Updates
FDA Gives Go-Ahead To Fast $5 Coronavirus Test That Doesn’t Require Lab Equipment-Politico
The Food and Drug Administration has authorized emergency use of a coronavirus test that costs $5 and can produce results in 15 minutes without the use of any lab equipment. Test-maker Abbott says it could soon manufacture 50 million of the rapid antigen tests per month, which could ease the country's testing bottleneck by greatly increasing overall capacity and the speed at which results arrive. Politico, … Continue Reading
August 27, 2020
More Than 1 Million Americans File For Unemployment, Again-The Associated Press
Just over 1 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, a sign that the coronavirus outbreak continues to threaten jobs even as the housing market, auto sales and other segments of the economy rebound from a springtime collapse. The Associated Press, … Continue Reading
August 26, 2020
‘Our Communities Are In Crisis’: Latinos And COVID-19-NPR
Marin County, just north of San Francisco, is best known nationally as a picturesque gateway to wine country and home to moneyed tech investors and a handful of aging rock stars. The reality, of course, is more complicated. Those complexities can be found in a San Rafael neighborhood known as the Canal. Like other African American and Latino populations around the country, this community has been disproportionately hard-hit by the coronavirus. Latinos make up about 16 percent of Marin's … Continue Reading
August 26, 2020
A Dilemma For ‘Long-Haulers’: Many Can’t Prove They Ever Had Covid-19-STAT
As the coronavirus pandemic rolls on, an unknown number of seemingly recovered patients are experiencing what is being called post-Covid syndrome - weeks or months of profound fatigue, fevers, problems with concentration and memory, dizzy spells, hair loss, and many other troubling symptoms. Among these "long-haulers," as they have become known, a significant number face a very specific challenge: convincing others they had Covid-19 in the first place. STAT, … Continue Reading
August 26, 2020
‘Our Hands Are Tied’: Local Aid Workers Exposed In Pandemic-The Associated Press
The coronavirus is exposing an uncomfortable inequality in the billion-dollar system that delivers life-saving aid for countries in crisis: Most money that flows from the U.S. and other donors goes to international aid groups instead of local ones. Now local aid workers are exposed on the pandemic's front lines with painfully few means to help the vulnerable communities they know so well. The Associated Press, … Continue Reading
August 25, 2020
Why The Novel Coronavirus Is So ‘Superspready’-NPR
A person with a high viral load walks into a bar. That, according to researchers who study the novel coronavirus, is a recipe for a superspreading event - where one person or gathering leads to an unusually high number of new infections. And that kind of occurrence is increasingly considered a hallmark of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. NPR, … Continue Reading
August 25, 2020
The Coronavirus May Shut Down The Immune System’s Vital Classrooms-Science Magazine
At the top of the long list of uncertainties about COVID-19 is whether people who recover will develop durable immune responses to the coronavirus that causes it. A research team that has autopsied people who died from COVID-19 has now discovered they lack so-called germinal centers, classrooms in the spleen and lymph nodes in which immune cells learn to mount a long-lasting antibody response to a pathogen. Science Magazine, … Continue Reading
August 25, 2020
India’s New COVID Cases Top Global Tally For 18th Straight Day-Reuters
India reported on Tuesday the highest number of new coronavirus cases globally for the 18th straight day, remaining well ahead of the United States and Brazil, a Reuters tally based on official reporting showed. Reuters, … Continue Reading
August 25, 2020
University Of Alabama Reports More Than 500 COVID-19 Cases Since Classes Resumed-The Hill
The University of Alabama has reported 531 coronavirus cases on campus since starting classes on Aug. 19, according to the university system's COVID-19 dashboard. The data on the dashboard reflects on-campus testing results and self-reported private lab results. It does not include the entry testing the school conducted before classes started. The Hill, … Continue Reading
August 25, 2020
In Indonesia, Civil Society Tries To Bridge Information Gap On COVID-19-Devex
Recently, Indonesian President Joko Widodo expressed hopes of a novel coronavirus vaccine being available to the Indonesian population by 2021. The Indonesian leader isn't alone in pinning hope on a vaccine to end the pandemic, but grassroots groups worry over the implications of this kind of messaging to the public. The narrative that a vaccine could be available soon could create a false sense of security among the Indonesian public. Devex, … Continue Reading
August 24, 2020
Some People Can Get The Pandemic Virus Twice, A Study Suggests. That Is No Reason To Panic-Science Magazine
Scientists have found the first solid evidence that people can be reinfected with the virus that causes COVID-19. A new study shows a 33-year-old man who was treated at the hospital for a mild case in March harbored the virus again when he was tested at the Hong Kong airport after returning from Europe on 15 August, less than 5 months later. Science Magazine, … Continue Reading
August 24, 2020
As Covid-19 Pressures Mount, Political Newcomer Stephen Hahn Struggles To Protect An FDA Under Siege-STAT
Stephen Hahn, a political novice who moved here in December to take over the Food and Drug Administration, has found himself steering his agency through the most tumultuous time in its history. But with almost no institutional knowledge behind him, FDA experts worry he's flying blind, leaving the agency flailing despite its vital role in the effort to control the spread of Covid-19. STAT, … Continue Reading
August 24, 2020
Global Stocks Jump As Trump Signals ‘Gamechanger’ Plan To Deliver A COVID-19 Vaccine Ahead Of The Election-Markets Insider
Global stocks rose on Monday after US authorities issued an "emergency use authorization" for the use of blood plasma to treat COVID-19. The S&P 500 rose 0.8% as investors looked past the rising number of new coronavirus infections in Europe, and chose to focus instead on signals from the US that it could deliver a vaccine soon. Markets Insider, … Continue Reading
August 24, 2020
US FDA Announces Emergency Authorization for Convalescent Plasma to Treat Covid-19-CNN
The US Food and Drug Administration on Sunday issued an emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma to treat Covid-19, saying the "known and potential benefits of the product outweigh the known and potential risks of the product." CNN, … Continue Reading
August 24, 2020
Stop Campus Partying To Slow The Virus? Colleges Try But Often Fail-The New York Times
At Cornell University, students started arriving over the past week hoping for a safe and socially distanced fall semester. Jason Chang already has doubts. The New York Times, … Continue Reading
August 21, 2020
Global Fund Seeks $5B As Money Runs Out For COVID-19 Response-Devex
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is running out of funding for its COVID-19 Response Mechanism, and is seeking an additional $5 billion. The initial $500 million the multilateral organization allocated in April was already fully deployed to countries at the end of July. The additional money is meant to help countries continue their response against COVID-19. Devex, … Continue Reading
August 21, 2020
Covid-19 Cases Tied to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota Have Reached Across State Lines-CNN
Coronavirus cases linked to the Sturgis motorcycle rally in South Dakota last week have now reached across state lines to Nebraska, public health officials said. At least seven Covid-19 cases in Nebraska's Panhandle region have been tied to the rally, Kim Engel, director of the Panhandle Public Health District, confirmed in an email to CNN. CNN, … Continue Reading
August 21, 2020
Israel Hits 100,000 COVID-19 Cases Amid Criticism Of Government Response-Reuters
In May, Israel lifted a nationwide lockdown that had flattened an infection curve, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials celebrated as a success. Daily cases that numbered in the hundreds dropped to low double digits. But a second surge of cases and ensuing restrictions have kept many Israelis out of work. Some restrictions have since been lifted to revive business activity, but unemployment still hovers at 21.5%. Reuters, … Continue Reading
August 21, 2020
For Students With Disabilities, Schools Say They Have To Do Better In The Fall-NPR
More than 7 million schoolchildren receive special education services in the U.S. But this spring, when the nation's schools were forced to teach remotely, many of those children were left behind, and some vital services - including physical, occupational and speech therapies - simply stopped. With many districts planning to continue remote learning in the fall, parents and caregivers expect better this school year. And school leaders know: They've got to do better. NPR, … Continue Reading
August 21, 2020
As US Deaths Mount, Virus Takes Outsize Toll On Minorities-The Associated Press
As many as 215,000 more people than usual died in the U.S. during the first seven months of 2020, suggesting that the number of lives lost to the coronavirus is significantly higher than the official toll. And half the dead were people of color - Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans and, to a marked degree unrecognized until now, Asian Americans. The Associated Press, … Continue Reading