Researchers Find Coronavirus Was Circulating In Italy Earlier Than Thought-Reuters
The new coronavirus was circulating in Italy in September 2019, a study by the National Cancer Institute (INT) of the Italian city of Milan shows, signaling that it might have spread beyond China earlier than thought. The World Health Organization has said the new coronavirus and COVID-19, the respiratory disease it causes, were unknown before the outbreak was reported in Wuhan, central China, late last year. But it has said “the possibility that the virus may have silently circulated … Continue Reading
November 16, 2020
Moderna's COVID-19 Vaccine Shines In Clinical Trial-NPR
A second COVID-19 vaccine now also appears highly effective in preventing illness following exposure to the virus that causes the disease. The biotech company Moderna Inc. said Monday that its experimental vaccine was 94.5% effective in preventing disease, according to an analysis of its clinical trial. The news comes a week after Pfizer and BioNTech said their vaccine was more than 90% effective. The results for both vaccines come from interim analyses of large clinical studies. In the … Continue Reading
November 13, 2020
Proportion Of Pediatric Emergency Room Visits For Mental Health Increased Sharply Amid Pandemic-The Hill
The proportion of mental health-related pediatric visits to hospitals are on the rise during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analysis released Thursday. The CDC data found mental health-related emergency room visits increased 31 percent for children between the ages of 12 and 17 from March to October compared to the same period in 2019. There was also a 24 percent increase in emergency room visits for children between the ages of 5 and … Continue Reading
November 13, 2020
Rep. Don Young, Oldest Member Of Congress, Tests Positive For Covid-19-CNN
Rep. Don Young announced on Thursday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus. "I have tested positive for COVID-19. I am feeling strong, following proper protocols, working from home in Alaska, and ask for privacy at this time. May God Bless Alaska," the Alaska Republican tweeted. Young, who is 87, faces a higher risk from the disease given his age. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "The greatest risk for severe illness from COVID-19 is among those aged 85 or … Continue Reading
November 13, 2020
Virus Surge: Schools Abandon Classes, States Retreat-The Associated Press
School systems in Detroit, Indianapolis, Philadelphia and suburban Minneapolis are giving up on in-person classes, and some governors are reimposing restrictions on bars and restaurants or getting more serious about masks, as the coast-to-coast resurgence of the coronavirus sends deaths, hospitalizations and new infections soaring. The Associated Press, … Continue Reading
November 13, 2020
Indonesia To Start Mass COVID-19 Vaccination This Year-Reuters
Indonesia has sought emergency authorisation to start a mass vaccination campaign by the end of the year to combat the coronavirus in the archipelago, the Southeast Asian nation’s president said on Friday. In an interview with Reuters, President Joko Widodo, commonly known as Jokowi, said plans were already advanced to distribute the vaccine across the entire country. If approval is granted by the country’s food and drug agency, known by its Indonesian acronym BPOM, it will mean Indonesia - … Continue Reading
November 13, 2020
Vaccine Could Unlock Trillions In Spending, Leading To 'Biden Boom'-NPR
What Brandon Fritze misses most this year is belting out Coldplay's "Yellow" at karaoke sessions with his friends. Fritze, an Indianapolis accountant, is among millions of Americans who have squirreled away their money in savings this year as the coronavirus pandemic has put an end to many activities — like going to the gym, restaurants or bars — that were common before the pandemic. The savings reach $2 trillion, or roughly 10% of the economy. With a successful vaccine, all that money could … Continue Reading
November 12, 2020
US Senate Foreign Aid Funding Bill Holds Spending Steady, Leaves Out COVID-19-Devex
The Senate’s fiscal year 2021 state and foreign operations budget bill provides roughly the same amount of funding for aid as last year, though it has a couple of notable differences from the House of Representatives bill — including no emergency COVID-19 funding. Devex, … Continue Reading
November 12, 2020
Pacific Isles, Secretive States Among Last Virus-Free Places-The Associated Press
From Argentina to Zimbabwe, from the Vatican to the White House, the coronavirus has spread relentlessly. It’s been confirmed on every continent but one and in nearly every country. Yet a few places have yet to report even a single case of infection. Some have been genuinely spared so far, while others may be hiding the truth. The largest cluster of countries without the coronavirus is in the South Pacific. Tonga, Kiribati, Samoa, Micronesia and Tuvalu are among the small island nations yet to … Continue Reading
November 12, 2020
Europe 'Must Grit Our Teeth' On COVID-19 As Vaccine Euphoria Fades-Reuters
This week’s announcement by Pfizer Inc of a potentially effective vaccine spurred optimism that an end to months of crisis could be in sight, sending financial markets soaring and fueling public longing for a nearly normal Christmas. But France and the World Health Organization urged people to continue complying with lockdowns as it became clear that the new vaccines would not come soon enough for many COVID-19 sufferers and shrinking economies. Reuters, … Continue Reading
November 12, 2020
With Ron Klain, Biden Picks A Pandemic-Response Veteran For Chief Of Staff-STAT
President-elect Biden’s selection on Wednesday of Ron Klain, the former federal “Ebola czar,” as White House chief of staff immediately put a pandemic-response veteran at the highest levels of government. The choice of Klain, a longtime Biden confidant who served as chief of staff to then-Vice President Biden during the Obama administration, is the latest signal that the president-elect is treating the pandemic as his top priority. STAT, … Continue Reading