September 10, 2021

• Singapore has refrained from tightening social-distancing measures even as the highly infectious delta variant has driven up Covid-19 cases sharply. The Southeast Asian city-state wants to shift to a long-term strategy of living with the coronavirus. The government wants to limit the number of deaths and avoid overwhelming its hospitals, so it’s not opening up the economy further for now, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung.
• BioNTech is set to request approval across the globe to use its Covid-19 vaccine in children as young as five over the next few weeks. The confident statements underscore the lead that BioNTech, which collaborates with Pfizer, holds in the race to win broad approval to vaccinate children below the age of 12 in Western countries. The raw trial data was now being prepared for a regulatory filing and “things are looking good, everything is going according to plan”, Chief Executive Ugur Sahin told Der Spiegel.
• Covid mortgage bailouts are expiring fast, but here’s why a foreclosure crisis is unlikely. There are still 1.618 million borrowers in forbearance programs, or 3.1% of all outstanding mortgages. Some 98% of those troubled borrowers have at least 10% equity in their homes, not counting their missed payments. Fast-rising home prices have pushed the level of home equity up from a little over $6 trillion at the start of the pandemic to just over $9 trillion.

September 9, 2021

• The U.S. is the largest donor of Covid-19 vaccines globally — way ahead of other major economies such as China, Japan and the U.K., according to public data compiled by UNICEF. The consolidated data may not show the full extent of global vaccine donations, but still provides a glimpse of flows as many developing nations struggle to inoculate their populations. The U.S. has donated and delivered more than 114 million doses of Covid vaccines, more than three times the 34 million that China has donated, according to the data.
• President Joe Biden outlined a broad plan Thursday to increase Covid vaccination rates in the U.S. He announced a mandate that federal employees get a Covid vaccine, with no option for regular testing, and for health-care facilities that get Medicare and Medicaid funding to have staff fully vaccinated. The nation is reporting an average of 151,500 new cases per day, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, hovering around levels seen in late January.
• Microsoft announced it will indefinitely postpone the return to its offices in the U.S. The company also highlighted new features in its Teams app that are meant to improve the experience of meeting with colleagues online.
• United, American and Southwest were among airlines that lowered financial estimates. The carriers warned that bookings slowed amid the spread of the delta variant of Covid-19.
• U.S. Treasury yields fell on Thursday as last week’s initial jobless claims dropped to a new Covid-era low in the face of the highly contagious delta variant.
• Wedding insurance probably won’t cover Covid-19, but it’s ‘still worth it,’ says industry insider: Here’s why.

September 8, 2021

• Joe Berchtold, president of Live Nation, told CNBC that 8 million people attended its live shows during August. Berchtold said 2022 “will be bigger than 2019 was,” noting that the company’s concert pipeline is up double digits from this time two years ago. Consumers, who have been unable to gather at live concerts and shows for more than a year, are “showing up and spending money,” he said.
• The FBI is investigating three now-former Vermont State Police troopers after an internal probe by the state agency found that the men were suspected of involvement in a scheme to create fake Covid-19 vaccination cards, State Police said. State Police also said the agency referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Burlington, Vermont. Two of the former cops, Shawn Sommers and Raymond Witkowski, resigned Aug. 10. The third ex-cop, David Pfindel, resigned Friday after the internal probe by the State Police.
• WHO extends call for a moratorium on Covid booster doses until the end of the year. The WHO previously urged world leaders to hold off on booster doses until the end of September. About 5.5 billion vaccine doses have been administered globally, but 80% have been given out in high- or upper-middle income countries, according to the WHO. “We don’t want any more promises, we just want the vaccines,” Tedros said.

September 7, 2021

• Covid-19 is likely “here to stay with us” as the virus continues to mutate in unvaccinated countries across the world and previous hopes of eradicating it diminish, WHO officials said. “People have said we’re going to eliminate or eradicate the virus,” Ryan said. “No we’re not, very, very unlikely.”

September 3, 2021

• AstraZeneca reaches settlement with EU on COVID-19 vaccine delivery. Settlement brings doses delivered to 300 million as agreed. Agreement will also end pending litigation in Brussels. Capped rebates on vaccine will apply if doses are delayed.

September 1, 2021

• The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic could cause a significant rise in the number of dementia patients in the long term, said the Alzheimer’s Disease International. Some research has shown that Covid infections can increase a person’s likelihood of developing dementia and cause dementia symptoms to show up earlier, the group said. The group’s Medical and Scientific Advisory Panel, made up of global experts on dementia, has set up a working group to study the link between Covid and dementia.
• The World Health Organization is monitoring a new coronavirus variant called “mu.” It has mutations that have the potential to evade immunity provided by a previous Covid-19 infection or vaccination, the WHO said. The new variant was first identified in Colombia but has since been confirmed in at least 39 countries, according to the agency.
• The World Health Organization asked world leaders again to hold off on giving Covid-19 booster shots so poorer nations can vaccinate more of their populations with first doses. Nearly 1 million boosters have already been administered in the U.S. since health officials authorized the third shots of Pfizer’s or Moderna’s vaccines for people with weakened immune systems on Aug. 12. More than 5 billion Covid vaccine shots have been administered globally, with 75% of them in just 10 countries, according to the WHO.
• America has wasted at least 15 million Covid vaccine doses since March, new data shows.
• Moderna said on Wednesday its Japanese distribution partner, Takeda Pharmaceutical, planned to initiate the recall of three lots of its Covid-19 vaccine that were suspended due to contamination. Japan’s health ministry said particles of stainless steel were found in suspended Moderna Covid-19 vaccines, but it did not expect they would pose an additional health risk.

August 31, 2021

• Consumers have lost $545 million to Covid-related fraud since the beginning of 2020, according to FTC data. Online shopping scams have impacted the largest number of people, while vacation and travel scams have been the most costly, according to the agency.
• Social Security’s funds could run out sooner than was believed, according to the first estimates that take into account the effects of Covid-19. However, those projections are unlikely to prompt swift action by lawmakers to repair the program’s funds, one expert says. Recent inflation trends point to a cost-of-living adjustment of about 6% for next year. Here’s how that could impact your benefits.

August 30, 2021

• New Zealand reported its first recorded death linked to U.S. drugmaker Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, the health ministry said on Monday, after a woman suffered a rare side-effect leading to inflammation of the heart muscle. The vaccine monitoring panel attributed the death to myocarditis, a rare, but known side-effect of the Pfizer vaccine, the ministry added. Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle that can limit the organ’s ability to pump blood and can cause changes in heartbeat rhythms. Pfizer said it recognized there could be rare reports of myocarditis after vaccinations, but such side-effects were extremely rare.

August 26, 2021

• Federal regulators are likely to approve a Covid-19 booster shot for vaccinated adults starting at least six months after the previous dose rather than the eight-month gap they previously announced, a person familiar with the plans said, as the Biden administration steps up preparations for delivering boosters to the public. Pfizer, BioNTech have requested clearance for Covid-19 vaccine boosters that an official said could be administered six months after previous dose.
• The air around Lake Tahoe in California and Reno, Nevada, is thick with brown smoke this week, and the region is experiencing the worst air quality in the country by far, as the Caldor Fire torches its way through the El Dorado National Forest. The wildfire smoke alone would be enough to trigger a health emergency, but combined with the spread of the coronavirus, health experts are concerned the region downwind from the Caldor Fire could be thrust into a crisis. Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations have been climbing precipitously in the Reno area over the past several weeks. Coronavirus cases in Washoe County on Monday were up 24% compared to the week before, and hospitalizations increased by more than 18%.

August 25, 2021

• Delta airlines employees who have not received the COVID-19 vaccine will be paying $200 more for their monthly health insurance coverage beginning November 1. Employees were notified Wednesday by the airline’s CEO Ed Bastian in the announcement of new covid policies for employees.

August 24, 2021

• A passenger aboard a Carnival Cruise Line ship that left from Galveston, Tex., in late July has died. Marilyn Tackett, a 77-year-old woman from Oklahoma, died this month after contracting the coronavirus. She was among the 27 reported positive cases aboard the Carnival Vista, one of the highest number of publicly recorded cases on a ship sailing from the United States since cruises restarted this summer, The Washington Post reported. All 27 people who tested positive were vaccinated, according to health authorities in Belize, one of the ship’s destinations.

August 23, 2021

• Anecdotes tell us what the data can’t: Vaccinated people appear to be getting the coronavirus at a surprisingly high rate. But exactly how often isn’t clear, nor is it certain how likely they are to spread the virus to others. Though it is evident vaccination still provides powerful protection against the virus, there’s growing concern that vaccinated people may be more vulnerable to serious illness than previously thought.
• The FDA granted Pfizer and BioNTech full U.S. approval of their Covid-19 vaccine. Up until now, the mRNA vaccine was on the U.S. market under an Emergency Use Authorization.

August 19, 2021

• Sens. Roger Wicker, Angus King, and John Hickenlooper, who are all vaccinated for the coronavirus, tested positive for Covid on Thursday after experiencing symptoms. Wicker, Hickenlooper and King are the latest in a string of prominent politicians to announce positive coronavirus tests in recent weeks despite being fully vaccinated. Other politicians who have tested positive for Covid despite vaccination include Republicans Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas.
• The delta variant is by far the dominant strain of the coronavirus in North Carolina and the rest of the country, but experts say there are also other variants to watch. Before delta, there was alpha, beta and gamma. Now there is another, lambda, which is primarily spreading in South America. Some cases of lambda were found at a Houston hospital last month, according to KHOU11.

August 18, 2021

• New Zealand has been among the most successful in the world to keep their Covid cases in check with tough lockdowns and shutting of its borders. Analysts widely expected the country’s central bank to hike rates. But the discovery of one Covid case derailed that path, with the central bank saying on Wednesday that it put rates on hold in “the context” of the nationwide lockdown announced on Tuesday.
• Data from Israel on the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines over time is causing U.S. health leaders to rethink their position on vaccine booster shots in the U.S., NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins said Tuesday. Israel released new data Monday showing a reduction in the effectiveness of Pfizer’s Covid vaccine against severe illness among people 65 and older who were fully vaccinated in January or February.

August 17, 2021

• Biden administration health officials are expected to recommend COVID-19 booster shots for all Americans, regardless of age, eight months after they received the second shot, a source familiar with the plans confirmed to USA TODAY. The news, which will be announced as soon as this week, comes as the delta variant rages across the country. It also comes amid anxieties about the Pfizer vaccine's waning immunity and the Food and Drug Administration's approval of booster vaccines for immunocompromised people.
• Maurice 'Reggie' Shepperson, 36, died from COVID-19 on Tuesday. He had tested positive for the virus in June after a work trip to Hawaii. His mother and best friend have said he was fully vaccinated and took all precautions like washing his hands and wearing a mask. Shepperson, a flight attendant, was hospitalized in Las Vegas on July 7. He was put on a ventilator and died in the hospital weeks later, his mother said.
• Bundles of counterfeit coronavirus vaccination cards printed with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention logo have been shipped from Shenzhen, China, to recipients all around the United States, as some unvaccinated people try to evade restrictions that require proof of the shot to enter certain bars, schools and public spaces. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials said in a Friday statement that agents have seized thousands of fake vaccination cards passing through Memphis, a shipping hub.

August 16, 2021

• Five U.S. states set new records for Covid cases as hospitalizations rise. Nationwide, less than 11% of all hospital beds are being used by Covid patients. In Oregon, it’s 11.4%, Hawaii is at 12.1%, followed by Louisiana at 20.4%, Mississippi at 18.7% and Florida at 28.2%. The states with higher vaccination rates are seeing fewer Covid patients take up hospital beds. Oregon has fully vaccinated 56.8% of its residents, followed by Hawaii at 54.3%, Florida at 50.3%, Louisiana at 38.3% and Mississippi at 35.8%.
• New Covid-19 hospitalizations for 30- to 39-year-olds at record rate. Group largely avoided hospitals earlier in pandemic, but highly contagious Delta variant and lagging vaccination rates have changed health outcomes.
• The divide between the vaccinated and unvaccinated when it comes to Covid is likely to become even deeper as time goes on. An increasing number of restrictions on those yet to receive a Covid shot are being introduced in Europe and the U.S. The ease or freedom to travel, work, socialize and engage in leisure activities is increasingly determined by one’s Covid vaccination status.
• Long-term Covid-19 symptoms can make it harder to get through the day, let alone return to work. As the pandemic progresses, more patients are expected to apply for Social Security disability benefits. Getting approval for those monthly checks was challenging even before Covid. Here’s what long-term Covid sufferers should know about the application process.

August 12, 2021

• The FDA authorized Covid vaccine booster shots for people with weakened immune systems. Such people – including cancer and HIV patients – in general do not produce an adequate immune response after receiving two doses of a vaccine, U.S. officials say. The agency’s move may shield some of the most vulnerable Americans from the highly contagious delta variant.
• Gov. Greg Abbott asked the Texas Hospital Association earlier this week to voluntarily postpone elective medical procedures to free up ICU beds. The state is also bringing in 2,500 out-of-state medical personnel to relieve exhausted doctors and nurses. The surge in cases comes as Abbott wages war against local school and government officials who have reinstituted mask mandates.

August 11, 2021

• Nearly 6-in-10 small business owners in the latest CNBC | Momentive Small Business Survey say the new Covid threat is making them shift their business outlook for the rest of 2021. A majority of businesses (66%) say they can survive under current conditions for more than a year, as few cities and states are resorting to full-scale shutdowns or curfews and two-thirds of U.S. adults are vaccinated. But increases in the hospitalization rates and death rates nationwide, especially in areas with lower vaccination rates, have brought the Covid risk back for many business owners.

August 10, 2021

• Fully vaccinated people are still getting infected with Covid, though to a much lesser extent than unvaccinated people. No Covid vaccine is 100% effective but immunization greatly reduces the risk of hospitalization and death. Variants have posed a challenge to the effectiveness of Covid vaccines but whether booster shots will be needed is still unknown.
• Nearly 90 percent of US counties now have COVID-19 transmission rates that meet the CDC’s threshold for recommended indoor mask use — even for those who have been fully vaccinated, the latest figures show. About 72.5 percent of counties are currently reporting “high” community transmission, while another 16.5 are seeing “substantial” infection rates, according to ABC.

August 9, 2021

• A surge in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations, fueled by the rapid spread of the Delta coronavirus variant, is happening in the US as millions of children are returning to schools. It is reigniting conversations on measures to lower transmission so students can safely be in the classroom. But officials on the state and local levels have not streamlined their back-to-school mask wearing strategy, prompting local districts to create their own rules.
• The U.S. government’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said he was hopeful the Food and Drug Administration will give full approval to the Covid vaccine by month’s end. Fauci predicted the potential move will spur a wave of vaccine mandates in the private sector as well as schools and universities.
• Up until a few weeks ago, corporate leaders felt confident about what to expect this fall. Offices would reopen after Labor Day. Business travel would resume more broadly. Long-delayed work gatherings, conventions and off-site meetings would finally take place. The pandemic has, once again, upended many of those plans. The swift, startling resurgence of Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations across the U.S. is causing corporate leaders to rip up playbooks for the next few months. No longer is a September return a target for many companies. Some employers, such as banking giant Wells Fargo & Co. and managed-care company Centene Corp. , have in recent days shifted return-to-office dates to October. Meanwhile, a range of other prominent companies now predict it will be 2022 until most workers return.
• More than a dozen large U.S. corporations, including Walmart, Google, Tyson Foods and United Airlines, have recently announced vaccine mandates for some or all of their workers. The U.S. reported a seven-day average of more than 108,600 new cases per day as of Sunday, up 36% from a week earlier, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
• Here are the companies mandating vaccines for all or some employees. From United Airlines to Equinox, a nationwide spike in coronavirus cases is pushing companies to implement vaccine policies for some or all employees.

June 11, 2021

• Bitcoin conference attendees report testing positive for Covid after returning from Miami. Some of the 12,000 attendees who flew into Miami last weekend for the biggest bitcoin event in history have started testing positive for Covid. There was no mask mandate and proof of vaccination was not required.
• Royal Caribbean Cruises said Friday it isn’t changing its sailing plans this summer despite reporting two positive Covid-19 cases aboard its Celebrity Millennium cruise ship on Thursday. All those in close contact with the two guests tested negative for the virus. The ship has a fully vaccinated crew and all guests over the age of 16 are required to show proof of vaccination.
• Moderna has not found a link between its Covid-19 vaccine and the cases of a rare heart inflammation condition reported in young people who have received the shot, the company said Friday. The Massachusetts-based biotech company said it made the conclusion after “carefully reviewing the available safety data to date for Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine for cases of myocarditis and/or pericarditis.”

June 10, 2021

• U.S. government workers can return to offices without Covid-19 vaccine. Workers may voluntarily disclose their vaccination status and federal agencies can base their safety protocols, in part, on whether employees are vaccinated, says guidance set to be released by the Biden administration Thursday. The acting heads of three agencies that oversee the federal workforce also urged agencies to consider more flexible arrangements for some employees, including permanent part-time remote work and working outside of normal business hours. The guidance requires agencies to submit draft proposals by next week and more detailed final plans, including reopening schedules, by July 19.
• The number of cases of a heart inflammation condition in 16- to 24-year-olds was higher than expected after they received their second dose of Pfizer’s or Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccines, the CDC said. There have been 275 reported cases of myocarditis or pericarditis, which are inflammation conditions involving the heart, in people ages 16 to 24 as of May 31, according to a CDC presentation.
• Moderna asks FDA to clear Covid vaccine for adolescents 12 to 17. The study Moderna cited included more than 3,700 adolescents. No cases of Covid were observed in participants who received two doses of the vaccine, while four cases were observed in the placebo group, according to the company.
• Singapore’s government on Thursday said it will start easing Covid-related restrictions as the number of daily infections has declined. Starting Monday, Singapore will allow larger social gatherings and relax limits on operating capacity at venues such as public libraries and museums. There could be further easing of restrictions from June 21, if the Covid situation remains under control.

June 9, 2021

• U.S. to issue Covid-19 rule for healthcare workers on Thursday. The guidance will apply to the treatment of workers who have not received Covid-19 vaccines. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will also release non-binding guidance on how other businesses can protect workers, Walsh told a hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Education and Labor Committee.
• The U.S. will buy 500 million more doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine to share through the global COVAX alliance for donation to 92 lower-income countries and the African Union over the next year. President Joe Biden was set to make the announcement Thursday in a speech before the start of Group of Seven summit. 200 million doses — enough to fully protect 100 million people — would be shared this year, with the balance to be donated in the first half of 2022.
• The cheap and widely-available drug aspirin does not improve survival for patients hospitalized with Covid-19, a U.K. study has found. Oxford University researchers had hoped to find that the blood-thinning medicine could help hospitalized Covid patients. The results were described as “disappointing.”

June 8, 2021

• Pfizer will start a large study to test its Covid-19 vaccine in children below 12 and selected a dosing regime for the trial. The study will enroll up to 4,500 children at more than 90 clinical sites in the United States, Finland, Poland and Spain, the company said.
• A U.S. report on the origins of Covid-19 concluded that the hypothesis of a virus leak from a Chinese lab in Wuhan is plausible, The Wall Street Journal said. President Joe Biden said last month he had ordered aides to find answers to the origin of the virus. U.S. officials have accused China of not being transparent about the virus’ origins, a charge Beijing has denied.
• With uptake of Russia’s coronavirus shot Sputnik V sluggish among its own citizens, Russia is considering launching Covid vaccination travel packages for tourists. A three-week vaccine tour for foreigners will reportedly cost between $1,500 and $2,500. The only problem is that visas and entry requirements for foreign visitors could be holding up progress.
• Florida and Alabama will no longer report Covid case and death data on a daily basis. Case counts in both states are far below coronavirus pandemic highs. Still, public health experts warn that it might be risky to loosen data reporting guidelines given how quickly the nature of the outbreak has changed at various points over the past year.

June 7, 2021

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a televised address that the federal government would take over the task of vaccination from state governments. Covid-19 vaccines will be provided free of charge to all adults in India from later this month. It comes as the government attempts to turn the tide of a pandemic that has killed hundreds of thousands in India.
• The U.S. is reporting an average of about 14,500 daily infections over the past week. About 960,000 vaccinations are being reported administered each day nationwide, based on a seven-day average of government data. More than half of Americans have received at least one dose of a vaccine and 42% are fully vaccinated.

June 5, 2021

• United said it will require new hires from outside of the company to attest that they have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. The move follows a similar action by rival Delta last month. Companies are grappling with whether to require staff to be vaccinated and how to encourage employees to get inoculated.

June 4, 2021

• Britain’s medicines regulator said on Friday it had approved the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech for use on 12- to 15-year-olds. It is now up to the U.K.’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to decide whether to go ahead and inoculate this age group as part of its vaccine rollout. Children aged 12-15 are already receiving the Pfizer shot in the U.S., while France and Germany are planning to start offering it to that age group this month.
• Putin says foreigners can get vaccinated against Covid in Russia for a fee. Speaking during a plenary session at the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin said: “The Russian pharmaceutical industry is willing to continue to boost the production of vaccines so we are not just fully covering our own needs.” “We can also provide foreign citizens with a chance to come to Russia and get vaccinated here. I know that given the efficiency of our vaccines, there is a high demand for that,” he continued, according to a translation. His comments come as pressure intensifies on the world’s wealthiest countries to do more to broaden the global access of Covid vaccines.

June 3, 2021

• In the span of just five days last month, China gave out 100 million shots of its Covid-19 vaccines. The rollout is far from perfect, including uneven distribution, but Chinese public health leaders now say they’re hoping to inoculate 80% of the population of 1.4 billion by the end of the year. As of Wednesday, China had given out more than 704 million doses — with nearly half of those in May alone.
• Scientists may have found a promising new oral treatment for Covid-19, the National Institutes of Health said Thursday, citing a new study. The drug, called TEMPOL, can reduce Covid-19 infections by impairing an enzyme the virus needs to make copies of itself once it’s inside human cells, the NIH said. “We urgently need additional effective, accessible treatments for COVID-19,” said Dr. Diana W. Bianchi, director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
• The level of average daily Covid cases remained below 20,000 for the third straight day Wednesday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Federal data shows the pace of daily reported vaccinations fell to a seven-day average of 1.1 million. About 51% of the total U.S. population and 63% of American adults have received one vaccine shot or more.

June 2, 2021

• Ohio’s health orders have officially lifted, as of 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday. Governor Mike DeWine announced the end to statewide orders in May, setting the expiration date for June 2 in an effort to give Ohioans more time to get vaccinated. Ohioans are no longer required to wear masks or follow social distancing guidelines. It also puts an end to capacity restrictions at indoor and outdoor events. Here's what you need to know.
• The Covid variant now named Delta, which was first detected in India, has been reported in 62 countries, the WHO said Wednesday. The P.1 variant, now named Gamma, which was first detected in Japan in people who had traveled from Brazil, has spread to 64 countries. The WHO’s new naming system for Covid variants, after letters of the Greek alphabet, simplify the scientific names and avoid stigmatizing countries that detect new strains. The African and Western Pacific regions have seen a rise in infections, with a rise in Covid deaths in the African region in the past week.

June 1, 2021

• The World Health Organization (WHO) has approved a Covid-19 vaccine made by Sinovac Biotech, the second Chinese-made dose, for emergency use listing. WHO emergency listing is a signal to national regulators on a product’s safety and efficacy. It would also allow the shot to be included in COVAX, the global program to provide vaccines mainly for poor countries.
• Moderna applies for full FDA approval of its Covid vaccine. Moderna is the second drugmaker in the U.S. to seek a biologics license that will allow it to market the shots directly to consumers. The mRNA vaccine is currently on the U.S. market under an emergency use authorization, which was granted by the FDA in December.
• The NIH said it started a trial looking at what happens when an adult who is fully vaccinated with one type of Covid vaccine, like Pfizer’s, is boosted with a different shot about three to four months later. The trial will include about 150 adults who have been fully vaccinated with the Johnson & Johnson, Moderna or Pfizer Covid vaccines, according to the agency. Federal health officials said people who have not yet received an authorized vaccine are also eligible to enroll in the trial in a separate group.

May 31, 2021

• The 11,976 new Covid-19 cases reported Saturday were the lowest since March 23, 2020. The World Health Organization officially declared a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. Friday saw the TSA report the highest number of travelers since the pandemic began, with more than 1.9 million people taking to the skies.

May 28, 2021

• Immunity to the coronavirus lasts at least a year, possibly a lifetime, improving over time especially after vaccination, according to two new studies. 
• The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is predicting that Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths will fall over the next four weeks. The CDC ensemble forecasts conclude that there will be a total of 596,000 to 606,000 Covid-19 deaths by June 19.
• The show was a large-scale science experiment, designed to see if large indoor concerts could take place safely amid the coronavirus pandemic. But such scenes could soon become far more common: Researchers found that not one of the concertgoers tested positive for the coronavirus after the event, according to results published Wednesday on the website of the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal.

May 24, 2021

• Amid lingering questions over the efficacy of Chinese-developed coronavirus vaccines, health experts in China are calling for all high-risk groups to take a third dose of the vaccines, saying the shots’ protection recedes after six months.
• About 39% of the US population — nearly 131 million people — is fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to data published Monday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
• Researchers in Thailand have trained dogs to sniff out an odor people with COVID-19 produce, and dogs in another British study were praised for accuracy and speed.

May 14th, 2021

• The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 -- meaning those who have waited two weeks after their final dose -- generally don't need to wear masks or practice social distancing indoors or outdoors.
• Japan on Friday further expanded a coronavirus state of emergency from six areas, including Tokyo, to nine, as Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga repeated his determination to hold the Olympics in just over two months.

May 7, 2021

• As families consider switching schools during the pandemic, more seek out a private-school education. To help with the cost, financial aid packages are increasing year over year.
• The rate of daily Covid infections is declining in 30 states and the District of Columbia and one-in-three Americans are now fully vaccinated. The country’s pace of daily vaccinations held steady from Thursday’s level but has been on the decline for weeks, down 38% from the peak.

May 6, 2021

• The Russian Direct Investment Fund said the one-shot “Sputnik Light” Covid vaccine had an efficacy rate of 79.4% and would cost less than $10 a dose. RDIF said late-stage Phase III trials involving 7,000 people were underway in Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Ghana, among others. Interim results were expected later this month. As of Wednesday, RDIF said over 20 million people around the world had received their first dose of the Sputnik V vaccine.
• Amazon confirmed to CNBC that it will pause Prime Day in India and Canada as the countries face worsening spread of the coronavirus. Prime Day, which typically takes place in July, was postponed to mid-October last year in the U.S. and elsewhere due to the pandemic. The two-day discount event will continue as planned in the second quarter in other countries, Amazon said.
• Indian tycoons and Bollywood stars are not alone in fleeing the country’s escalating coronavirus crisis, says the CEO of private jet charter company JetSetGo. Upper-middle class families are pooling their resources to escape to Maldives and Dubai, Kanika Tekriwal told CNBC. JetSetGo has seen a 900% surge in bookings in recent weeks — with some 70% to 80% coming from the upper middle class, instead of their regular ultra high net worth customers.

May 5, 2021

• Global logistics companies UPS and FedEx are providing critical aid to India as Covid cases there topped 20 million, including more than 222,000 deaths. UPS announced Wednesday that its philanthropic arm, The UPS Foundation, is pledging $1 million in aid. Last week, FedEx announced a $4 million commitment. FedEx COO Raj Subramaniam told CNBC the mission in India is “personal” as his family and friends there have been impacted.

May 3, 2021

• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order on Monday that immediately suspends the state’s remaining Covid-19 public health restrictions. “I think that’s the evidence-based thing to do,” DeSantis said at a Monday news conference. Private businesses can still require masks and enforce social distancing and other protective measures.
• Retail stocks surge as Florida and New York announce plans to lift Covid restrictions. Shares of the department store chain Dillard’s closed up nearly 10%. Gap shares hit a 52-week high of $37, but settled at $35.47, a 7% gain for the day. Macy’s, Nordstrom, Kohl’s and others also ended the day higher. Jefferies analyst Stephanie Wissink said in a Sunday note to clients that apparel spending is poised to benefit from pent-up demand and new fashion trends coming out of the health crisis.
• As the U.S. continues to reopen, live music concerts are among the events starting to come back. Small and outdoor stages are seeing strong demand for tickets to shows. But new Covid-19 protocols will mean a changed experience for many attendees.

April 30, 2021

• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday that indoor dining capacity in New York City will be increased to 75% on May 7. New York City gyms and fitness centers will expand to 50% capacity beginning May 15, while hair salons, nail salons, barbershops and other personal care services will expand to 75% capacity beginning May 7. Almost 6.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in the city, with 30% of city residents fully vaccinated, according to the city’s department of health.
• AstraZeneca said on Friday its Covid-19 vaccine contributed $275 million in sales and shaved off three cents per share from its first-quarter earnings, as the drugmaker reported better-than-expected results and forecast sales growth.
• The Biden administration will restrict travel from India as that country grapples with a gigantic surge in coronavirus cases, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. The policy will take effect Tuesday, May 4, Psaki said. India reported record daily cases and deaths from Covid on Wednesday and Thursday.
• After months of a steady climb in vaccinations, the U.S. is experiencing its first true slowdown in the rate of daily shots. Meeting existing vaccine demand is no longer the main challenge, and states are employing strategies to address access and hesitancy barriers. Dr. Jennifer Kates, an expert with the Kaiser Family Foundation, does not believe the short-lived J&J pause was a significant factor in the slow down.

April 29, 2021

• Moderna said it now has data that could support a three-month refrigerated shelf life for its vaccine. The mRNA vaccine is approved to be stored in the refrigerator between 36 and 46 degrees Fahrenheit for up to 30 days and up to seven months at minus 4 Fahrenheit. The new storage temperature could “facilitate easier distribution to doctor’s offices and other smaller settings,” the company said.

April 27, 2021

• Eli Lilly missed analysts’ estimates for first-quarter profit and cut its forecast for full-year adjusted profit due to lower demand for its Covid-19 drugs. The U.S. government stopped the distribution of Lilly’s Covid-19 antibody drug bamlanivimab as a standalone treatment therapy last month. The drugmaker has said it will focus on a combination of bamlanivimab and its other Covid-19 antibody drug etesevimab, which have been shown to together neutralize more Covid-19 variants than bamlanivimab alone.
• Pfizer’s experimental oral drug to treat Covid-19 at the first sign of illness could be available by the end of the year, CEO Albert Bourla told CNBC on Tuesday. The drug is part of a class of medicines called protease inhibitors and works by inhibiting an enzyme that the virus needs to replicate in human cells. Protease inhibitors are used to treat other viral pathogens such as HIV and hepatitis C.

April 26, 2021

• The United States will share 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine with other countries. Cases continue to spike around the world. New infections in the U.S. have slowed, and the Biden administration said it would make materials for vaccine production available to India as the country deals with a surge of cases.
• Germany has implemented tough new lockdown rules to curb a third wave of infections. The measures could last until June. Curfews, shopping and leisure center closures and limits on household contacts are part of new measures. Protests have been seen in several cities.
• Sanofi will fill and pack millions of Moderna Covid-19 vaccines from September in an effort to help meet the demand for the U.S. drugmaker’s shots. Sanofi said it would help supply up to 200 million doses of Moderna’s vaccine at its Ridgefield facility in New Jersey.

April 23, 2021

• A CDC advisory panel on Friday recommended the U.S. resume using the Johnson and Johnson Covid-19 vaccine. Members of the panel also proposed that the FDA include a warning label for women under age 50. The recommendation will pave the way for U.S. regulators to lift their recommended pause on using the J&J shot as early as this weekend.
• As organizations consider what a return to the office looks like, some employees say they would be willing to forgo traditional perks like health care and pay for access to office space. Major corporations remain split on the balance between in-person and remote work, with Twitter and Microsoft among those offering more liberal work-from-home policies, while Google and Goldman Sachs are eager to return to the office. Some companies like GM are outlining vague plans, and for workers intending to stay remote, experts say negotiate with managers before offices dictate a formal policy and use data to back up your argument.
• California State University and the University of California announced they will require all students, staff and faculty who plan to be on campus to be vaccinated against Covid. The two California university systems are the largest that will require vaccinations for the fall semester, with more than 1 million students and staff affected by the decision. Both universities are planning to operate mostly in-person for the semester.

April 22, 2021

• Study shows people who recover from Covid-19 but still test positive don’t spread virus.

April 21, 2021

• The FDA said Wednesday a Baltimore plant that ruined millions of Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine doses was unsanitary and unsuitable to manufacture the shots. The FDA asked Emergent BioSolutions, which runs the plant, to temporarily stop producing materials for Covid-19 vaccines earlier this month. The inspection, which was conducted earlier this month over a period of 8 days, revealed a raft of alarming quality issues found throughout the facility.
• President Joe Biden announced a tax credit for employers offering Covid vaccine-related paid leave. The tax credit for small- and medium-sized business will fully offset the cost of giving employees paid time off to get inoculated and recover from side effects, administration officials told reporters. Biden in a speech touted that the U.S. is set to hit 200 million Covid shots administered since he took office.

April 20, 2021

• J&J said its pharmaceutical business, which developed the single-shot Covid-19 vaccine, generated $12.19 billion in revenue, a 9.6% year-over-year increase. J&J said it now expects full-year profit of $9.42 to $9.57 per share, compared with its previous forecast of $9.40 to $9.60 per share.

April 19, 2021

• The FDA asked Emergent BioSolutions to temporarily stop producing materials for Covid-19 vaccines while U.S. regulators investigate its plant in Baltimore responsible for ruining millions of J&J, Emergent said in a regulatory filing. It said the FDA initiated an inspection of the facility on April 12 and asked the company to halt manufacturing four days later, pending completion of the review and remediation.
• U.S. health officials have confirmed fewer than 6,000 cases of Covid-19 in fully vaccinated Americans, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said. That represents just 0.007% of the 84 million Americans with full protection against the virus. The CDC chief acknowledged that the number could be an underestimate.
• China’s CanSino Biologics will start clinical trials for a Covid-19 vaccine administered through inhalation next week, the company’s co-founder and Chief Executive Xuefeng Yu said on Sunday. Efficacy rates for China’s Covid vaccines have been found to be lower than those developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Such a vaccine could be more effective than those injected given that the coronavirus enters the human body through the airways, Yu told CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal at the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan.

April 16, 2021

• The Biden administration is preparing for the potential need for Covid-19 vaccine booster shots, though nothing is certain, a top U.S. official said Friday. “Requiring additional shots in the future is obviously a foreseeable potential event,” Andy Slavitt, senior advisor to President Joe Biden’s Covid response team, told reporters. In comments that aired Thursday, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said people will “likely” need a third dose of a Covid-19 vaccine within 12 months of getting fully vaccinated.
• CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said earlier this month that hospitals are seeing more younger adults admitted with Covid-19 as more contagious variants spread. Older teens and young adults were among the last prioritized to get the coronavirus vaccines and many of them have yet to receive the shots. Young adults are also thought to be involved in more high-risk behaviors such as playing close-contact sports and going out to bars. Those factors coupled with the highly contagious B.1.1.7 variant are likely driving a surge in young people going to the hospital, health experts say.

April 15, 2021

• Cruise line CEOs argued, in a meeting with the White House’s Covid response team this week, to replace the CDC’s phased-in approach to sailings, sources in the room told CNBC. Earlier this month, the CDC updated its Framework for Conditional Sailing Order. However, the agency has yet to specify a date for operators to resume sailing from American ports. Norwegian Cruise Line on Thursday afternoon reiterated its request to the CDC to allow the company to restart cruising from U.S. ports on July 4.
• Japan is set to expand quasi-emergency measures to 10 regions on Friday as a fourth wave of Covid-19 cases spreads, casting doubt on whether the Summer Olympics can be held in Tokyo. Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told reporters that the government was considering adding Aichi, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba to six other prefectures already under the orders, including the metropolises of Tokyo and Osaka. A final decision is expected on Friday afternoon. Japan’s top health experts have acknowledged that the Covid-19 pandemic has entered a fourth wave.
• A new report estimates overall fraud in the Covid-19 Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan program and grants could reach $84 billion. CNBC found victims who had their identities stolen for gain under the EIDL and PPP last year. The Small Business Administration says in recent months, new enhanced checks have been put in place to intensify system validations used to mitigate the occurrence of fraud in both programs.
• The U.S. is reporting about 71,200 daily new Covid cases per day. That’s far below the nation’s winter peak but in line with levels seen during the summer surge. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows an average of 3.3 million daily vaccine doses reported administered over the past week. About 37% of the U.S. population has received at least one Covid vaccine shot and 23.1% is fully vaccinated.
• Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said people will “likely” need a third dose of a Covid-19 vaccine within 12 months of getting fully vaccinated. He also said it’s possible people will need to get vaccinated against the coronavirus annually.

April 13, 2021

• More Americans will likely refuse to get J&J’s Covid-19 vaccine after U.S. health regulators said six women developed a rare blood-clotting disorder, experts on public health and vaccines told CNBC on Tuesday. People were already skeptical about vaccines before the coronavirus emerged in December 2019. Some Americans were also hesitant to get the J&J vaccine in particular because they perceived it as inferior to Pfizer’s and Moderna’s. The warning from U.S. officials to states is likely to fuel more hesitancy in taking J&J’s shot and other vaccines, threatening to stall the pandemic recovery.

April 12, 2021

• India overtakes Brazil to become the second-worst hit country as Covid cases soar. India reported more than 168,000 new cases over a 24-hour period on Monday, according to health ministry data. Around 83% of the new infections were reported in 10 states, including the western state of Maharashtra, home to India’s financial capital Mumbai. Since the beginning of April, India has reported more than 1.37 million cases, bringing the country’s total number of infections to over 13.5 million.
• Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said it will ask the FDA to allow its Covid-19 antibody therapy to be used as a preventative treatment. The company said in a phase three clinical trial the drug reduced the risk of symptomatic infections in individuals by 81%. The drug is already authorized to treat adults with mild-to-moderate Covid-19 and pediatric patients at least 12 years of age who have tested positive for the virus and are at high risk of severe disease.
• The number of colleges and universities that now say Covid-19 vaccinations will be mandatory for students before they return to campus in the fall is rising daily. At the same time, vaccine hesitancy among parents remains high.

April 10, 2021

• Johnson & Johnson is scaling back shipments of its single-dose Covid-19 vaccine next week as it grapples with manufacturing issues at a major plant in Baltimore. The government has allocated only 700,000 J&J shots to states next week, down from 4.9 million the week prior, according to CDC data. J&J, whose vaccine rollout has been slower than anticipated, now awaits regulatory clearance for its Baltimore facility, which is run by Emergent BioSolutions Inc.

April 9, 2021

• The U.S. is seeing increasing reports of Covid-19 cases linked to youth sports, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Friday. The connection between kids sports and increased coronavirus cases comes as the highly infectious B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the U.K. has become the most common Covid strain in the U.S. Walensky emphasized that the rise in cases linked to school and club sports does not necessarily relate to an increased risk of Covid spread in classrooms.
• Facebook is converting part of its Menlo Park, California, headquarters into a Covid-19 vaccination site, COO Sheryl Sandberg said in a post Friday. The company said it’s also teaming up with the California government and local nonprofits to support mobile vaccination sites. A spokesperson said the company hopes to help vaccinate up to 10,000 people in the first several weeks of its effort.

April 8, 2021

• Expedia Group has launched COVID-19 Travel Advisor, an online tool that provides information about current pandemic-related travel restrictions, in partnership with Sherpa. Seven Expedia Group brands are deploying the new feature at their booking sites. Sites such Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity and other brands are seeing a 25% jump in business compared to pre-pandemic times, Expedia Group has found.

April 7, 2021

• The NIH said it has begun looking at why some people have suffered from allergic reactions after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines. The NIH study will enroll 3,400 adults ages 18 to 69 at up to 35 academic allergy-research centers nationwide. Most of the rare, severe allergic reactions to these vaccines have occurred in people with a history of allergies, public health officials have said.
• Some people who have suffered from long Covid symptoms say they are finding relief after getting vaccinated. Long Covid is still not well understood by doctors. The post-vaccination signs have left some health experts puzzled and looking to science for answers.

April 6, 2021

• California plans to lift most Covid restrictions June 15, keep mask mandate. Newsom said on Tuesday that the state will reopen its economy by June 15 provided that coronavirus vaccine and hospitalization cases remain stable. “We will need to remain vigilant and continue the practices that got us here – wearing masks and getting vaccinated – but the light at the end of this tunnel has never been brighter,” Newsom said in a statement. The state is also slated to end its four-tiered, color-coded system which has been used to determine risk levels.
• Biden announced Tuesday that states should open Covid-19 vaccine appointments to all U.S. adults by April 19. A few weeks ago, Biden called on states, tribes and territories to make all U.S. adults eligible for vaccination no later than May 1. Biden announced the new deadline after his visit to a vaccination site in Alexandria, Virginia.
• Here’s guidance for handling taxes on Covid-related withdrawals from retirement accounts. Legislation enacted in March 2020 allowed individuals to withdraw, for Covid-related reasons, up to $100,000 from qualified retirement accounts last year without facing a 10% early withdrawal penalty if they were under age 59½. While only a small share of retirement savers made such withdrawals, most of those who did (69%) say they don’t plan to replace the distribution, or will be unable to, a recent survey shows. You can spread the income across three years, although your 2020 return should include at least one-third of the taxes due.

April 1, 2021

• You might want to share online that you received your Covid-19 vaccine, but posting the CDC vaccination record card on social media can make you a target for identity theft. Seems simple, but the details written on the card can pose issues: “They’re sharing a key piece of information, and that could possibly lead to a more severe case of identity theft — and that’s by sharing their first name, last name, and date of birth,” says Guile.
• Emergent BioSolutions, the company at the center of quality problems that led J&J to discard an unknown amount of its coronavirus vaccine, has citations for quality control problems. Johnson & Johnson said Wednesday that a batch of vaccine made by Emergent at its Baltimore factory, known as Bayview, can’t be used because it didn’t meet quality standards.

March 31, 2021

• Pfizer said its coronavirus vaccine was 100% effective in preventing Covid-19 in children ages 12 to 15. Pfizer plans to submit the new vaccine data to the FDA “as soon as possible,” CEO Albert Bourla said. Kids in the age group could be eligible for the vaccine before the new school year.
• Covid-19 was the third leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2020, behind heart disease and cancer, according to a new CDC study. More than 3.3 million deaths were reported in the U.S. last year, a 16% increase over 2019. The deadliest weeks of 2020 were at the beginning of the pandemic in April and then in the middle of the holiday surge in late December.
• Google is accelerating partial reopening of offices and putting limits on future of remote work. Google employees will begin returning to offices in a “limited” capacity in April, according to a memo on Wednesday. If after Sept. 1, employees want to work remotely for more than 14 days per year, they will need to formally apply. Google advised employees to get the Covid-19 vaccine but said it’s not mandatory.
• End of a Covid era: Delta to stop blocking middle seats on May 1. Delta will start selling all seats on its flights starting May 1. The carrier is the last U.S. airline to end the policy, which it first put in place in April 2020. The Atlanta-based airline introduced a host of other changes, including extending ticket validity until the end of 2022.
• Walgreens says 8 million Covid-19 vaccines administered, ups its 2021 profit forecast. Walgreens Boots Alliance raised its 2021 profit forecast after posting an 8.4% rise in quarterly profit, boosted by higher sales at its U.S. retail pharmacies. Pharmacy chains such as Walgreens and CVS Health are expecting to benefit from distribution of Covid-19 vaccines and tests.
• Businesses are offering more incentives to encourage people to get their Covid vaccine. Here’s a running list of the freebies available now.
• The National Institutes of Health has started testing a new coronavirus vaccine from Moderna designed to protect against a problematic variant first found in South Africa. The phase one trial will test how safe and effective the new shot is against the variant in approximately 210 healthy adults. Researchers expect the trial to be fully enrolled by the end of April.

March 29, 2021

• Liquor sales soared across the country last year when the pandemic began and people began spending a whole lot more time at home. For the first time, however, alcohol sales are starting to drop. According to Nielsen data, liquor sales slumped nearly 2 percent two weeks ago, CBS Miami reports. In comparision, at this time last year, liquor stores were reporting sales that were, on average, 55 percent higher than usual. At the time, it was believed that people were stockpiling based on news of the pandemic.
• A single dose of Pfizer’s or Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine was 80% effective in preventing infections, according to a new CDC study. Two doses are better than one, the CDC said, adding that the vaccines’ effectiveness jumped to 90% two weeks after the second dose.
• The U.S. is facing “impending doom” as daily Covid-19 cases begin to rebound once again, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a press briefing. The U.S. is recording a weekly average of 63,239 new Covid-19 cases per day, a 16% increase compared with a week ago, according to an analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. When cases rise as they have over the last week or so, Walensky said they often “surge and surge big” shortly thereafter.
• In March 2020, Hannu Rajaniemi pivoted his biotech company Helix Nanotechnologies’ focus from cancer therapies to Covid-19 vaccines. Rajaniemi’s then-six-person start-up wasn’t going to be able to compete with the likes of Pfizer and AstraZeneca, but HelixNano, as it’s known, had a different goal: Create a better, second-generation vaccine against the novel coronavirus.
• Since Bolthouse Farms CEO Jeff Dunn announced his plans to give all of his 1,800 full-time hourly employees at the company’s California plant a $500 bonus for getting the Covid-19 vaccine, he’s been getting a lot of inquiries. Bolthouse has vaccinated more than a 1,000 of its 1,800 employees since holding its first vaccination clinic on Feb. 26 for employees 65 and older. Since March 12 it has had weekly clinics. Bolthouse’s target was to vaccinate 65% of its employees and Dunn believes they will surpass that goal soon.

March 27, 2021

• Starting Friday, New Yorkers will be able to pull up a code on their cell phone or a printout to prove they've been vaccinated against COVID-19 or recently tested negative for the virus that causes it. The first-in-the-nation certification, called the Excelsior Pass, will be useful first at large-scale venues like Madison Square Garden, but next week will be accepted at dozens of event, arts and entertainment venues statewide. It already enables people to increase the size of a wedding party, or other catered event. The app, championed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to support the recovery of industries most affected by the pandemic, is funded by the state and available for free to businesses and anyone with vaccination records or test results in New York.
• Over two weeks after Texas eased Covid-19 restrictions, the state has so far not witnessed a surge in new cases: Reported infections continue to decline statewide but have recently shown signs of leveling. Gov. Greg Abbott lifted a statewide mask mandate and allowed businesses to operate at full capacity, with no limits, starting March 10. “It is now the time to open Texas 100%,” the Republican said March 2 as he announced the changes. “State mandates are no longer needed.” On the day restrictions were lifted, the state’s seven-day average of confirmed Covid-19 cases was around 4,900, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The latest data shows a seven-day average of around 3,400 cases.
• Former CDC Director Robert Redfield said he believes the coronavirus escaped from a Wuhan lab, a stunning assessment that echoes claims made by other members of the Trump administration, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

March 24, 2021

• AstraZeneca issued updated phase three trial data for its Covid-19 vaccine on Wednesday after facing criticism earlier this week over a preliminary report from its U.S. study. The company now says its vaccine is 76% effective in protecting against symptomatic cases of virus. A release issued on Monday reported a symptomatic efficacy rate of 79%. AstraZeneca reiterated Wednesday that the vaccine was “well tolerated” among participants and that no safety concerns were identified. 

March 23, 2021

• Pfizer said it has begun an early stage clinical trial testing its experimental oral antiviral drug for Covid-19. The company said the phase one trial of the drug – called PF-07321332 – is being conducted in the United States. The drug is part of a class of medicines called protease inhibitors and works by inhibiting an enzyme that the virus needs to replicate in human cells.

March 22, 2021

• As stimulus checks hit bank accounts, Americans are buying more sneakers and apparel, according to new data from Bank of America Global Research. Athletic footwear and apparel spending jumped significantly to +19.5% year over year for the week ending 3/13 vs. +13.2% the week prior, as stimulus payments began to hit consumer bank accounts beginning March 12.
• Analysts cheer ‘surprisingly positive’ AstraZeneca U.S. trial data. Monday’s trial results showed the vaccine had an overall efficacy of 79% in preventing symptomatic Covid-19 and was 100% effective in preventing severe disease and hospitalization. Jefferies health-care analyst Peter Welford called the data “surprisingly positive.” “Data like this reported today that more conclusively demonstrates the efficacy and safety of AZD1222 is certainly something to celebrate,” said Adam Barker, health-care analyst at Shore Capital.
• The number of U.S. air passengers screened topped 1.5 million Sunday for the first time since March 2020, as air travel continues to rebound from a pandemic-related drop, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said Monday.

March 19, 2021

• France imposed a month-long lockdown on Paris and parts of the north after a faltering vaccine rollout and spread of highly contagious coronavirus variants forced President Emmanuel Macron to shift course. Since late January, when he defied the calls of scientists and some in his government to lock the country down, Macron has said he would do whatever it took to keep the euro zone's second largest economy as open as possible.
• The CDC revised its guidance on social distancing in schools, saying most students can now sit 3 feet apart instead of 6 feet so long as they are wearing masks. The recommendation is for all K-12 students, regardless of whether community transmission is low, moderate or substantial. In communities where transmission is high, the CDC recommends that middle school and high school students remain at least 6 feet apart if schools aren’t able to keep students and teachers in assigned groups.
• Scientists in Europe said they had identified a mechanism that could lead the AstraZeneca PLC vaccine to cause potentially deadly blood clots in rare instances as well as a possible treatment for it. Two teams of medical researchers in Norway and Germany have independently found that the vaccine could trigger an autoimmune reaction causing blood to clot in the brain, which would offer an explanation for isolated incidents across Europe in recent weeks. Several European countries briefly halted their rollouts of the vaccine this week after more than 30 recipients were diagnosed with the condition known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, or CVST. Most of the people affected were women under the age of 55.

March 17, 2021

• Disney’s two California theme parks will reopen on April 30, CEO Bob Chapek said Wednesday. The parks will operate at around 15% capacity to start.

March 16, 2021

• A new coronavirus variant has been found in the French region of Brittany, the French health ministry said in a statement late Monday, adding that an initial analysis did not show this new variant to be more serious or more transmissible than others. The health ministry said the new variant had been found in a cluster of eight cases in a hospital centre in Lannion, several of which had not been detected by PCR tests. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests are used to detect the presence of an antigen rather than the presence of the body’s immune response, or antibodies. Officials said researchers at the Institut Pasteur were investigating whether genetic modifications had resulted in the new variant being more difficult to detect. “Investigations will take place to determine how this variant reacts to vaccination and to antibodies developed during prior COVID infections,” Brittany’s regional health authority said in a statement.
• Moderna Inc. has begun studying its Covid-19 vaccine in children aged 6 months to 11 years in the U.S. and Canada, the latest effort to widen the mass-vaccination campaign beyond adults. The Cambridge, Mass., company said Tuesday that the first children have received doses in the study, which Moderna is conducting in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a division of the Department of Health and Human Services. “This pediatric study will help us assess the potential safety and immunogenicity of our COVID-19 vaccine candidate in this important younger age population,” Moderna Chief Executive Stéphane Bancel said.

March 15, 2021

• Italy headed back to lockdown amid COVID spike. Starting Monday, Italians in the most populated regions will be required to stay home except for work, health or other essential reasons. The whole country will be locked down on Easter weekend for the second year in a row from April 3-5. Cases have been rising across the country in excess of 25,000 a day over the past six weeks, as Italy’s vaccination campaign is hit by delays.
• As trends in the U.S. improve compared to the winter surge, Europe is now facing a new wave of infections with a new lockdown in Italy. Dr. Anthony Fauci pointed to Europe as warning to Americans that letting up mitigation measures early could put the U.S. on a similar course. Several U.S. states have lifted mitigation measures as infections decrease and vaccinations increase.
• President Biden is reportedly planning the first major hike in federal taxes in almost 30 years to fund the economic program set to follow the recently approved $1.9 trillion pandemic stimulus package.

March 11, 2021

• New York City restaurants can increase their indoor dining capacity to 50 percent next week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday. The measure rolling back some of the coronavirus safety restrictions goes into effect on March 19, Cuomo said.
• President Joe Biden announced that he will direct states to make all adults, ages 18 and up, eligible for the coronavirus vaccines by May 1. Biden, in his first primetime address to the nation, also said that Americans should hopefully be able to gather in small groups to celebrate the Fourth of July. The speech comes hours after Biden signed into law the $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill, which he had strongly pushed during his first 50 days in office. 

March 10, 2021

• Health officials are urging Americans to not let their guards down against COVID-19 as researchers discover new variants that may already be more transmissible and could also be somewhat resistant to the vaccine. “At this level of cases, with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a White House briefing Monday. “These variants are a very real threat to our people and our progress.” While experts have been following variants first identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa, they're also seeing red flags in other variants discovered closer to home in Brazil, New York and California.
• Nearly half of Americans feel that no matter how often they wash their hands, it’s never enough during COVID-19, according to a new survey. Despite the results however, researchers find constantly stressing over safety is getting old fast as the world enters year two of the pandemic. The poll asked 2,000 Americans to reflect on the past 12 months to analyze their hygiene habits. Even though 90 percent of respondents say they are aware of the CDC’s guidance on washing hands for 20 seconds, 41 percent admit it’s starting to get tiresome.
• McDonald's Philippines has purchased close to 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca, as the fast-food chain operator said it plans to inoculate its employees for free.
• Pregnant women who recovered from COVID-19 or were vaccinated are likely to pass on antibodies to fetuses in their womb and to their babies through breastfeeding, experts and preliminary studies have suggested.
• The U.S. plans to buy 100 million additional doses of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine, two administration sources told NBC News. Biden is expected to make the announcement during a meeting at the White House with executives from J&J and Merck.
• House Democrats passed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package on Wednesday, and President Joe Biden hopes to sign the bill Friday. The plan includes unemployment aid, direct payments, tax credit expansions, vaccine distribution funds and state and local government relief, among a range of other provisions. Democrats say households need the relief to get through the coming months, while Republicans opposed it while contending it is too large for the moment.

March 8, 2021

• The CDC released its first guidance for people who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. People who are fully immunized can safely visit other vaccinated people indoors without wearing a mask or social distancing, the agency said. Vaccinated people can visit some unvaccinated people without masks or social distancing as well.
• With the U.S. vaccination effort picking up speed, new coronavirus cases in the U.S. rose 1.5% in the week ended Sunday, the slowest increase since the pandemic began almost a year ago. The U.S. reported 420,285 infections for the week, after recording 471,198 cases in the prior seven days, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg. The percentage gain was the smallest since Bloomberg began tracking cases in January 2020. In the past week, an average of 2.16 million vaccine doses per day were administered in the U.S., with the total number of shots reaching 90.4 million, according to the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker.
• About 78% of people who have been hospitalized, needed a ventilator or died from Covid-19 have been overweight or obese, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a new study Monday. Just over 42% of the U.S. population was considered obese in 2018, according to the agency’s most recent statistics. Overweight is defined as having a body mass index of 25 or more, while obesity is defined as having a BMI of 30 or more. “As clinicians develop care plans for COVID-19 patients, they should consider the risk for severe outcomes in patients with higher BMIs, especially for those with severe obesity,” the CDC wrote.

March 3, 2021

• President Joe Biden announced a major partnership Tuesday afternoon between pharmaceutical giants Merck & Co. and Johnson & Johnson to help produce J&J's newly authorized vaccine and changed the vaccine timeline, saying there would be enough for every American adult by the end of May. "About three weeks ago, we were able to say that we'll have enough vaccine supply for adults by the end of July, and I'm pleased to announce today, as a consequence of this stepped-up process that I've ordered and just outlined, this country will have enough vaccine supply ... for every adult in America by the end of May," Biden said.

March 2, 2021

• Royal Caribbean's newest ship "Odyssey of the Seas" is set to debut in May with departures from Israel with all passengers and crew over the age of 16 vaccinated. "In conjunction with Israel’s health and tourism authorities, Royal Caribbean will be the first to offer fully vaccinated sailings, where both crew and guests above the age of 16 will be vaccinated against COVID-19," the cruise line said in a statement posted to its website. Israel has not yet opened vaccination appointments to residents aged 16 and under, according to the country's Ministry of Health. Royal Caribbean Group, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. and Costa Cruises have all said they intend to vaccinate crew members on their vessels, but a fully vaccinated cruise is a newer commitment.
• Former President Donald Trump and former first lady Melania Trump received coronavirus vaccinations in January at the White House, said a person who works for Trump. Trump did not announce at the time that he and the first lady had been vaccinated. It was unclear which vaccine the president and the first lady received. At that point, two vaccines had been authorized for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

March 1, 2021

• CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walesnky has signed off on Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine. Walensky’s approval allows the federal government to begin shipping the doses to sites across the country. Her approval comes after a CDC panel voted unanimously to recommend the shot for those 18 and older. A J&J executive told lawmakers on Tuesday that the company is prepared to ship nearly 4 million doses as soon as it receives emergency use authorization.
• After nearly a year of struggling to meet the demands of teaching during the coronavirus crisis, many educators say they are ready to switch careers or retire. But in order for schools to fully reopen, the U.S. needs more teachers, not fewer.
• The vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine was the first shot to be approved and rolled out in the U.K. in December. That was soon followed by the shot developed by British frim AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford. 4 charts show how the UK’s coronavirus vaccine rollout is starting to work.
• UK searches for mystery person infected with Covid variant first detected in Brazil. Up to six cases of the new strain — dubbed P.1 and considered a “variant of concern” by global health experts — have been detected in the U.K., with three cases in Scotland and three in England. What’s troubling to British officials is that one of the three cases found in England has not been traced. The government issued a statement Sunday noting that two of the cases in England are from one household in South Gloucestershire with a history of travel to Brazil, and “there is a third, currently unlinked case.”

February 27, 2021

• The FDA has approved J&J’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, giving the U.S. a third tool to fight the pandemic. Unlike Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines, J&J’s one-dose regimen eliminates the need for patients to return for a second dose and it can be stored at refrigerator temperatures for months. The federal government plans to distribute nearly 4 million doses of J&J’s vaccine to states, pharmacies and community health centers across the nation next week.
• Covid relief bill may trigger $36 billion cut to Medicare and higher student loan fees.
• In a February survey of more than 100 immunologists, infectious-disease researchers and virologists, almost 90% said that SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes Covid, will become endemic. That means that there’s a “constant presence and/or usual prevalence of a disease or infectious agent in a population within a geographic area,” according to the Centers for Disease Control. Influenza, for example, is an endemic respiratory illness in the U.S., and there are four other endemic types of coronaviruses that cause the common cold. Erica Ollmann Saphire, professor at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology, says she thinks Covid will be “a permanent part of the human existence.” Here’s what that could mean for you.

February 24, 2021

• The FDA’s staff endorsed Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, a critical step in bringing a third shot to the U.S. marketplace. The staff report is meant to brief the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, which will meet Friday to review J&J’s request for emergency use.

February 22, 2021

• Six Flags is back in business. On Friday, the Texas-based theme park operator announced plans to reopen all 26 of its locations for the 2021 season, including five locations that stayed closed in 2020 due to continued coronavirus restrictions. The company further confirmed its intention of hiring “thousands of team members” for the upcoming season exclusively via online hiring events.
• Nearly a year into a life-altering pandemic, many Americans are fed up with wearing masks, desperate for a return to normalcy and numb to the relentless stream of grim numbers, such as the 500,000 COVID-19 deaths the USA is about to surpass. Health care workers don’t want to hear any of that. They have been working endless hours amid constant death and suffering, forsaking time off and exposing themselves to the disease, leaving them exhausted and with no real indication of when the pandemic will relent.

February 19, 2021

• Pfizer and BioNTech announced a significant change to their coronavirus vaccine that could have a dramatic impact on shipping logistics and vaccine availability. The two companies say the drug can be stored at higher temperatures, which makes it easier to transport and should extend the vaccine’s reach. Pfizer and BioNTech say the vaccine can be stored at -25°C to -15°C (-13°F to 5°F) for up to two weeks. The drug can then be stored between 2⁰C and 8⁰C (36⁰F and 46⁰F) for an additional five days before being administered.
• The federal government is opening five new Covid-19 mass vaccination centers in Florida and Pennsylvania, adding to an increasing number of distribution points that aren't being left to state governments to operate. Additionally, the Biden administration says the federal government is working to make up for ground lost from severe weather that shut down thousands of vaccination sites across the country. The new federally run centers in Florida will be in Miami, Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville and the goal is 12,000 vaccinations a day across the four sites. In Pennsylvania, the federal government will open a site in Philadelphia's convention center designed to deliver 6,000 doses a day. The locations should open in the next two weeks.

February 18, 2021

• Life expectancy in the United States fell by an entire year in the first half of 2020 as Covid-19 swept through the country, health data published Thursday found, a decline not seen since World War II.
• The U.S. attorney in Brooklyn and the FBI have begun a preliminary investigation into the way New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration handled data about Covid-19 nursing home deaths. After early praise for his leadership when his state became the U.S. epicenter of the pandemic, the governor is now dealing with accusations of underreporting nursing home deaths. In recent weeks, the administration revealed that 15,000 long-term care residents have died, up from the 8,500 previously disclosed.
• Pfizer-BioNTech said Thursday that it is beginning clinical trials of its Covid-19 vaccine in pregnant women, the first such trials to include expectant mothers in the U.S. The drugmaker aims to enroll about 4,000 pregnant women in the trials, which will include participants in the U.S. as well as Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Mozambique, South Africa, Spain and the U.K. Women over 18 and who are 24 to 34 weeks into their pregnancy will be eligible.

February 11, 2021

• People vaccinated against COVID-19 may skip quarantine if they have been exposed to someone infected with the deadly bug, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in its latest guidance.
• A drug used to treat people with rheumatoid arthritis appears to reduce the risk of death in hospitalized patients with severe Covid-19, especially when it was combined with the steroid dexamethasone. Tocilizumab, an intravenous drug manufactured by a division of Swiss drugmaker Roche, also shortened patients’ length of stay at hospitals and reduced the need for a ventilator, according to new research.

February 10, 2021

• Target will offer up to four hours of pay to hourly workers who get Covid-19 vaccinations. It’s joining more than a dozen companies that have announced additional pay or other incentives to encourage their workforce to get the shots. As supply of the vaccines increases, community groups, local leaders and companies will have to persuade some Americans to get the shots or help them overcome potential barriers, such as a lack of child care, transportation or time off from work.
• Already, a growing number of companies are offering additional pay or other incentives to encourage their workforce to get vaccinated against Covid-19.
  Soon they may be able to offer on-site shots in the workplace.

February 9, 2021

• A 116-year-old French nun who is believed to be the world’s second-oldest person has survived COVID-19 and is looking forward to celebrating her 117th birthday on Thursday.
• People may need to get vaccinated against Covid-19 annually, just like seasonal flu shots, over the next several years, Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky told CNBC on Tuesday. “Unfortunately, as [the virus] spreads it can also mutate,” he told CNBC’s Meg Tirrell during a Healthy Returns Spotlight event. 

February 5, 2021

• How can I get a coronavirus shot? Here are 5 vaccination questions answered.
• The House approved a budget bill advancing President Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief plan, as Mr. Biden met with top House Democrats and lawmakers dived into crafting the details of the relief package. The 219-209 vote marked a further step under budget reconciliation, a process that would allow Democrats to pass the relief package without Republican support in the Senate. Now, Democrats will turn to ironing out the details of the package over several weeks, including deciding who will be eligible for $1,400 direct payments and whether or not to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. 

February 4, 2021

• CDC director says schools can safely reopen without vaccinating teachers. School systems across the U.S. have been under pressure to reopen after shifting to remote learning last year due to the pandemic. Teachers and other faculty have expressed concerns about returning to school, potentially putting their health at risk.
• About one in three people recently given a Covid vaccine by the NHS report some side-effects. None was serious - a common one was some soreness around the injection site, the UK researchers who gathered the feedback found. Experts say the findings, from about 40,000 people - mostly healthcare workers - are reassuring for the millions having the vaccines now.

January 29, 2021

• Johnson & Johnson has released the results of its phase three COVID-19 vaccine trial and plans to seek emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration. Results demonstrated 85% protection against severe coronavirus disease in adults of all ages and racial groups 28 days after vaccination. The overall effectiveness rate for preventing moderate to severe illness was 72% in the U.S. and 66% across all countries studied, the pharmaceutical giant said.

January 27, 2021

• Global cases top 100 million as mutations add to spread.
• The new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that a COVID-19 variant first detected in the United Kingdom has now been found in 26 states. The variant appears to be 50% more contagious than other strains of the virus.

January 25, 2021

• Minnesota confirms first known U.S. case of more contagious Covid variant originally found in Brazil.

January 22, 2021

• Early data shows that the Covid-19 vaccines on the market may not be as effective in guarding against more contagious strains of the coronavirus, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Thursday. Even if the drugs are less effective, they will still likely provide enough protection to make the vaccines worth getting, he said. A dip in the vaccines’ effectiveness would be “all the more reason why we should be vaccinating as many people as you possibly can,” Fauci added.
• United Airlines tumbles after posting another big loss, warning about weak demand. United posted a $1.9 billion loss for the fourth quarter. CEO Scott Kirby said a “critical mass” of people need to be vaccinated before there’s a recovery. Kirby remained cautious about a recovery in air travel and declined to project when the carrier will break even.
• Nearly 3 million Americans stopped receiving unemployment benefits through two temporary programs the week after Christmas. Congress and former President Donald Trump delayed issuing $900 billion in Covid relief, causing a gap in aid for workers receiving Pandemic Unemployment Assistance or Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation — a so-called benefits cliff. The falling numbers are likely not due to improvements in the labor market.

January 20, 2021

• A pulmonary doctor at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center says he’s seeing some older patients who have recovered from COVID-19 but have suffered from permanent scarring of their lungs.

January 18, 2021

• After several people had apparent allergic reactions at one California clinic, state health officials on Sunday told providers across the state to pause administering doses from one COVID-19 vaccine lot that arrived from Moderna.

January 15, 2021

• Oil optimism could be derailed by coronavirus risks, Dan Yergin says. Oil producer group OPEC has left its 2021 forecast for crude demand growth unchanged on expectations of an economic recovery. Energy expert Dan Yergin, however, cautioned that oil demand would depend on how the virus situation develops. “If the coronavirus turns out to be the surge continues … if the vaccines were not as effective as thought, then you’d be back in weaker demand, and that would show up in price. But clearly there is optimism in the oil price,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Friday.
• Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid relief plan calls for stimulus checks, unemployment support and more. President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday unveiled the details of a $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue package. The proposal, titled the American Rescue Plan, includes familiar stimulus measures with the goal of sustaining families and firms until vaccines are widely distributed. The current plan is the first of two major spending initiatives Biden will seek in the first few months of his presidency.

January 13, 2021

• Two gorillas at a California zoo have tested positive for COVID-19, in what is believed to be the first known cases of the virus among great apes, officials said Monday. The San Diego Zoo Safari Park said the gorillas began coughing Wednesday, prompting officials to test their fecal samples, which came back positive for the coronavirus.
• The U.S. government will require all international airline passengers to show proof of a negative Covid-19 test before boarding flights to the country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday. The CDC’s order, confirming earlier reporting by The Wall Street Journal, followed weeks of discussions among federal agencies and the White House coronavirus task force. The order will go into effect Jan. 26.
• Ohio researchers said Wednesday that they’ve discovered two new variants of the coronavirus, one of which has become the dominant strain in Columbus, Ohio. The new strain prevalent in the city appears to spread more easily, the researchers said. “This new Columbus strain has the same genetic backbone as earlier cases we’ve studied, but these three mutations represent a significant evolution,” Dr. Dan Jones, lead author of the study, said.

January 11, 2021

• China says a group of experts from the World Health Organization are due to arrive Thursday for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. A one-sentence announcement from the National Health Commission on Monday said the experts would be meeting with Chinese counterparts but gave no other details. It wasn’t immediately clear whether they would be traveling to the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus was first detected in late 2019.

January 8, 2021

• Moderna coronavirus vaccine becomes the third approved for use in the UK. In a release, the country’s Department of Health said the Moderna vaccine meets the “strict standards of safety, efficacy and quality” of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. It added that the U.K. had ordered an extra 10 million doses of the vaccine, taking its total to 17 million. They are expected to be available from the spring.
• Chinese city near Beijing stops people from leaving as coronavirus cases spike — like Wuhan did last year. The restrictions implemented in Hebei this week are some of the strictest since the spread of Covid-19 stalled within the country in March. Hebei’s capital city of Shijiazhuang has stopped passengers from going to its train station, suspended long-distance buses, and blocked major highways in the province, according to state media. The increase in coronavirus cases in the latest Hebei outbreak indicates the virus has spread for a period of time, Feng Zijian, deputy head of China’s disease control center, said in an interview with state media earlier in the week.

January 6, 2021

• European markets close higher as coronavirus and Georgia runoff remain in focus. The pan-European Stoxx 600 provisionally closed up by around 1.6%, with banks rallying 5.7% to lead gains. Investors are keeping an eye on two runoff elections in Georgia that will determine control of the U.S. Senate.
• Private payrolls post first drop since April as coronavirus spread hits job growth, ADP says. Private payrolls declined by 123,000 in December vs. the Dow Jones estimate for a gain of 60,000. The drop countered seven straight months of growth and was the first negative number since April. Leisure and hospitality suffered the biggest job losses, with most of the cuts coming from large businesses.

January 5, 2021

• Israel prepares for a third nationwide Covid-19 lockdown. This is happening despite unprecedented success with their vaccination rollout plan. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is blaming it on a faster-spreading strain first detected in the U.K. last month.
• A second coronavirus vaccine developed in India is set to enter phase three clinical trial ‘very, very soon’. Cadila Healthcare, also known as Zydus Cadila, is about to start a phase three clinical trial for a potential coronavirus vaccine on roughly 30,000 volunteers, chairman Pankaj Patel told CNBC. The study, which is expected to begin soon, will take about three to three-and-a-half months to complete. India’s drugs regulator has already approved the restricted use of two coronavirus vaccines in emergency situations, including one developed locally by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the state-run Indian Council of Medical Research.
• WHO’s Tedros ‘very disappointed’ China hasn’t granted entry to coronavirus experts. The 10-strong team had been due to set off in early January as part of a long-awaited mission to probe early cases of the coronavirus, first reported over a year ago in China’s Wuhan. The mission was due to be led by Peter Ben Embarek, WHO’s top expert on animal diseases that cross the species barrier, who went to China on a preliminary mission last July. China has dismissed criticism of its handling of early cases that emerged in late 2019, although some including U.S. President Donald Trump have questioned Beijing’s actions during the outbreak.
• 2021 Grammy Awards postponed as coronavirus cases surge in California, reports say. Organizers are reportedly eyeing March for the rescheduled event. California, where the ceremony will take place, has seen a massive surge in Covid-19 cases and record hospitalizations.

December 30, 2020

• The U.K. government has introduced stricter coronavirus restrictions for millions of people as cases continue to rise. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said more regions would be placed into the toughest Tier 4 category.
• The first known U.S. case of a highly infectious coronavirus variant discovered in Britain was detected in Colorado on Tuesday as President-elect Joe Biden warned it could take years for most Americans to be vaccinated against COVID-19 at current distribution rates. Biden's prediction of a grim winter appeared aimed at lowering public expectations that the pandemic would be over soon after he takes office on Jan. 20, while putting Congress on notice that wants to significantly increase spending to expedite vaccine distribution, expand COVID testing and help reopen shuttered schools. Shortly after Biden's remarks, Colorado Governor Jared Polis said his state had discovered the nation's first known case of the highly infectious coronavirus variant B.1.1.7, which was originally documented in the United Kingdom. Scientists there believe the variant is more contagious than other previously identified strains of the SAR-CoV-2 variant but no more severe in the symptoms it causes.

December 28, 2020

• President Trump unexpectedly capitulated Sunday night and signed the stimulus bill into law, releasing $900 billion in emergency relief funds into the economy and averting a Tuesday government shutdown. He had demanded changes to the stimulus and spending package for a week, suggesting he would refuse to sign it until these demands were met. This continued defiance caused lawmakers from both parties to panic over the weekend, worried about the implications of a government shutdown during a pandemic. It was unclear what prompted him to change his mind late Sunday, but he was under tremendous pressure from Republicans to acquiesce.
• The House will vote on increasing the direct payments in the year-end coronavirus relief bill to $2,000. President Donald Trump signed the legislation into law Sunday, after days of saying he opposed the measure because it includes only $600 stimulus checks. The GOP-held Senate is unlikely to pass the larger direct payments even if the House does so.

December 24, 2020

• Face masks reduce the risk of spreading large Covid-linked droplets when speaking or coughing by up to 99.9 percent, according to a lab experiment with mechanical mannequins and human subjects, researchers said Wednesday.
• Dr. Fauci now claims it will take up to 90% immunity across the US to end pandemic and has been 'moving the goal posts' as COVID becomes 'more transmissible', while three super-strains are discovered overseas and CDC predicts up to 420K deaths by mid-January.
• Earlier this month in Douglas County, one person who was sick went to work, and later tested positive for the coronavirus. Within two weeks, that one action led to two subsequent outbreaks. The first killed at least seven people, nearly 20% of the county’s total COVID fatalities since the pandemic began. The second forced more than 300 people into quarantine.

December 21, 2020

• Cases of the new coronavirus strain spreading rapidly in the UK have been confirmed in Denmark, Italy, Gibraltar, the Netherlands and Australia. France and South Africa also believe they have cases of the mutation - known as VUI-202012/01 - but these have not been confirmed.
• Congress reached a deal on a $900 billion coronavirus relief package, according to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Lawmakers will now move to vote on the proposal, along with a full-year government spending bill. Millions of Americans have awaited aid for months as Congress failed to agree on another plan to boost a health-care system and economy buckling under the weight of the pandemic.
• Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC on Monday that Americans who qualify for direct payments in new Covid relief legislation could see that money hit their bank accounts in a matter of days. Mnuchin’s comments came hours before Congress’ expected vote to approve the $900 billion Covid-19 relief bill. The latest bill includes provisions akin to those in the original CARES Act, the $2.2 trillion relief package approved in March. Individuals including children will receive $600 in direct payments. A family of four could end up with $2,400. The payments decrease for people who made more than $75,000 during 2019. They would phase out completely for people who made above $99,000 that year.

December 17, 2020

• Wearing a used mask could be more dangerous than not wearing one at all when it comes to warding off COVID-19, a new study has found. A new three-layer surgical mask is 65 percent efficient in filtering particles in the air — but when used, that number drops to 25 percent, according to the study published Tuesday in the Physics of Fluids. Researchers from the University of Massachusetts Lowell and California Baptist University say that masks slow down airflow, making people more susceptible to breathing in particles — and a dirty face mask can’t effectively filter out the tiniest of droplets.
• A Houston doctor said more than half the nurses in his unit won't get the COVID-19 vaccine for political reasons.
• As 2020 comes to an end, some of the first Americans to contract COVID-19 are still experiencing side effects of the coronavirus. Those who experience many of the common symptoms, as well as brain fog, are now being studied as “COVID-19 Long Haulers,” people who continue to experience issues with the virus even after they should have recovered.
• An influential FDA advisory panel overwhelmingly voted to recommend the approval of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use. The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee plays a key role in approving flu and other vaccines in the U.S., verifying the shots are safe for public use. While the FDA doesn’t have to follow the advisory committee’s recommendation, it often does.

December 15, 2020

• The vast majority of nursing homes in the United States won't start vaccinating staff and residents against COVID-19 until Dec. 21, and some won't start until Dec. 28, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Monday's rollout of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine brought confusion nationwide as it became clear most long-term care facilities and nursing homes were not taking part in the initial immunizations, despite the CDC's decision last week to include residents in the first phase of distribution.  That's because the majority of long-term care facilities opted to take part in a federal program that uses pharmacy chains, including CVS, Walgreens and others, to facilitate vaccination of staff and residents. The Federal Pharmacy Partnership for Long-term Care program will launch Dec. 21 for jurisdictions that opted to use the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine. More than 1,100 vaccination clinics at long-term care facilities across the country are scheduled on that day, Nordlund said. Another round will come on Dec. 28 for jurisdictions that opted to use Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine. That vaccine has not yet been authorized by the FDA but is expected to be within the next two weeks.
• What’s been dubbed COVID fatigue is manifesting itself in an alarming number of people shrugging off safety measures and consuming less news about the pandemic, according to a new Harris Poll conducted exclusively for Fast Company. Twenty-seven percent of Americans say they’re less likely to engage in certain safety precautions than they were six months ago, curtailing things like frequent handwashing, wearing masks in public, and social distancing. The reasons why run the gamut, with some survey respondents (43%) saying they’ve come to terms with the fact that the pandemic isn’t ending soon. Another 27% cited the imminent availability of a vaccine as their reason for being more lax, while 23% said they’d rather just live their life and take their chances.
• UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock says a new coronavirus strain may be spreading faster than the original, but scientists aren't so sure.

December 11, 2020

• FDA approves Pfizer’s Covid vaccine for emergency use as U.S. reaches pivotal moment in the pandemic. FDA Chief Scientist Denise Hinton told Pfizer in a letter Friday that she was authorizing the emergency use of the company’s vaccine. The FDA’s emergency use authorization will now kick-start the federal government’s distribution of the potentially lifesaving doses to 64 states, territories and major cities across the nation. The government plans to distribute 2.9 million doses of the vaccine within 24 hours, followed by an additional 2.9 million doses 21 days later for patients to get their second shot.

December 10, 2020

• The full FDA could grant emergency use authorization of Pfizer’s vaccine as early as Friday. The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee plays a key role in approving flu and other vaccines in the U.S. The FDA doesn’t have to follow the advisory committee’s recommendation, but the agency often does.

December 9, 2020

• A grim new record for the U.S. as daily deaths from the virus top 3,000. Just how full are U.S. intensive care units? New data paints an alarming picture.
• The FDA said data from Pfizer’s Covid vaccine trials show that side effects are common, though there are “no specific safety concerns identified that would preclude issuance of an” emergency use authorization. Trial participants in the Moderna and Pfizer studies told CNBC they developed more significant symptoms following the second dose.
• President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday laid out three goals for the first hundred days of his administration’s COVID-19 response: getting 100 million people vaccinated against the virus, requiring masks where he has authority to and getting kids back in school. Biden laid out his plan while introducing nominees and appointees who will play a key role in his administration's response to the pandemic.
• Face shields aren’t really shielding much.  A new study is the latest science casting doubt on plastic face shields in the fight against COVID-19.  The study included a video to illustrate how a sneeze from a person infected with the coronavirus carries “vortex rings” of contagious particles under a face shield, rendering the PPE useless, according to the findings published by Fukuoka University researchers in Japan in the journal Physics of Fluids.

December 8, 2020

• The U.K. administered the first Covid-19 vaccines to the public on Tuesday, making it one of the first countries in the world to do so. The Pfizer-BioNTech shots gained emergency approval from the U.K. drug regulator last week. It will be given first to front-line health workers, nursing home workers and those over age 80.

December 7, 2020

• San Francisco Bay Area health officials announced on Friday that they would implement California’s new stay-at-home order early. The order, which Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Thursday, would be triggered if a region’s ICU capacity dipped below 15%. Bars, wineries, personal services, hair salons and barbershops would be ordered to temporarily close. Retail stores could operate at reduced capacity and restaurants can only offer take-out and delivery.
• Plans to begin administering COVID-19 vaccines this month to millions of vulnerable Americans will depend not on public health departments but largely on the nation’s two largest for-profit pharmacy chains. CVS Health and Walgreens Boots Alliance were tapped by the Trump administration to vaccinate more than 3 million residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, which are expected to get the first wave of vaccines perhaps as soon as next week. The leading role highlights the power and reach of the two companies, which together have some 20,000 pharmacy locations nationwide. It also underscores how, after years of underinvestment in public health, the U.S. is highly dependent on for-profit companies for critical public services such as immunizations.
• Dr. Deborah Birx warned on Sunday that the escalating coronavirus surge is likely to be the most trying event in U.S. history, as hospital systems around the country strain to combat its mounting daily death toll. “This is not just the worst public health event. This is the worst event that this country will face, not just from a public health side,” Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said during a masked appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

December 3, 2020

• The US hit a record number of COVID-19 fatalities Wednesday — with 2,804 people dying within a 24-hour span, data shows.  The staggering number of deaths surpassed the previous one-day high of 2,603 on April 15, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University. COVID-19 death tallies can be impacted by delays in reports across several days — but experts said the high figure was in line with projections given the surge in cases nationwide.
• Pfizer expects to ship out only half of the COVID-19 vaccine doses it had initially planned for this year after running into supply-chain problems, a report said Thursday. The company said its initial projections of distributing 100 million doses worldwide by the end of the year has now been reduced to 50 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. “Scaling up the raw material supply chain took longer than expected,” a company spokeswoman told the newspaper.

December 2, 2020

• A CDC panel voted 13-1 to give health workers and long-term care facility residents the first Covid-19 vaccine doses once it’s cleared for public use. There are roughly 21 million health-care workers and 3 million long-term care facility residents in the United States, according to a presentation during the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, an outside group of medical experts that advises the agency.
• The Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Robert Redfield, informed Vice President Mike Pence and White House Coronavirus Task Force members on Tuesday that the CDC will soon issue new guidelines reducing the number of days close contacts should quarantine following exposure to a Covid-19 positive individual, two senior administration officials told CNN. The new guidelines will recommend close contacts of those infected with the coronavirus should quarantine for 7 to 10 days after exposure, down from the 14 days currently recommended, the official said. Individuals can end their quarantine after 7 days if they receive a negative test, or 10 days without getting tested.

December 1, 2020

• Leaked documents reveal that China significantly underreported the number of coronavirus cases in the early stages of the pandemic. Health data from Chinese health authorities leaked to CNN shows that officials in the Hubei province, where the virus is believed to have originated, failed to report thousands of new daily cases. On February 10 — when China reported 2,478 new cases — officials privately recorded 5,918 new cases, more than double the published figure. There is no evidence in the files that provide evidence that Chinese officials sought deliberately to conceal the true extent of the outbreak.
• Authorities in Spain's capital on Tuesday held a ceremony to open part of a 1,000-bed emergency hospital for COVID-19 patients that critics say is no more than a vanity project, a building with beds not ready to receive patients and unnecessary now that the virus resurgence and hospitalizations are waning. Around 200 health professionals gathered Tuesday at the entrance of the Nurse Isabel Zendal Hospital in Madrid as officials entered the state-of-the-art facility, built in 100 days at a cost of 100 million euros ($119 million), twice the original budget.
• Florida is now the third state to report more than 1 million coronavirus cases. After 8,847 new cases were added Tuesday, the state has now recorded 1,008,166 cases and 18,679 deaths, according to the Florida Department of Health. The only other states to have reported more than 1 million cases are Texas and California. The daunting milestone came the day after Gov. Ron DeSantis held his first news conference in 26 days, doubling down on keeping schools open for in-person instruction in the spring.

November 28, 2020

• A dangerous fiction has made its way through social media and American politics, the idea that COVID-19 is really only a danger to the elderly or those with a severe, chronic illness.  "Those who are in terrific shape, are young and have no prior illness can, indeed, become critically ill from COVID," said Nina Shapiro, a professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and author of the book, "HYPE: A Doctor's Guide to Medical Myths, Exaggerated Claims and Bad Advice." "Many have died and many will die. In addition, healthy people are continuing to unknowingly spread COVID to the elderly, who, in turn, become quite ill and are at higher risk for death." To those young adults who doubt their vulnerability to the pandemic, "I would invite them to visit our ICU and see the multiple tragedies of younger people who are infected with COVID," said Daniel S. Talmor, chairman of anesthesia, critical care and pain medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
• The U.S. reported more than 200,000 COVID-19 cases for the first time on Friday, an all-time high reached about three weeks after the nation first reported 100,000 daily cases on Nov. 4. The nation recorded 205,557 new cases Friday. That rapid doubling, as reported by Johns Hopkins University, is reminiscent of the virus' growth this spring, when exponential spread prompted widespread restrictions across the country in an effort to control the virus. Here's what to know Saturday about the ongoing Coronavirus.
• NFL orders shutdown of team facilities Monday and Tuesday to slow spread of COVID-19.

November 23, 2020

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given the green light for emergency use of Regeneron’s COVID-19 antibody drug — the same treatment given to President Trump. The treatment is aimed at those with mild cases of COVID-19, and not for those hospitalized as a result of the virus, the FDA said. The treatment works by mimicking the body’s own immune system to prevent the infected from become severely ill. Regeneron’s drug is a combination of two monoclonal antibodies. A similar drug developed by Eli Lilly & Co. gained FDA emergency clearance earlier this month. However the Regeneron treatment may not be immediately widely available: the company has said it will have just 80,000 doses by the end of November.
• Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine shows an average 70% effectiveness in preventing the virus. AstraZeneca said its vaccine, developed in collaboration with the University of Oxford, was assessed over two different dosing regimens. One showed an effectiveness of 90% when trial participants received a half dose, followed by a full dose at least one month apart. The other dosing regimen showed 62% efficacy when given as two full doses at least one month apart. Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, said the development marked an “important milestone” in the fight against the global health crisis.

November 20, 2020

• California orders 10 p.m. curfew across most of the state to slow the Covid pandemic.
• An Australian state has banned dog walking, funerals, and outdoor exercise in a strict lockdown to combat a COVID-19 outbreak. South Australia on Wednesday declared a six-day lockdown that will keep people largely confined to their homes — with the exception of one family member per household each day who can leave for essential reasons such as for buying groceries, Australian outlet ABC News reported. The new restrictions will shut down schools, universities, cafes and restaurants, in addition to preventing weddings and funerals, the outlet reported. Under the guidelines, dog-walking and outdoor exercise are also prohibited.

November 19, 2020

•  New York City will close schools for in-person learning to curb Covid outbreak, Mayor de Blasio says. The schools will close even as indoor dining at restaurants and the city’s gyms, which experts say are at high risk for spreading virus, remain open at a reduced capacity. De Blasio has said that the city would try to safely reopening the schools as soon as possible if they were closed due to the outbreak. “The problem is not coming from the schools. It’s coming from the bars, the restaurants, the gyms and the living room family spread,” Gov. Cuomo said on a call with reporters on Friday.
• US sees highest Covid-19 toll in months as deaths top a quarter of a million. The United States saw the highest Covid-19 daily death toll in more than six months Tuesday, with at least 1,707 fatalities, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The United States saw the highest Covid-19 daily death toll in more than six months Tuesday, with at least 1,707 fatalities, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

November 18, 2020

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved emergency use for the first Covid-19 test that can be conducted entirely at home. The nasal swab test, which is eligible for use by patients aged 14 and over suspected of having the disease, can provide results within 30 minutes. The test created by California-based Lucira Health received emergency use authorization late Tuesday.

November 16, 2020

• More than 300,000 New Yorkers have bailed from the Big Apple in the last eight months, new stats show. City residents filed 295,103 change of address requests from March 1 through Oct. 31, according to data The Post obtained from the US Postal Service under a Freedom of Information Act request. Since the data details only when 11 or more forwarding requests were made to a particular county outside NYC, the number of moves is actually higher. And a single address change could represent an entire household, which means far more than 300,000 New Yorkers fled the five boroughs.
• More than 11 million cases of the coronavirus have now been reported in the United States, with the most recent million coming in less than a week. Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus tracker reached 11 million on Sunday. It had topped 10 million cases on Nov. 9. It took 300 days for the U.S. to hit the 11 million mark since the first case was diagnosed in Washington state on Jan. 20. COVID-19 is spreading more rapidly across the U.S. than it has at any time since the pandemic started. Deaths are also on the rise, though not at the record high numbers reached in the spring. The seven-day rolling average for daily new deaths was more than 1,080 as of Saturday, more than 30% higher than it was two weeks earlier.
• Many doctors are also calling it quits. Thousands of medical practices have closed during the pandemic, according to a July survey of 3,500 doctors by the Physicians Foundation, a nonprofit group. About 8% of the doctors reported closing their offices in recent months, which the foundation estimated could equal some 16,000 practices. Another 4% said they planned to shutter within the next year. Other doctors and nurses are retiring early or leaving their jobs. Some worry about their own health because of age or a medical condition that puts them at high risk. Others stopped practicing during the worst of the outbreaks and don’t have the energy to start again. Some simply need a break from the toll that the pandemic has taken among their ranks and their patients.
• Western nations face a big challenge in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic: Ten months into the health crisis, they still know little about where people are catching the virus. The problem is becoming more acute as new cases are breaking records in the U.S. and Europe and pressure grows on authorities to impose targeted restrictions on places that are spreading the virus, rather than broad confinement measures that are wreaking havoc on the economy.
• The Moderna vaccine is 94.5% effective against coronavirus, according to early data released Monday by the company, making it the second vaccine in the United States to have a stunningly high success rate. "These are obviously very exciting results," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease doctor. "It's just as good as it gets -- 94.5% is truly outstanding." Moderna heard its results on a call Sunday afternoon with members of the Data Safety and Monitoring Board, an independent panel analyzing Moderna's clinical trial data.

November 13, 2020

• The next 2 to 3 months will be difficult for Americans as the coronavirus sweeps the nation and the second surge of the virus picks up steam, says Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the FDA and a CNBC contributor speaking at CNBC’s Workforce Executive Council Summit. Looking at the epidemic curve, Covid cases will peak in January and cases will start to decline in March, Gottlieb predicted. He expects some semblance of normalcy in the summer of 2021 as a vaccine is widely distributed.
• As hospitals in the state reach capacity and face dire staff shortages, North Dakota's governor announced the state will allow healthcare workers who have tested positive for Covid-19 to continue working in coronavirus units, officials announced this week. The order applies only to those who have asymptomatic cases, and the Covid-positive nurses will only be allowed to treat other Covid-19 patients. Still, some nurses worry that the practice might not be safe, and some health administrators in North Dakota are warning of burnout among hospital staff. "I think it's irresponsible,” Sarah Lothspeich, an ER nurse in Fargo, told NBC News.

November 11, 2020

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have released updated guidelines for Thanksgiving celebrations as coronavirus cases once again surge in the United States. The updated guidelines come as experts say small household gatherings have become an important contributor to the rise in COVID-19 cases. The first set of guidelines released by the agency ranked a number of popular Thanksgiving activities by their level of risk. The CDC's updated guidance includes considerations to slow the spread of the virus during small gatherings, but say they are meant to supplement, and not replace, local health and safety laws and regulations.
• Lockdown, the noun that has come to define so many lives across the world in 2020, has been named word of the year by Collins Dictionary. Lockdown is defined by Collins as “the imposition of stringent restrictions on travel, social interaction, and access to public spaces”, and its usage has boomed over the last year. The 4.5bn-word Collins Corpus, which contains written material from websites, books and newspapers, as well as spoken material from radio, television and conversations, registered a 6,000% increase in its usage. In 2019, there were 4,000 recorded instances of lockdown being used. In 2020, this had soared to more than a quarter of a million.
• Many COVID-19 survivors are likely to be at greater risk of developing mental illness, psychiatrists said on Monday, after a large study found 20% of those infected with the coronavirus are diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder within 90 days. Anxiety, depression and insomnia were most common among recovered COVID-19 patients in the study who developed mental health problems, and the researchers also found significantly higher risks of dementia, a brain impairment condition.
• Pfizer’s promising new COVID-19 vaccine could become a logistical nightmare to distribute to Americans — all because of the ultra-cold temperatures in which it must be stored, experts said. The potential coronavirus shot will need to be kept at an astonishing minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit or below to actually be effective. “It’s unlikely that the average pharmacy or doctor’s office will be able to manage this vaccine,” Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of infectious disease at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told The Post. Schaffner said the vaccine brings unique challenges since it’s not protein-based like most other inoculations.
• How did Americans use their coronavirus stimulus checks? According to a new study, less than half of the money was spent; a third was saved for a rainy day.

November 9, 2020

• It’s a move reminiscent of the springtime COVID-19 shutdown in Texas and across the nation — some grocery store chains are now re-imposing limits on key items such as toilet paper, paper towels and disinfecting wipes. The companies say their hope is to keep shelves stocked and prevent shoppers from hoarding as they did earlier in the year. At Kroger, customers can purchase a maximum of two items when it comes to products like bath tissue, paper towels, disinfecting wipes and hand soap. A spokesperson said in an email that the limits began earlier this week and apply in stores and online. H-E-B in Texas has implemented similar policies in recent weeks. Some H-E-B stores have instituted limits of two on purchases of disinfecting and antibacterial sprays, while other stores have limited toilet paper and paper towels to two.
• US pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced on Monday that the COVID-19 vaccine it's been developing is 90% effective in people who are not known to already have had the virus. The company, together with partner BioNTech, has conducted human trials on 43,500 people in six countries, with no safety concerns raised. It said in a press release that it plans to apply for emergency approval from the FDA by the end of the month to use the vaccine. Pfizer expects to the final data to meet safety milestones by the third week in November, when it will be able to apply for Emergency Use Authorization. If approved, the vaccine will mean people receive two shots, 21 days apart.
• Here’s how President-elect Joe Biden plans to fight the coronavirus pandemic: The U.S. can expect increased Covid-19 testing, a national mask mandate and the possibility of nationwide lockdowns once President-elect Joe Biden takes office Jan. 20. Biden has also said he plans to repair the U.S. relationship with the World Health Organization. The transition team wasted no time, naming its own Covid-19 advisory board on Monday.
• The United States has now reported more than 10 million cases of Covid-19, a bleak milestone amid growing outbreaks across the country. According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, more than 10 million cases and 237,000 deaths have been reported in the U.S. That comes as the U.S. sets record one-day spikes in cases, spurring some officials to reinstate restrictions in efforts to contain the coronavirus. Globally, more than 50.6 million people have been infected and 1.25 million have died in the global pandemic, according to data compiled by Hopkins.

November 5, 2020

• The number of new daily coronavirus cases recorded in the U.S. surpassed 100,000 for the time, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The data showed that 102,831 new Covid-19 infections were recorded Wednesday, up from 91,530 cases on Election Day. Hospitalizations are surging in several states, too.
• Dogs can detect COVID-19 in humans quicker and more accurately than the gold-standard nasal swab, according to a new study. A Finnish scientist, who’s been testing the disease-detecting pups at Helsinki Airport, said her pooches identified a number of people who had the virus but had tested negative after taking polymerase chain reaction (PCR) nasal tests, The Times reported. Days after the dogs — Miina, Kössi and Valo — diagnosed the travelers, the supposedly negative passengers started experiencing symptoms.

November 4, 2020

• The number of coronavirus cases among children has soared to unprecedented levels, with unknown implications, the American Academy of Pediatrics announced Monday. By Oct. 29, more than 853,000 children had tested positive for COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic, the academy said. This included nearly 200,000 new cases in children during October alone – 61,000 of them during the last week of that month, larger than any previous week during the eight-month pandemic.

October 30, 2020

• U.S. records more than 90,000 Covid-19 cases in one day for the first time. The new benchmark of 90,456 cases was hit Thursday just hours after the U.S. logged its 9 millionth coronavirus case and shattered the previous daily record of 80,662 infections, set a day earlier. Also, the 540,035 new Covid-19 cases reported from last Friday, Oct. 23, to Thursday was the most for any seven-day period since July, the figures showed. Covid-19 infections have actually been increasing across the United States at the fastest rate since the start of the pandemic, and overnight more than 30 states reported having more than 1,000 new cases. The U.S. now leads the world in the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths, with nearly 230,000 deaths, according to the John Hopkins University Covid-19 dashboard.

October 29, 2020

• Are antibodies proof of immunity? Ohio State study shows level of protection is based in part on COVID-19 severity. Scientists at The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine have developed a way to screen for specific antibodies that fight the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which could indicate whether someone is at a reduced risk for reinfection. The new lab test looks specifically for "neutralizing" antibodies, distinguishing those that are potentially protective. As it turns out, not all antibodies work the same way.

October 28, 2020

• Chewy is launching a telehealth service that connects pet owners to a licensed veterinarian. Chewy CEO Sumit Singh said the company had already started to think about a pet telehealth service, but the pandemic led to greater need for it. The service is free for customers who are part of the company’s Autoship program, which automatically ships deliveries of food or other pet goods.
• While the novel coronavirus has proven to be a formidable foe, scientists have nevertheless been able to gradually understand just how it affects our bodies and what we can do to improve our chances of beating the disease. Besides tackling major underlying conditions such as hypertension or diabetes, mounting research is also finding that simple changes to your diet could have a huge effect on how you'll fare against the virus. Now, yet another study has found that being deficient in vitamin D could make you more likely to be hospitalized with COVID, increasing your chances of severe illness by 80 percent.

October 26, 2020

• Usually reserved for suspected terrorists, Delta Airlines has added the names of 460 people to its no-fly lists for refusing to comply with a requirement to wear masks during flights, according to a memo to employees from the company's CEO.
• The United States saw a record high number of new daily Covid-19 cases for the second day in a row on Saturday, figures from Johns Hopkins University showed, as warnings grew over its spread. The country reported 88,973 new infections between 8:30 pm Friday and 8:30 pm Saturday, the figures showed, substantially above the previous day's 79,963. A total of 8,568,625 cases have been reported in the United States with 224,751 deaths, the highest in the world in absolute terms.
• Vice President Mike Pence will not quarantine himself despite five of his aides testing positive for Covid-19, his office said. Pence’s chief of staff Marc Short is isolating after testing positive on Saturday, Devin O’Malley, a spokesman for the vice president, said in a statement. A senior political advisor to the vice president, Marty Obst, and three additional aides also tested positive, according to NBC News.
• States face Friday deadline from CDC to submit plans to distribute coronavirus vaccine. States have about two weeks to set up distribution centers across the country to meet the Nov. 1 deadline set by the CDC. It’s a monumental undertaking made even more difficult by the fact that a vaccine hasn’t been cleared by the FDA and clinical trials of two of the four leading candidates have been halted. Most of the potential vaccines require two doses and some of them need to be transported and stored at varying and specific temperatures.

October 23, 2020

• The U.N. chief says it’s “very frustrating” that leaders of the 20 major industrialized nations didn’t come together in March and establish a coordinated response to grapple with the coronavirus in all countries as he proposed. The result, he says, is every country is taking its own sometimes contradictory actions, and the virus is moving “from east to west, north to south,” with second waves of infections now affecting many countries. Ahead of the Group of 20 summit next month, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in an interview with The Associated Press that he hopes the international community now understands “they need to be much more coordinated in fighting the virus.” Guterres says the United Nations also will be “strongly advocating” during the G-20 summit for a guarantee that when a vaccine is available, “it becomes indeed available and affordable for everyone, everywhere.”
• Covid-19 patients push US hospitals to the brink. A hospital in Idaho is 99% full and warns it may need to transfer coronavirus patients to hospitals in Seattle and Portland, Oregon. Kansas City, Missouri, medical centers turned down ambulances a recent day because they didn’t have room for more patients. And in West Allis, just outside Milwaukee, an emergency field hospital erected on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fair admitted its first patient with the virus this week. More than 41,000 people are currently hospitalized with the coronavirus in the United States, a 40% increase over the past month, and cooler weather that pushes more people indoors threatens to spread the epidemic even further. At least 14 states saw more people hospitalized with the virus on any day last week than on any other day in the pandemic, according to the Covid Tracking Project. Seven more states are nearing their peaks.
• The United States is sleepwalking into what could become the largest coronavirus outbreak of the pandemic so far. In the past week alone, as voters prepare to go to the ballot box, about one in every 1,000 Americans has tested positive for the virus, and about two in every 100,000 Americans have died of it. Today, the United States reported 73,103 new cases, the third-highest single-day total since the pandemic began, according to the COVID Tracking Project at The Atlantic. This third surge is far more geographically dispersed than what the country saw in the spring or summer: The virus can now be found in every kind of American community, from tiny farm towns to affluent suburbs to bustling border cities. This is the first of the American surges with no clear epicenter: From North Carolina to North Dakota, and Colorado to Connecticut, more Americans are contracting COVID-19.

October 22, 2020

• The FDA approved Gilead Sciences’ antiviral drug remdesivir as a treatment for the coronavirus. The intravenous drug has helped shorten the recovery time of some hospitalized Covid-19 patients. Remdesivir is now the first and only fully approved treatment in the U.S. for Covid-19.

October 21, 2020

• Only 80% of people who tested positive for coronavirus had antibodies to the virus, according to a report published Monday by the Central Bureau of Statistics, the Health Ministry and the Gertner Institute. The results mean that a percentage of people who develop asymptomatic or even mild cases of the virus could contract it again. The report was based on a serological survey conducted between June and August in the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community of Bnei Brak. The city has had some of the highest rates of infection in the country. The survey also found that the number of people who tested positive for antibodies increased with the number of sick patients, thought not proportionally.
• USA TODAY's experts say securing a COVID-19 vaccine in record time could be easy, but distributing it won't be. Panel of experts expects at least one COVID-19 vaccine will be approved in the coming months. Then things could really get complicated.
• The five percent of people in Britain predicted by a new tool to be at highest risk from Covid-19 accounted for three-quarters of deaths during the first wave of the pandemic, researchers reported Wednesday. As countries worldwide grapple with a second wave of disease, the risk-assessment method -- which also predicts the chances of hospitalisation -- could help identify the small percentage of the population most in need of being shielded from the virus, they reported in BMJ, a medical journal.

October 20, 2020

• The lines are long and the need is enormous. More than 1 million New Yorkers can't afford food, and standing on long lines at food banks is now too common amid the pandemic. "We have done disasters before but nothing is even close to what we are doing now," Alexander Rapaport, the executive director of Masbia soup kitchen network, told FOX 5 NY. Masbia soup kitchen network opened 15 years ago. It has locations in Borough Park and Flatbush in Brooklyn and in Forest Hills in Queens. Rapaport said he has seen a 500% increase in demand. An estimated 1.5 million New Yorkers cannot afford food, according to the New York Times. Their only lifeline is a food pantry.
• The world, in effect, is split: While Asian countries, which moved swiftly to contain their outbreaks early on, persisted in their fight against the virus, growing pandemic fatigue in the U.S. and Europe has led to relaxed attitudes about social distancing that are complicating efforts to control a resurgence. As cases rise, Western governments are struggling with testing shortages and contact tracing is becoming ineffective. Many in the West are pinning their hopes on a vaccine for life to return to normal.
• As the world waits for a vaccine to COVID-19, a new study finds there may be a way to slow the spread sitting in your medicine cabinet. Researchers from Penn State College of Medicine say nasal and oral rinses like mouthwash can deactivate human coronaviruses. Their study concludes these common, over-the-counter products should have the same effect on SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19. The group tested various products including one-percent baby shampoo, a neti pot, peroxide sore-mouth cleansers, and mouthwash, seeing how each would lower the viral load of coronavirus strains in a patient’s mouth. Their findings reveal most of these products effectively shut down virus particles in less than two minutes. Researchers hope they may also lower the chances of COVID infection among people carrying the virus.

October 19, 2020

• Daily new coronavirus infections in the U.S. surged to their highest level since late July, approaching numbers seen during the outbreak’s midsummer peak. The increase comes after the U.S. government on Friday gave some of the first specific information about how it will handle vaccine distribution, targeting vulnerable populations under long-term care.

October 16, 2020

• Ohio set a new record high for coronavirus cases Thursday, marking the second day in a row the state hit a new high and the third time in less than a week. Another 2,178 Ohioans tested positive for COVID-19 as of Thursday, bringing the statewide total to 175,843, according to the Ohio Department of Health. The previous daily case record, set Wednesday, was 2,039. Before Wednesday, Ohio's record was 1,840 new cases and was set last Friday.
• U.S. colleges are seeing sharp declines in enrollment of new students this semester in another sign of the economic toll that Covid-19 is having on higher education. The number of first-year undergraduate students enrolled fell 16%, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center said in a report Thursday. Total undergraduate enrollment slid 4% from last year at this time, led by international students. Empty seats are inflicting financial damage on colleges already reeling from the pandemic. Earlier this year, when the virus began spreading, many schools cleared their campuses of students and refunded housing costs. With enrollment waning, revenue from tuition, dormitories and dining halls is being hurt at a time when some institutions are posting low endowment returns.
• Don't bet on the U.S.-Canadian border reopening after the closure agreement expires Oct. 21. In an interview Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country is committed to keeping the border closed until the United States gets control of COVID-19. "The U.S. is not in a place where we would feel comfortable reopening those borders," he told the hosts of "Smart Start," which airs on Canada's Global Television Network. “We will continue to make sure that Canadian safety is top of mind when we move forward. We see the cases in the United States and elsewhere around the world, and we need to continue to keep these border controls in place."

October 15, 2020

• Deaths directly or indirectly attributable to the first wave of Covid-19 infections across 21 wealthy nations earlier this year exceeded government tallies by 20 percent on average, according to a study published Wednesday. Looking at the period from mid-February through May 2020, researchers reported 206,000 more deaths than would have been expected without the pandemic. But only 167,148 were officially traced to the coronavirus that has swept the globe since the start of the year, infecting tens of millions. Many of the roughly 40,000 unaccounted-for deaths were due to Covid-19 but not listed as such, especially early in the pandemic when overwhelmed hospitals in some nations were unable to systematically test patients.
• The sprint to find medical breakthroughs to contain Covid-19 stumbled this week, as a pair of pharmaceutical giants working to develop treatments and vaccines suffered setbacks in the clinic. On Tuesday, Eli Lilly & Co. said that enrollment in a government-sponsored clinical trial of its antibody therapy had been paused out of safety concerns. That came less than 24 hours after Johnson & Johnson said research on its experimental vaccine was paused after a study volunteer fell ill. The developments are likely to heighten worry that the pursuit of products to prevent and treat infections is moving too quickly. Regulators and drugmakers have faced questions about whether political pressure was overwhelming scientific rigor ahead of the presidential election on Nov. 3.
• A 45-YEAR-OLD man has become the first in the world to go permanently deaf from the coronavirus, doctors have warned. The case is the first in the UK and experts have said sudden, permanent loss of hearing is linked to Covid-19 infections in some people. The case in the UK comes after experts at the University of Manchester said people who have recovered from the virus have reported a deterioration in their hearing as well as conditions such as tinnitus.
• A surge of coronavirus cases in Europe has left two of its biggest cities scrambling to enforce new rules, curfews and lockdowns in a bid to curb the spread. Both London and Paris have seen an influx in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, prompting leaders to step in with new measures meant to keep people socially distant and in their homes as much as possible. A curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. will hit France starting Friday night, affecting around 20 million people in Paris and eight other cities, including Lyon, Toulouse and Aix-Marseille, CNN reported. These cities have also seen the closure of bars, gyms and swimming pools, and violators will face a 135 euro fine (about $158) for a first offense, according to CNN and the Associated Press.

October 14, 2020

• The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus: COVID-19 antibodies last at least three months, COVID-19 symptoms linger for months for many, Remdesivir cut COVID-19 recovery time by 5 days, and Coronavirus rarely travels from mother to newborn.
• An otherwise healthy 25-year-old Nevada man is the first American confirmed to have caught COVID-19 twice, with the second infection worse than the first.
  He has recovered, but his case raises questions about how long people are protected after being infected with the coronavirus that causes the disease, and potentially how protective a vaccine might be.
• Eli Lilly's phase three trial of its ACTIV-3 monoclonal antibody treatment for the coronavirus has been paused due to potential safety concerns. The ACTIV-3 trial is designed to test a monoclonal antibody developed by Eli Lilly in combination with remdesivir, an antiviral with emergency use authorization for the virus. It's one of several ongoing trials, as part of the National Institute of Health's "Activ" program, designed to accelerate the development of vaccine treatments in partnership with the pharmaceutical industry.

October 13, 2020

• The virus that causes COVID-19 can survive far longer than previously thought — remaining infectious on surfaces such as bank notes, glass, phone screens and stainless steel for 28 days, according to a new study. By comparison, the flu virus has been shown to survive on surfaces for 17 days.
• The number of new COVID-19 cases rose 11% in the United States last week compared to the previous seven days, with infections spreading rapidly in the Midwest, which reported some of the highest positive test rates, according to a Reuters analysis. Deaths fell 3% to about 4,800 people for the week ended Oct. 11, according to the analysis of state and county reports. Since the pandemic started, nearly 215,000 people have died in the United States and over 7.7 million have become infected with the novel coronavirus.
• A COVID-19 outbreak that infected 11 people across four states ― including Illinois ― began with a 13-year-old girl who transmitted the virus during a three-week family vacation over the summer, according to a Centers for Disease Control report. Several family members involved in the case were from suburban Cook County, local public health officials confirmed, but would not give any more information about the individuals due to privacy concerns. A Cook County Department of Public Health spokeswoman added that the community is not currently at risk from this particular outbreak, which occurred months ago. But the case highlights that kids and teens can contract and spread the virus, public health experts say. It also serves as a cautionary tale before the holiday season, a traditional time for many large family get-togethers.

October 7, 2020

• The New York City mayor warned that there are dark days ahead as a new outbreak of the coronavirus affects the city. "We have a couple of tough weeks ahead," Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference Wednesday morning.  "We have to all work together." He made the assessment as he announced closures of non-essential businesses for "at least 14 days" in areas of the city starting on Thursday.  The rules affect hundreds of thousands of residents. The closures and new rules will be in designated 'red zones" in Brooklyn and Queens.  He has also set up "orange zones" with other rules in communities that surround the red zones. De Blasio also announced increased fines for non-compliance of COVID-19 rules. Fines for mass gatherings in the affected areas will be up to $15,000.  The fines for not social distancing or refusing to wear a mask will be up to $1,000.
• As COVID-19 cases spread through the White House and ruffle the Senate, cases among front-line workers on Capitol Hill continue to rise in the center of American government, which to this day lacks a comprehensive testing regimen for all workers. There are now 123 Legislative Branch employees or contractors who have tested positive — or are presumed positive — for COVID-19, according to Ashley Phelps, a Republican spokeswoman for the House Administration Committee. This total has increased by 20 since Aug. 28. The count includes 46 Capitol Police employees, 42 Architect of the Capitol employees and 35 contractors working on the Cannon Building renovation project. These numbers reflect total cases since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
• Billionaire wealth reached record high levels amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a report by UBS and PwC found, as a rally in stock prices and gains in technology and healthcare helped the wealth of the world's richest break the $10 trillion mark. The report, covering over 2,000 billionaires representing some 98% of the cohort's total wealth, found billionaire wealth grew by more than a quarter during the early months of the pandemic to reach $10.2 trillion in July, breaking the previous record of $8.9 trillion at the end of 2019. The figure represents a five- to ten-fold rise over the past 25 years, the span covered by the UBS and PwC database, when billionaire wealth stood at just over $1 trillion.

October 5, 2020

• The tally of new coronavirus cases in the U.S. rose past 50,000 to hit the highest level since mid-August, as more people close to President Trump tested positive for the virus and the president received treatment after being diagnosed with Covid-19. More than 54,000 new U.S. cases were reported Friday, the most since Aug. 14, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
• Gov. Cuomo on Monday ordered a swift shutdown of schools in nine Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods that have seen troubling spikes in COVID-19 infection rates, though restaurants, houses of worship and other nonessential businesses in the hotspots can stay open for now. Mayor de Blasio asked Cuomo for permission on Sunday to shutter all schools and nonessential businesses in the nine zip codes with coronavirus resurgences starting Wednesday. But Cuomo, in a briefing from his Midtown office, overruled de Blasio and moved up the schools closure to Tuesday.

October 2, 2020

• High fever, body aches, headaches and exhaustion are some of the symptoms participants in Moderna and Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine trials say they felt after receiving the shots. While the symptoms were uncomfortable, and at times intense, they often went away after a day, sometimes less. The phase three trials are a critical last step needed to get the vaccines cleared for distribution.
• President Trump and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for coronavirus. The president was experiencing mild symptoms, according to reports. Trump’s diagnosis of Covid-19 came two days after his first debate with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Top Trump aide Hope Hicks tested positive shortly before Trump and the first lady.
• A US woman who underwent a COVID-19 nasal swab test got her brain's lining punctured, doctors reported in a medical journal. The 40-year-old US woman suffered this life-thretening infection as the test conducted on her may not have been carried properly, the medical experts claimed. She also had an undiagnosed rare condition. However, doctors have used this case as a warning to the healthcare workers all around the world. Jarrett Walsh, senior author of the paper that appeared in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, said her case showed health care professionals should take care to follow testing protocols closely. The people who suffer from extensive sinus and and/or have been through skull-base surgery should exercise caution and request oral testing instead of nasal swab, Walsh added.

September 30, 2020

• Disney to lay off 28,000 employees as coronavirus slams its theme park business. The company blamed prolonged closures and capacity limits at open parks for the layoffs. While Disney’s theme parks in Florida, Paris, Shanghai, Japan and Hong Kong have been able to reopen with limited capacity, both California theme parks have remained shuttered.
• A test to detect Covid-19 that can be done at the point of care and gives results in 15 minutes has been given the greenlight in Europe, maker Becton Dickinson said. The test should be commercially available in Europe by the end of October. The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization in July.
• Moderna will not be the company to fulfill President Donald Trump's wish for a coronavirus vaccine by Election Day, the firm's CEO said Wednesday. Stephane Bancel told the Financial Times that his firm would not have enough data from its late-stage trials to submit to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) until November 25, at the earliest. Bancel had previously said Moderna would likely have enough data from its coronavirus vaccine trials to know whether or not the shot works by November, but said there was a slim possibility it could know if the shot worked by October.

September 29, 2020

• New York City officials are threatening to impose a sweeping lockdown starting Tuesday on neighborhoods with soaring COVID-19 infection rates. City Hall higher-ups were huddling Monday to review which potential restrictions could be imposed on areas that now have rates up to four times the statewide and Big Apple averages, sources told The Post. The clampdown — which would represent the first time the city rolled back its reopening efforts — could include shutting down all non-essential businesses in the areas again, banning gatherings of more than 10 people, closing private schools and day care centers if they don’t meet city Department of Education safety standards and issuing fines for refusing to wear masks, the city said.
• The Covid-19 global death toll marked yet another a grim milestone, taking more than 1 million lives. CNBC has pulled together a package of stories looking back at how the coronavirus has changed society over the last nine months. Roughly half of the world’s total Covid-19 fatalities have been reported in only four countries — the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico.

September 28, 2020

• Over half of small businesses worry social distancing will hurt their chances of survival. Small business owners around the U.S. indicate slightly improved sales conditions since the spring, according to a new survey from Verizon Business. Still, over half on Main Street remain worried that social distancing measures decrease their survival chances.
• Apple is known for its sleek, innovative designs and game-changing products. So it’s fitting that Apple has developed its own version of a product that people around the world use daily: face masks. The custom face masks are intended for retail and corporate Apple employees to use to prevent the spread of Covid-19, Apple confirmed to Bloomberg on Sept. 9.
• While Dr. Anthony Fauci admits most “so-called immune boosting” supplements being marketed amid Covid-19 mostly do “nothing,” he does believe in the benefits of vitamin D. “If you are deficient in vitamin D, that does have an impact on your susceptibility to infection. So I would not mind recommending, and I do it myself taking vitamin D supplements,” Fauci, 79, said during an Instagram Live on Sept. 10. But figuring out whether you are vitamin D deficient and how much of the supplement you need to take is complicated. In fact, medical professionals have been debating the efficacy of routine vitamin D screenings and supplementation recommendations for years.

September 25, 2020

• Annrene Rowe was getting ready to celebrate her 10th wedding anniversary this summer when she noticed a bald spot on her scalp. In the following days, her thick, shoulder-length hair started falling out in clumps, bunching up in the shower drain. “I was crying hysterically,” said Rowe, 67, of Anna Maria, Florida. Rowe, who was hospitalized for 12 days in April with symptoms of the coronavirus, soon found strikingly similar stories in online groups of COVID-19 survivors. Many said that several months after contracting the virus, they began shedding startling amounts of hair. Doctors say they too are seeing many more patients with hair loss, a phenomenon they believe is indeed related to the coronavirus pandemic, affecting both people who had the virus and those who never became sick.

September 24, 2020

• Dogs that are trained to sniff out the coronavirus are being deployed at Helsinki Airport. The hope is that their sensitive noses can speed up the process of identifying potential carriers of the virus. The director of Finland’s Helsinki-Vantaa airport, which is run by Finavia, said it was one of the first airports to pilot the project.
• Coronavirus pandemic fuels affordability crisis for homebuyers. The median home prices of single-family homes and condos in the third quarter are less affordable than historical averages in 63% of U.S. counties, up from 54% a year ago, according to Attom Data Solutions, a property data-base. Of the largest counties analyzed, the least affordable included Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego and Miami.
• When will children get a COVID-19 vaccine? It's going to be a while. Children are not included in the ongoing trials for a COVID-19 vaccine, so it's likely to be well into next year or beyond before they'll be able to get vaccinated against the coronavirus that causes the disease. Some say that's not a problem because the vast majority of children don't get severely ill from COVID-19. Others argue that kids can still pass on the virus – to teachers, parents, grandparents – and that we won't be able to truly end the pandemic without vaccinating children.
• Some parents in Wisconsin’s suburban Washington and Ozaukee counties have sent their children to school knowing they had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, state health officials said. “Something that happened and continued to happen … which I never in my wildest dreams imagined it would happen, is people sent their known positive kids to school,” Washington Ozaukee Public Health Department Officer Kirsten Johnson told WISN. Johnson said there have been at least three instances where students tested positive and came to class anyways, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In one case, a student was so ill that they went to the nurse’s office. The nurse discovered that the student was on a list of those who had recently tested positive and should not have been in school.

September 23, 2020

• Counties that excel in health aren’t immune to the pandemic, but preparation and public health strategies have helped them fight back. Anticipating the coronavirus pandemic that smashed into New York City would crash over his suburban New Jersey community, John Bonanni, a county administrator, believed he'd prepared for the worst. But in early spring, as infections surged and hospital bedspace and ventilators ran short, Bonanni worried the worst might have been an underestimate. Half a continent away, as Wyoming's ski season wound down, Jodie Pond's plan to fight the oncoming contagion ramped up. The health director for a county that includes Jackson Hole, an international tourist destination, Pond and her colleagues decided the area must go on lockdown, even if resort and business owners didn't like it. Meanwhile, in the Centennial State, Colorado communities were emerging as coronavirus hot zones, with Denver an epicenter. And as infections mounted, a patchwork of responses led to uneven results in fighting COVID-19.
• In one Michigan county, almost half the COVID-19 cases are tied to farm outbreaks. Health department emails show that some farms resisted COVID-19 testing and workers claimed farms didn't take steps to keep them safe.
• JPMorgan traders complain that bank doesn’t inform all staff of coronavirus cases at headquarters. Some JPMorgan Chase traders are upset that they only learned about a coronavirus case in their building last week from press reports, CNBC has learned. JPMorgan’s global markets head, Troy Rohrbaugh, was asked about the matter during a virtual town hall meeting last Thursday, said the people. His response: The bank’s policy is to inform only those who had been on the floor or who may have had contact with a sick person. Goldman Sachs also discloses coronavirus cases only to workers who had meetings with or who worked on the same floor as somebody who has fallen ill, according to a person with knowledge of the bank’s policy.

September 21, 2020

• Researchers are finding growing evidence that the Covid-19 pandemic’s deadly reach is stretching far beyond people who died from coronavirus infections. From Alzheimer’s disease deaths to fatal heart attacks, federal data show deaths in 2020 have exceeded those of previous years in numerous categories. Doctors and health researchers say the fatalities reflect the ways the pandemic has amplified stress and financial strain while causing many people to avoid hospitals for fear of infections.
• The Ohio State University College of Medicine and The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center have been awarded a five-year, $10 million grant from the National Cancer Institute in the National Institutes of Health to study the long-term, longitudinal impact of COVID-19 on first responders, healthcare workers and the general population. The funding will help researchers learn more about exposure risks, transmission, immune responses, disease severity, protection, and barriers to testing and vaccination. Researchers say they hope the data will improve population health and clinical outcomes in the face of COVID-19.

September 18, 2020

• Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s health emergencies program, warned Friday that the coronavirus is “not going away,” noting that it’s still killing about 50,000 people a week. WHO officials said they are beginning to see “worrying trends” in the number of Covid-19 cases, ICU admissions and hospitalizations in the Northern Hemisphere as it enters its colder seasons. Seroepidemiology studies that examine the extent of coronavirus infection in different populations indicate that a majority of the world’s population is susceptible to infection from this virus, they said.

September 17, 2020

• Eli Lilly reports a reduced rate of hospitalization for coronavirus patients using its antibody treatment. The U.S. drugmaker said the experimental treatment helped patients rid their systems of the coronavirus sooner, potentially preventing them from hospitalization. The monoclonal antibody, developed by Eli Lilly and AbCeller, was identified from a blood sample taken from one of the first U.S. patients who recovered from Covid-19. Eli Lilly is one of several companies developing antibody drugs as a potential bridge to a vaccine, alongside GlaxoSmithKline and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.
• The White House says a staff member has tested positive for COVID-19 less than 24 hours after President Donald Trump visited Philadelphia. However, officials say the person was “not associated with” and did not affect the president’s trip. When asked about a report that staff members tested positive earlier Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said, “I’m not here to give people’s personal identities” and that “close contacts” with a person who has since tested positive would be notified, according to Bloomberg.

September 15, 2020

• Americans are raiding retirement savings during coronavirus pandemic. Nearly 3 in 10 Americans have decreased or stopped their retirement savings due to the economic fallout of Covid-19, one survey found. Savers, especially those who lost their jobs or work hours, may have no other option.
• Doctors are concerned about a widespread and infrequently discussed side effect of COVID-19: Mental illness. A study published in the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity found that more than half of people who survive COVID-19 later develop a mental health condition such as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. In the first study of its kind, researchers interviewed 402 people who had previously been hospitalized for COVID-19. They were asked to complete a questionnaire one month after their hospital treatment. The results indicated that 28% of respondents qualified as having PTSD, while 42% had anxiety, 31% had depression, 20% exhibited symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, and 40% reported insomnia.
• At least 70 percent of coronavirus patients in a new study were still suffering from lung trouble months after leaving the hospital. Researchers in Henan Province, China, looked at 55 patients who had since recovered and been cleared to go to work, according to the findings published in the journal EClinicalMedicine. Only four of the cases had been considered severe, though none required a ventilator, the study says. But three months after being discharged, many of the patients were still experiencing lingering symptoms. Nearly two-thirds complained of problems that included shortness of breath, cough, gastrointestinal issues and headaches. And though none had pre-existing lung problems, the majority were now plagued with respiratory issues.

September 14, 2020

• Remote education for kids at home versus in-person teaching at school isn't just inconvenient for many parents, it could cost them their jobs if they can't nail down affordable childcare. Research from hedge fund Brevan Howard found that more than 4 million U.S. workers who can't do their jobs from home could end up having to leave the workforce this fall, the Wall Street Journal recently reported. The firm calculated that 5.3 million parents have jobs that require their physical presence and children under the age of 14, too young to be left at home on their own. Researchers also estimated that 81% of children will be educated remotely this fall, based on the 100 largest school districts' reopening plans, according to the report. That suggests 4.3 million workers could have to quit their jobs unless they can come up with a suitable alternative to childcare.
• The World Health Organization reported a record one-day increase in global coronavirus cases on Sunday, with the total rising by 307,930 in 24 hours. The biggest increases were from India, the United States and Brazil, according to the agency's website. Deaths rose by 5,537 to a total of 917,417. India reported 94,372 new cases, followed by the United States with 45,523 new infections and Brazil with 43,718. Both the United States and India each reported over 1,000 new deaths and Brazil reported 874 lives lost in the past 24 hours. The previous WHO record for new cases was 306,857 on Sept. 6. The agency reported a record 12,430 deaths on April 17. India leads the world in new cases reported each day and set a global record last week with 97,570 cases reported in a single day, according to a Reuters tally.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday announced a new countrywide lockdown will be imposed amid a stubborn surge in coronavirus cases, with schools and parts of the economy expected to shut down in a bid to bring down infection rates. Beginning Friday, the start of the Jewish High Holiday season, schools, restaurants, malls and hotels will shut down, among other businesses, and Israelis will face restrictions on movement and on gatherings.

September 10, 2020

• A South Carolina third grade teacher who was last in her classroom less than two weeks ago has died from COVID-19, officials at the Richland 2 School District said Wednesday. Demetria “Demi” Bannister, 28, was diagnosed with the virus on Friday and died Monday, school district spokeswoman Libby Roof said in a news release. Bannister was a third grade teacher starting her fifth year of teaching at Windsor Elementary School in Columbia, officials said. She was at the school on Aug. 28, during a week of teacher workdays before the school year began. She started teaching the following week from home, officials said. The district said it is tracing anyone who had close contact with Bannister and instructed custodians to deeply clean the school.
• Ten million daily Covid tests will be dished out to get Brits back to the footie, theatre and their mate’s house under new Government plans costing £100billion. The entire population of the UK could be tested in a week under Downing Street’s ambitious Operation Moonshot programme. Boris Johnson vowed to roll out new tests which can deliver results in just 15 minutes. He said a negative result would give Brits a “freedom pass” — allowing people to mingle like they did before Covid.

September 9, 2020

• California University of Pennsylvania football player Jamain Stephens, 20, has died, the school announced Tuesday. Stephens, a senior defensive lineman, was the son of former Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals offensive lineman Jamain Stephens. Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, where Stephens played, said in a statement posted to Facebook on Tuesday his cause of death was related to complications involving COVID-19. It is unclear how he contracted the disease. Stephens played in 32 games for California University in his first three seasons. The school was not playing football this fall with COVID-19 health concerns forcing sports to be halted by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.
• AstraZeneca PLC said Tuesday it paused clinical trials of an experimental Covid-19 vaccine after a participant in a U.K. study had an unexplained illness. The company, which licensed the vaccine from developers at the University of Oxford, said the voluntary pause was a routine action that would allow an independent committee to review safety data. The halt is a setback for the vaccine effort, which has long been touted as one of the world’s most advanced candidates. The shot had quickly progressed to late-stage studies in various countries, with AstraZeneca already signing contracts that could result in the delivery of initial doses this fall.

September 8, 2020

• The heads of nine biopharmaceutical companies issued a letter early Tuesday pledging to fully vet their COVID-19 candidate vaccines before asking for federal approval to market them. "We, the undersigned biopharmaceutical companies, want to make clear our on-going commitment to developing and testing potential vaccines for COVID-19 in accordance with high ethical standards and sound scientific principles," the statement said. The statement comes amid increasing concern among public health officials, scientists and doctors that the White House might bring significant political pressure to bear on the Food and Drug Administration to approve a vaccine before the Nov. 3 presidential election. All nine companies are individually or jointly developing a candidate COVID-19 vaccine supported at least in part with federal dollars, which so far amounts to more than $10 billion.
• Coronavirus lingering on chilled salmon may be infectious for more than a week, according to researchers in China, where imported fish have been investigated as a potential source of infections. Researchers at the South China Agricultural University and Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Guangzhou found SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, collected from salmon samples could survive for eight days at 4 degrees Celsius (39 degrees Fahrenheit). That’s roughly the temperature at which the fish are transported. The research was released Sunday in a report ahead of publication and peer review. Chinese authorities have been investigating imported meat, packaging and containers as a potential source of Covid-19 since June after repeatedly finding traces of the pathogen on packaging and food.

September 7, 2020

• The World Health Organization said Friday it did not expect widespread immunisation against the novel coronavirus until mid-2021, tempering hopes just as research revealed encouraging early results from a Russian vaccine. Across the world, governments are hoping to announce a vaccine as soon as possible against the virus, which has infected well over 26 million people, upended millions of lives and wreaked havoc on the global economy.

September 4, 2020

• Cases of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, appear to be prevalent among Big Ten athletes, said Penn State's director of athletic medicine, impacting roughly one-third of all athletes who have tested positive for the coronavirus. Wayne Sebastianelli, who is also the team doctor for Penn State football, said Monday during a meeting of the State College Area School District board of directors that cardiac scans of Big Ten athletes who contracted COVID-19 showed "30 to roughly 35 percent of their heart muscles" indicated symptoms of myocarditis. "And we really just don’t know what to do with it right now," he said. "It’s still very early in the infection. Some of that has led to the Pac-12 and the Big Ten’s decision to sort of put a hiatus on what’s happening." Myocarditis, which can be fatal, was a driver behind the Big Ten's decision to postpone the coming season with the possibility to return this winter or spring.
• Millions of Americans count on a COVID-19 vaccine to curb the pandemic and return life to normal. Though one or more options could be available toward the end of this year or early next, the path to delivering vaccines to 330 million people remains unclear for the health officials expected to carry out the work. In a four-page memo this summer, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told health departments across the country to draft vaccination plans by Oct. 1 “to coincide with the earliest possible release of COVID-19 vaccine.” Health departments that have been underfunded for decades said they lack the staff, money and tools to educate people about vaccines and to distribute, administer and track hundreds of millions of doses. Nor do they know when, or if, they’ll get federal aid to do that.

September 3, 2020

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has notified public health officials in all 50 states and five large cities to prepare to distribute a coronavirus vaccine to health care workers and other high-risk groups as soon as late October or early November. The new C.D.C. guidance is the latest sign of an accelerating race for a vaccine to ease a pandemic that has killed more than 184,000 Americans. The documents were sent out on the same day that President Trump told the nation in his speech to the Republican National Convention that a vaccine might arrive before the end of the year.
• Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sent a letter last week to the nation’s governors with an urgent request. The Trump administration wanted them to do everything in their power to eliminate hurdles for vaccine distribution sites to be fully operational by Nov. 1.
  The Aug. 27 letter, obtained by McClatchy, asked governors to fast-track permits and licenses for new distribution sites.

September 2, 2020

• Apple and Google teamed up to develop push notifications that let iOS and Android users know if they might have been exposed to COVID-19. The companies announced the news on Tuesday and the effort is called Exposure Notifications Express. It's an opt-in based system that lets your local public health agency alert you to potential coronavirus exposure via a notice on your smartphone. It'll also allow the agency to guide residents on actions to take if they've been exposed, according to Apple and Google. The development picks up where the company's other collaborative effort left off.
• Cars have famously served as a makeshift bedroom for young or illicit lovers seeking private time together. But since the proliferation of the coronavirus pandemic, cars are taking on even more functions, proving they're not just for transporting people from point A to point B. Two separate surveys showed that many people are increasingly using their cars to get away from the people they live with, get a change of scenery, take a nap, make a personal or business call, get some "me" time or just to feel normal again.
• The Transportation Security Administration is installing full-height plastic barriers at 37 airports nationwide to protect security screeners and passengers from the spread of coronavirus. The agency completed installing them at San Diego International Airport on Thursday, and will install more than 1,200 by the time the project will be completed in early fall. "As long as this virus remains a threat, TSA will continue to implement the measures necessary for containment, including acrylic barriers as well as technologies that reduce or eliminate physical contact," said TSA Administrator David Pekoske in a statement in early August. The barriers are more substantial than the countertop shields that have been put in place at security checkpoints the past several months. They also supplement the use of gloves, face masks and disinfecting solutions.
• Coronavirus live updates: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke on Tuesday but failed to forge a breakthrough on the fifth congressional coronavirus relief package. Cheap, readily available steroid drugs that were used to treat people hospitalized with Covid-19 cut the risk of death by one-third, according to an analysis encompassing seven different clinical trials, STAT news publication reported.

August 31, 2020

• Canada to purchase 76 million doses of Novavax coronavirus vaccine, company says. Novavax said it expects to finalize an agreement that would see it begin to supply Canada with doses “as early as the second quarter of 2021,” the company said. The company’s vaccine, called NVX-CoV2373, is currently in phase two trials. Novavax has previously said it could begin late-stage trials as early as October.
• Coronavirus live updates: Just three weeks after surpassing 5 million confirmed coronavirus infections, the U.S. on Monday quietly rolled past 6 million cases.
  Global cases surpassed 25 million on Sunday. With the pressure on to alleviate the crisis, FDA chief Stephen Hahn says his agency could authorize use of a vaccine before completion of Phase Three trials now being conducted by multiple drug companies. New Jersey announced Monday that it will allow indoor restaurant dining for the first time in more than five months. A few miles away in Flushing Meadows, New York, the 2020 U.S. Open tennis tournament kicked off, albeit without fans.

August 28, 2020

• For life to return to "normal," a coronavirus vaccine will need to have at least 80 percent efficiency, a computer model has found. By simulating different vaccine scenarios in a population, researchers from the U.S. looked at how effective a vaccine would need to be if it were to stop the pandemic alone. The team, led by Bruce Y. Lee from the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, found that if 75 percent of the population got the vaccine, 80 percent effectiveness would stop an ongoing epidemic. If only 60 percent got the vaccine, it would need to have 100 percent efficiency to extinguish the epidemic. Their findings are published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
• And you thought snakes in a toilet was a nightmare. Scientists now say that the coronavirus may be able to spread throughout buildings, via toilets and drain pipes — an especially alarming prospect for apartment dwellers with suspect plumbing. The discovery was made in China, after researchers swabbed the “long vacant” apartment directly below a family of five who tested positive for COVID-19. Despite the fact that no one was living in the apartment below, the researchers found traces of the virus on the sink, faucet and shower handle. This suggested the virus particles potentially wafted from the infected family down the pipes into the vacant apartment, according to the researchers at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which published their findings this month in the journal Environment International.

August 26, 2020

• At least 531 students, faculty, and staff on the University of Alabama's main campus in Tuscaloosa have been infected with the virus, officials reported. As a result, the mayor of Tuscaloosa announced Monday that the city is closing bars for the next two weeks after University of Alabama officials described an “unacceptable” rise in COVID-19 cases that could derail plans to continue the semester on campus. Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox announced the closures along with the end of bar service at restaurants during a news conference with campus officials. Maddox said university officials requested the action. Maddox said an unchecked spread of the virus threatens both the health care system and the local economy if students are sent home for the semester to do remote learning.
• The Great Depression permanently altered many people’s behavior. Could COVID-19 do the same? During the past five months, many prognosticators have prognosticated about how the coronavirus pandemic will transform politics, work, travel, education, and other domains. Less sweepingly, but just as powerfully, it will also transform the people who are living through it, rearranging the furniture of their inner life. When this is all over—and perhaps even long after that—how will we be different? For one thing, we’ll better understand the importance of washing our hands. Others foresaw themselves avoiding many activities that are currently risky, possibly for the rest of their life. But even if our behaviors do fade, perhaps our mental landscapes will remain changed. Some people said that the pandemic had infiltrated their dreams, possibly lastingly.
• A healthy, 33-year-old man has provided researchers in Hong Kong with some of the first definitive evidence that people can get the novel coronavirus twice. "This is the world's first documentation of a patient who recovered from COVID-19 but got another episode of COVID-19, afterwards," researchers from Hong Kong University said in a press release on Monday, as they announced their reinfection study has been accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed medical journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. This case isn't reason for the general public to panic, though. Instead, it shows how previous infections can provide people with some decent protection from another coronavirus illness. Because while the man in this study had some of the most worrisome symptoms of COVID-19 when he first got sick back in March, he had no coronavirus symptoms on his second time around. Many epidemiologists have anticipated coronavirus reinfections just like his could be possible.
• The CDC has quietly revised its guidance on coronavirus testing to say that people without symptoms who were exposed to an infected person might not need to be tested. The agency previously recommended testing for anyone with a “recent known or suspected exposure” to the virus even if they did not have symptoms. The CDC’s previous guidance cited “the potential for asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission” as a reason why people without symptoms who were exposed to the virus be “quickly identified and tested.”

August 25, 2020

• The NFL went through one of its biggest COVID-19 scares of training camp after there were 77 positive tests that came about on Saturday. Upon further examination for this spike, however, it was revealed that these were false-positives as Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reports that all of the original tests were rerun on Sunday night and each of them came back negative for the coronavirus. Those 77 individuals also underwent additional testing and all of those tests came back negative as well. On Monday, Jon R. Cohen, M.D., the Executive Chairman of BioReference Laboratories, the testing partner of the NFL, released a statement explaining that these false-positives were due to an isolated contamination in the New Jersey lab.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday dropped its recommendation for travelers to quarantine for 14 days upon returning from trips overseas or out of state during the coronavirus pandemic. The CDC updated its guidelines on its website. Though the two-week recommendation was changed, the federal agency did caution travelers that they can still contract the novel coronavirus while traveling. The CDC recommends travelers wear masks indoors, wash hands, maintain social distancing guidelines, and monitor themselves for symptoms of COVID-19.
• White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci warned members of Congress in late June that the U.S. might report more than 100,000 daily new cases of the virus “if this does not turn around.” But months later, Fauci’s worst fears have not come to pass as daily new cases have steadily fallen across much of the U.S. over the past month. Epidemiologists say more unified health messaging, public compliance and closures of businesses are largely to thank for the drop.
• More than half of all storefronts in San Francisco are no longer in business due to COVID-19, according to the survey by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. “The survey showed only 46 percent of storefront businesses in San Francisco that were open at the beginning of the pandemic are still operating,” said Jay Cheng, spokesman of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. That means 1200 stores are still open, while about 1300 have closed, Cheng said. “There’s a lot of reasons for that. If you’re a fitness studio, you can’t open because of the pandemic. If you’re a retail space, you could open, but you might have decided that there isn’t enough foot traffic or enough customer base to make that worthwhile to reopen. So it’s become a very difficult situation,” Cheng said.

August 24, 2020

• Christian Baran has been thinking about the value his college tuition is supposed to be buying since the spring. Baran, 21, was a sophomore at Cornell University when the school, like most others, rushed students home and into online classrooms in March as the reality of the pandemic began to set in. Baran thought his family might get some sort of tuition refund, given that the experience was so different from what he thought his tuition was buying. “But we didn’t get anything,” Baran said. Like almost every college in the country, Cornell didn’t give back any tuition money, but the school did provide rebates for housing and dining contracts. Now, as the start of the fall semester at the school approaches, the school is moving forward with a planned tuition increase of 3.6% that was approved in January before the pandemic. Cornell, which is planning to bring students back to Ithaca and offer some in-person classes, is expecting to increase the amount of financial aid it awards, and will be drawing more than typical from its endowment in fiscal year 2021 to generate an additional $15 million.
• Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said he would shut down the economy to stop the spread of the coronavirus, if that was the course of action scientists recommended to him. In his first joint interview with his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris, Biden said that the Trump White House’s “fundamental flaw” during the pandemic was not to get it completely under control. Fed officials have said the future health of the economy depends on the course the virus takes.

August 20, 2020

• Sports columnist Bill Plaschke writes about his bout with the novel coronavirus. Yes, he says, it’s really as bad as you’ve heard. Yeah, I’ve got the ‘Rona. Who’d have guessed? After I spent four months writing about how this nasty incurable coronavirus should shut down the sports world, it laughingly shut me down too. It didn’t care that I respected it. It didn’t matter that I used noted scientists to warn sports fans of its perils. It was as if my ominous words were lifted from the page and injected directly into my veins. In an instant, my fears for others became prayers for myself.

August 19, 2020

• A growing number of COVID survivors are reporting experiencing symptoms long after their CDC-recommended two-week self-isolation period passes. Recently Survivor Corps—a Facebook group that connects COVID-19 survivors with medical, scientific, and academic research communities—and Natalie Lambert, MD, surveyed 1,567 long-haulers (people with long-term COVID symptoms) about the symptoms they have experienced. The report notes that the symptoms featured on the survey list were based on research but the survey was made "open" so participants could add symptoms as needed. Ranked from least common to most common, these are all 98 of the long-term COVID symptoms reported by the long-haulers.
• Scientists warn it may be years before students can return to school without masks, social distancing. It’s unclear how soon the clinical trials needed to vaccinate children against Covid-19 will be completed. Until now, most drugmakers working on a potential vaccine have tested only healthy adults. Pregnant women and children are often the last to get tested.
• The University of Notre Dame abruptly paused in-person learning for undergraduate students for at least two weeks after more than 100 students tested positive for Covid-19 just over a week into classes. The announcement comes after the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill earlier this week reversed its decision to hold undergraduate in-person classes for the semester due to a rise in cases on its campus.

August 18, 2020

• The WHO warned that the Covid-19 pandemic is now being driven by people in their 20s, 30s and 40s who don’t know they are infected. Most of the young people either never developed symptoms or had mild symptoms, Dr. Takeshi Kasai, WHO’s regional director for the Western Pacific, said during a news briefing. “This increases the risk of spillovers to the most vulnerable: the elderly, the sick, people in long-term care, people who live in densely populated urban areas” and rural areas with limited health care. Kasai said world leaders and the public must “redouble efforts” to stop the virus from moving into vulnerable communities.

August 17, 2020

• The coronavirus pandemic has led to a marked deterioration in Americans’ mental health, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study made public on Thursday. That study, which surveyed 5,412 Americans, found that “40.9% of respondents reported at least one adverse mental or behavioral health condition.” According to the new study, 31 percent of respondents were suffering from symptoms of anxiety or depression; 26 percent experienced symptoms of traumatic disorder; 13 percent were using drugs or alcohol more heavily, or for the first time, to cope with the pandemic; and 11 percent had seriously contemplated suicide.
• Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people are choosing neck gaiters as their go-to face covering. The ease with which they can slide up and down the face makes them a favorite among runners and hikers. Now, however, a new study suggests this lightweight, breathable fabric may be worse at blocking the coronavirus than wearing no face mask at all. The best masks are N95 masks without valves. These types of masks are commonly used by healthcare workers and in medical facilities. Researchers say surgical or polypropylene face coverings and fabric (cotton) masks also work relatively well.
  In contrast, bandanas and neck gaiters do not block fluid droplets well at all. Study authors explain that neck gaiters cause larger fluid droplets to break up into smaller particles. This increases droplet counts and could allow particles to hang around in the air for longer periods of time. This, in turn, could raise the likelihood that someone wearing a neck gaiter transmits COVID-19 to others nearby.

August 14, 2020

• The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus illness COVID-19 world-wide rose above 20.7 million on Thursday and the U.S. suffered its biggest death toll since May with almost 1,500 fatalities counted in a single day. The U.S. has averaged more than 1,000 deaths a day for two weeks, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University. Wednesday’s deaths were mostly concentrated in Sun Belt states that saw the worst case spikes in June and July, the New York Times reported. A Times analysis of data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that at least 200,000 more Americans than usual have died since March, or about 60,000 more than the official data is linking to COVID-19. The findings were in line with a report published by “The Conversation.”
• The United States needs to get control of Covid-19 and carefully reopen the country, or the consequences could be devastating, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Thursday. "To think that you can ignore the biologic and get the economy back, it's not gonna happen," Fauci, the nation's leading infectious diseases expert, told actor Matthew McConaughey in an interview on Instagram. "It's just not gonna happen. You gotta do both. You gotta get control of the biologic as you carefully open the country." Fauci emphasized the importance of acting in a measured, prudent way. He noted that Americans have seen the consequences of jumping over the guideposts that have been established for safe reopening.
• The coronavirus is at least as deadly as the 1918 flu pandemic and the death toll could even be worse if world leaders and public health officials fail to adequately contain it, researchers warned in a study published Thursday in the medical journal JAMA Network Open. “What we want people to know is that this has 1918 potential,” lead author Dr. Jeremy Faust said in an interview, adding that the outbreak in New York was at least 70% as bad as the one in 1918 when doctors didn’t have ventilators or other advances to help save lives like they do today. “This is not something to just shrug off like the flu.” Researchers compared excess deaths in New York City during the peak of the 1918 pandemic with those during the first few months of the Covid-19 outbreak. They used public data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and the U.S. Census Bureau to conduct their analysis.
• With so much Covid-19 infection asymptomatic, many see surveillance testing as key to keeping employees safe. One biotech CEO put together a system for 50 companies that returns results in a median of 12 hours. The testing enabled researchers to get back to labs safely since clinical research can’t be done from home.

August 13, 2020

• It’s hard to know what’s worse — the dying or the lying. More than 32,000 New Yorkers have died from the coronavirus, a toll higher than any other state. New York also ranks second to the worst out of all 50 states, in deaths per million residents. Only New Jersey did worse. Cuomo is doing everything he can to coverup the errors. He’s stonewalling bipartisan efforts in Albany to investigate the deaths of thousands of elderly in nursing homes ravaged by the virus.
• As the United States reported its highest number of deaths from the novel coronavirus in a single day since mid-May, President Trump on Wednesday continued to press for the nation’s schools to bring children into classrooms, for businesses to open and for athletes to fill stadiums. The country has now seen its seven-day average of newly reported deaths remain above 1,000 for 17 consecutive days.
• The World Health Organization said Thursday there is “no evidence” the coronavirus is being transmitted through food. Researchers in China are studying the issue, and the international agency is tracking their findings, Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s emergencies program, said during a press conference at the agency’s Geneva headquarters. But right now “there is no evidence that food or the food chain is participating in the transmission of this virus,” he said. “People should not fear food, or food packaging or processing or delivery of food. Food is very important. And I would hate to think that we would create an impression that there’s a problem with our food or there’s a problem with our food chain. We’re under enough pressure as it is,” he said.
• In a study that was published Tuesday in the Journal of Adolescent Health, researchers offered data that showed a relationship between e-cigarette use and a higher risk of getting the novel coronavirus in young adults. Stanford University researchers recruited more than 4,300 U.S. individuals, ages 13 to 24, to complete an online survey in May about their e-cigarette use, as well as whether they had experienced symptoms of COVID-19, had been tested for the virus or were diagnosed with the disease from a positive test. Data collected from the survey showed that e-cigarette users were five times more likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19, and those who used both e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes were seven times more likely to be diagnosed with respiratory illness, compared to those who did not use e-cigarettes or traditional cigarettes at all.

August 12, 2020

• As students head back to school, parents and teachers are increasingly concerned about how the coronavirus could spread — especially in buildings with inadequate ventilation. John Lednicky studies viruses at the University of Florida. "There was a lot of controversy about SARS-CoV-2 being transmitted or not being transmitted through airborne routes," Lednicky told CBS News. Analyzing air samples in a hospital room, Lednicky's team found infectious virus can spread through the air — up to 16 feet away from an infected patient — through tiny droplets called aerosols.
• The United States has entered an agreement with drugmaker Moderna Inc to acquire 100 million doses of its potential COVID-19 vaccine for around $1.5 billion, the company and White House said on Tuesday. The United States in recent weeks has made deals to acquire hundreds of millions of doses of potential COVID-19 vaccines from several companies as part of its Operation Warp Speed program, which aims to deliver a vaccine in the country by the end of the year. Moderna’s price per dose comes to around $30.50 per person for a two-dose regimen.

August 11, 2020

• It’s a horrifying thought, not being able to see your loved one before they pass away. The sad truth of 2020 is that’s what’s happening all over the United States. A recent study finds a dramatic shift in where Americans are spending their final moments. Patients with COVID-19 this year are 12 times more likely to die in a medical facility than patients dying of any cause in 2018. Researchers add that many of these patients are tragically dying alone.
• A rare heart condition that could be linked with the coronavirus is fueling concern among Power 5 conference administrators about the viability of college sports this fall. Myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle, has been found in at least five Big Ten Conference athletes and among several other athletes in other conferences, according to two sources with knowledge of athletes' medical care. The condition is usually caused by a viral infection, including those that cause the common cold, H1N1 influenza or mononucleosis. Left undiagnosed and untreated, it can cause heart damage and sudden cardiac arrest, which can be fatal. It is a rare condition, but the COVID-19 virus has been linked with myocarditis with a higher frequency than other viruses, based on limited studies and anecdotal evidence since the start of the pandemic.
• Millions may have lost their jobs due to COVID-19, but that doesn’t mean the bills have stopped coming. Indeed, paying off bills are an unavoidable part of life, even during a pandemic. Unfortunately, a new survey of 2,000 Americans finds that one in four (24%) have already missed at least one payment since the pandemic began. A new survey shows that Americans are cutting costs or even adopting a ‘minimalistic’ lifestyle to make ends meet.

August 10, 2020

• Could the coronavirus lead to chronic illness? While lung scarring, heart and kidney damage may result from COVID-19, doctors and researchers are starting to clock the potential long-term impact of the virus on the brain also. Younger COVID-19 patients who were otherwise healthy are suffering blood clots and strokes. And many “long-haulers,” or COVID-19 patients who have continued showing symptoms for months after the initial infection passed, report neurological problems such as confusion and difficulty concentrating (or brain fog), as well as headaches, extreme fatigue, mood changes, insomnia and loss of taste and/or smell. Now a study of 60 COVID-19 patients published in Lancet this week finds that 55% of them were still displaying such neurological symptoms during follow-up visits three months later.
• New Zealand on Sunday marked 100 days since it was able to effectively eliminate the spread of coronavirus. The South Pacific nation suppressed the spread of the virus by implementing a strict lockdown — that closed the borders to foreign nationals — after only 100 people tested positive in late March. During the past three months, the only new cases that have cropped up were among returning travelers who were quarantined at the border of the country, which is home to 5 million.

August 7, 2020

• The Apple-Google coronavirus exposure notification tool, which the companies are offering to public health authorities to help build their Bluetooth-based Covid-19 contact tracing apps, was announced in April and debuted in May. Now it’s August, and we finally have one US state — Virginia — that has launched a contact tracing app that uses the technology. Outside of the US, several countries have launched or are developing apps that use the Apple-Google tool, with varying degrees of success. But it has yet to achieve anything close to widespread global usage.
• The United States has recorded more than 2,000 coronavirus deaths in 24 hours, the highest number of daily fatalities in three months, Johns Hopkins University's real-time tally showed Thursday. The country, which has seen a major resurgence in coronavirus since the end of June, added 2,060 deaths in one day as well as more than 58,000 new cases, the Baltimore-based university showed at 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Friday). The last time the US recorded more than 2,000 deaths in 24 hours was on May 7.
• Alameda County in California has launched a new program to help patients stay home once they’ve been diagnosed with coronavirus. County officials hope to slow the spread of COVID-19 by helping families that face a sudden financial crisis when a test comes back positive. Schwab-Galindo has watched the pandemic land squarely on her community of working class neighborhoods, primarily people of color. That is exactly who Alameda County plans to help with a $1,250 stipend program for people who have to self-isolate after a positive test. The stipend is for those who do not receive unemployment benefits or sick leave, and requires a referral from one of five approved clinics.
• Don’t drink hand sanitizer. While using the alcohol-based gels and liquids has become an integral part of hand hygiene during the coronavirus pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a worrisome report showing some adults are suffering seizures, losing their vision and even dying from consuming hand sanitizer laced with methanol. The warning comes on the heels of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) expanding list of recalled hand sanitizer products that it says contain methanol, which is a toxic substance that could cause death if too much is absorbed into the skin or it is consumed. Alcohol-based hand sanitizer should only contain ethanol (ethyl alcohol) or isopropanol (isopropyl alcohol), which are safe to use. But some products imported into the U.S. have been found to contain methanol -— despite claiming to have ethanol. Now the FDA’s “do not touch” list of toxic hand sanitizer brands has spilled over to 75 products, including brands such as Blumen and Hello Kitty by Sanrio.

August 6, 2020

• Bloomberg Virus Update: California had its second-deadliest day in the pandemic and Florida’s case count topped 500,000. Texas’s test positivity rate reached a three-week high. New York City is setting up checkpoints at key entry areas to enforce state quarantine rules for travelers. Joe Biden will accept the Democratic Party’s nomination from Delaware rather than risk traveling to Milwaukee. Chicago, the country’s third-largest school district, will have remote learning for public schools when classes resume next month. Johnson & Johnson will supply 100 million doses of its experimental Covid-19 vaccine to the U.S. The U.K. agreed to invest $18 million in a Scottish vaccine-manufacturing plant, while Moderna Inc. said it has received $400 million of deposits for its potential Covid-19 shot.
• Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top expert on infectious disease, on Wednesday was unequivocal that the US coronavirus outbreak is the worst in the world. His words directly undercut the misleading and rosy picture President Donald Trump has sought to paint around the COVID-19 outbreak in the US, which is part of a broader effort to downplay his administration's failures in responding to the pandemic.
• Ali Mokdad, an epidemiologist at the University of Washington, has been trying to make sense of this summer's COVID-19 surge. He says he can theorize only in a general way about why the virus spread and what to do about it. "Yes, the new cases appear to be mainly young people," he said. "Yes, they may be letting down their guard. Yes, it might make sense to close the bars." But as a global health expert at the university's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, he says he should be able provide much more nuanced answers. State and local health officials say providing better data isn't so simple. Meager budgets, stodgy technology and disjointed state and local reporting systems make standardizing data an arduous undertaking.

August 4, 2020

• 'We're in for a bad and rocky ride:' Ex-WHO doctor who helped eradicate smallpox predicts COVID-19 turmoil for years.
• The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting not just Ohio’s major metropolitan areas but is ballooning throughout the state’s rural counties, weekly White House reports provided to state health officials show. Maps in those reports show that during the past month, the positivity rate in testing has crept upward in many counties that previously didn’t have enough positive tests for the coronavirus to even register on its scale. Those maps, obtained through a Dispatch public records request, show that in early June, 50 counties had too few cases to even calculate a positivity rate in the two weeks. But by mid-July, that had dropped to 18 counties.

August 3, 2020

• Dr. Deborah Birx on Sunday said the US is in a new phase in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, saying that the deadly virus is more widespread than when it first took hold in the US earlier this year.
• In the public imagination, the arrival of a coronavirus vaccine looms large: It’s the neat Hollywood ending to the grim and agonizing uncertainty of everyday life in a pandemic. But public health experts are discussing among themselves a new worry: that hopes for a vaccine may be soaring too high. The confident depiction by politicians and companies that a vaccine is imminent and inevitable may give people unrealistic beliefs about how soon the world can return to normal and could lead to resistance to simple strategies that can tamp down transmission and save lives in the short term.
• Last week we warned readers to be cautious about new COVID-19 vaccines, highlighting how key parts of the clinical trials are being skipped as big pharma will not be held accountable for adverse side effects for administering the experimental drugs. A senior executive from AstraZeneca, Britain's second-largest drugmaker, told Reuters that his company was just granted protection from all legal action if the company's vaccine led to damaging side effects.
• Those coronavirus vaccines leading the race? Don't ditch the masks quite yet. Nearly $6 billion has been allocated. Clinical trials are entering a crucial third phase, and Operation Warp Speed is getting closer to the goal of delivering 300 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine by January. But when Americans line up for their immunizations, the vaccine they receive might not be what they expect. The popular notion of a vaccine — a shot in the arm that prevents diseases such as measles, polio or shingles for years or a lifetime — may not apply. Under recently released federal guidelines, a COVID-19 vaccine can be authorized for use if it is safe and proves effective in as few as 50% of those who receive it. And "effective" doesn't necessarily mean stopping people from getting sick from COVID-19. It means minimizing its most serious symptoms, experts say.
• U.S. cases have increased 0.9%. California and Arizona reported positive trends on new cases after battling a surge in infections last month. New Jersey, concerned about recent violations of social-distancing rules among young revelers, reduced crowd limits for indoor parties. Eli Lilly & Co. will begin testing its Covid-19 antibody drug in nursing homes, a treatment with potential to protect vulnerable groups that vaccines may not cover. Global coronavirus cases surpassed 18 million, with the pandemic now adding a million infections every four days.

July 29, 2020

• A Franklin County judge has granted a temporary restraining order against the enforcement of an ordinance forcing Columbus bars and restaurants to close at 10 p.m. Judge Mark Serrott granted the restraining order requested by several bars, including Pins Mechanical Co., 16-Bit Bar + Arcade, Mikey’s Late Night Slice, Odfellows, and more. The case will come up for a full hearing in 14 days. The order takes effect immediately, so long as a $1,000 bond is paid by the plaintiffs. Judge Serrott said the situation could change if the state passes its own restrictions on bars and restaurants. Columbus City Council passed the ordinance Monday night at the request of Mayor Andrew Ginther and Health Commissioner Dr. Mysheika Roberts to help stop the spread of COVID-19 in the city.
• Ten states hit record-high average daily new Covid-19 deaths on Tuesday, as determined by a seven-day average calculated by CNBC using data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. California, Florida and Texas all reported record-high averages, according to CNBC’s analysis. California reported 185 new Covid-19 deaths, pushing the seven-day average to 113, up almost 24% compared with a week ago. Florida reported 186 new deaths, with the state averaging about 130 new deaths per day over the past seven days, up 14.3% compared with a week ago. Texas reported 200 new deaths on Tuesday.
• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would not bring up a coronavirus aid bill in the Senate which does not include liability protections. “We’re not negotiating over liability protection,” he said as Republicans and Democrats try to strike an agreement on pandemic relief. Democrats have generally opposed legal immunity for businesses.
• GM swings to an $800 million loss as coronavirus shuttered factories and devastated sales in the second quarter. GM burned through billions of dollars in the second quarter but managed to beat Wall Street expectations. GM’s second-quarter U.S. vehicle sales fell 34% from a year ago. Investors are watching to see how much cash GM burned in the quarter as well as any guidance for the remainder of the year.

July 27, 2020

• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Monday that Republican senators will be introducing a coronavirus aid proposal, titled the HEALS Act, and hope to work with Democrats this week to quickly pass the legislation.
• Mexico has reported 46,273 new coronavirus cases in the past seven days alone, according to a CNN tally of data from the Mexican health ministry. The country also reported 4,506 related deaths in the same week. Mexico has now recorded a total of 390,516 cases and 43,680 deaths. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has said that the high numbers are due to "increased testing and a delay of the information," though Mexico has one of the lowest testing rates of any large country worldwide.

July 22, 2020

• The U.S. reported more than 1,000 coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday for the first time since May 29, according to the COVID-19 Tracking Project. Deaths from COVID-19 had slowed after months of lockdowns, but they're starting to tick back up again as new infections and hospitalizations continue to surge across the country.
• Six months into the pandemic, researchers are homing in on an answer to one of the basic questions about the virus: How deadly is it? Researchers, initially analyzing data from outbreaks on cruise ships and more recently from surveys of thousands of people in virus hot spots, have now conducted dozens of studies to calculate the infection fatality rate of Covid-19. Research suggests the new coronavirus kills about five to 10 people for every 1,000 that it infects, though rate varies based on age and access to health care.
• South Korean epidemiologists have found that people were more likely to contract the new coronavirus from members of their own households than from contacts outside the home. A study published in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on July 16 looked in detail at 5,706 "index patients" who had tested positive for the coronavirus and more than 59,000 people who came into contact with them. The findings showed that less than 2% of patients' non-household contacts had caught the virus, while nearly 12% of patients' household contacts had contracted the disease. By age group, the infection rate within the household was higher when the first confirmed cases were teenagers or people in their 60s and 70s.

July 20, 2020

• Eighty-five infants under age 1 have tested positive for coronavirus in one Texas county. And local officials are imploring residents to help stop its spread as the state becomes one of the newest hotspots.
• Florida reported 12,523 new cases of the coronavirus on Saturday, marking the fifth consecutive day the hot-spot state reported more than 10,000 cases, according to the state’s health department. The state has reported more than 11,865 new infections on average over the past seven days, up 29% from a week ago, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. “The residents here are terrified and I’m terrified, for the first time in my career because there’s a lack of leadership,” said Rep. Donna Shalala, D-Fla.
• Barcelona's streets were largely empty on Saturday, with millions of people instructed to stay at home as new coronavirus restrictions came into effect following a spike in the number of infections in the region over the past week. "It's a disaster," wails Maria Quintana, looking at her empty bar terrace by the Sagrada Familia in Spain's second city where the number of new cases has tripled to 800 in a week. In an announcement on Friday, the Catalan regional government urged nearly four million residents of metropolitan Barcelona to stay home unless absolutely necessary, banning gatherings of over 10 people and shutting cinemas, theatres and nightclubs.
• Golf legend Jack Nicklaus announced Sunday he and his wife, Barbara, both tested positive for the Covid-19 virus in March. The 80-year-old, who is hosting this week's Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, told CBS' Jim Nantz on Sunday that he dealt with a sore throat and cough and that his wife was asymptomatic. "It didn't last very long, and we were very, very fortunate, very lucky. Barbara and I are both of the age that is an at-risk age," the 18-time major champion said.
  Nicklaus said he and his wife tested positive on March 13 and stayed at their home in North Palm Beach, Florida, until they recovered on April 20. Nicklaus tested positive for the virus four times and his wife tested positive three times, but both have since tested negative for the virus and positive for the antibodies.

July 16, 2020

• Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp issued an executive order Wednesday night, which outright banned cities and counties in the state from issuing mask orders to help stop the spread of COVID-19. The move, despite neighboring states like Alabama requiring masks in public, voided mask mandates in 15 local jurisdictions in the Peach State where they had been implemented. While outlawing mask mandates, Kemp's executive order "strongly" encourages all residents and visitors in Georgia to "wear face coverings as practicable while outside their homes or place of residence, except when editing, drinking or exercising outdoors."
• Hopes are dimming that "herd immunity" can help stamp out the tenacious global pandemic amid growing concerns that people can be reinfected with COVID-19. Experts agree that claims of recurring infections require more study since we are only months into the health crisis and evidence has been anecdotal. But if it's proved that recovered patients can "catch" the virus a second time, it would affect their own immunity while also complicating efforts to obtain the Holy Grail of current medical research – effective vaccines. Recovery from the disease provides antibodies to fight off the infection. The shelf life of those antibodies, however, may be insufficient to protect a patient for very long or promote long-term immunity across populations.
• Ordinarily, your blood type makes very little difference in your daily life except if you need to have a blood transfusion. However, some studies have people wondering if blood type affects coronavirus risk. One, for instance, suggests that people with Type A may have a higher risk of catching Covid-19 and of developing severe symptoms while people with Type O blood may have a lower risk.
• The United States shattered its daily record for coronavirus infections on Thursday, reporting more than 77,000 new cases as the number of deaths in a 24-hour period rose by nearly 1,000, according to a Reuters tally. The loss of 969 lives was the biggest increase since June 10, with Florida, South Carolina and Texas all reporting their biggest one-day spikes on Thursday. More than 138,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, a toll that experts warn will likely surge following recent record spikes in case numbers and an alarming rise in hospitalizations in many states. 

July 15, 2020

• Moderna Inc.’s efforts to come up with a Covid-19 vaccine moved forward, with a report in the New England Journal of Medicine saying it was able to produce antibodies to the coronavirus in all patients in an early trial. The neutralizing antibody levels produced were equivalent to the upper half of what’s seen in patients who get infected with the virus and recover, according to the results published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The Moderna vaccine is one of the farthest along for Covid-19.
• CDC says U.S. could get coronavirus under control in one to two months if everyone wears a mask. Both the CDC and the World Health Organization now recommend that people wear masks as a way to slow the spread of the virus. Scientists say the virus can spread through respiratory droplets that pass when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Not all states in the U.S. have issued mask mandates, and some with surging outbreaks, including Florida, have left it up to local cities and counties.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 9% of workers at meat and poultry processing facilities across 14 states have been diagnosed with Covid-19. As of May 31, 86 worker deaths across 23 states can be tied to Covid-19, the CDC said. Nearly 240 meat processing facilities had at least one confirmed case among its workers.

July 14, 2020

• The U.S. for the first time surpassed more than 60,000 new coronavirus cases on Monday, based on an average of new cases per day over the previous seven days, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. More than a third of U.S. states reported record highs in daily new cases Monday, based on an average over the previous seven days. On Monday, 14 states also reached record highs average hospitalization numbers, including Texas, California and Arizona.
• Amid one of the worst public-health crises in history, a record number of Americans are without health insurance. More than 5.4 million people who were laid off from their jobs are uninsured, according to a new study by Families USA, an advocacy group. For comparison, 3.9 million people became uninsured in the Great Recession between 2008 and 2009. Here’s what you can do to get covered.
• Doctors in France have reported the first known confirmed case of an unborn baby contracting COVID-19 from their mother while still in the womb. The case was published on Tuesday in Nature Communications journal. The authors said the baby's brain bore evidence of inflammation caused by the coronavirus. They also said they found sufficient evidence that it had crossed into the baby through the placenta. Several previous studies indicated that placental or cervical transmission was possible, but the case study from the Antoine Béclère hospital in Paris now serves as proof. But it is very rare. The paper's lead author said "pregnant women should be reassured" because "in most cases there will be no damage to the baby."

July 13, 2020

• Two experimental coronavirus vaccines jointly developed by German biotech firm BioNTech and U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer have received ‘fast track’ designation from the U.S. drug regulator, the companies said on Monday. The candidates, BNT162b1 and BNT162b2, are the most advanced of at least four vaccines being assessed by the companies in ongoing trials in the United States and Germany. If the ongoing studies are successful, and the vaccine candidate receives regulatory approval, the companies said they expect to make up to 100 million doses by the end of this year and potentially more than 1.2 billion doses by 2021-end.
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday ordered all counties in the state to close all bars and the indoor operations of businesses including restaurants, movie theaters and museums, as Covid-19 cases continue to climb. The businesses will be allowed to operate outdoors, if possible, except for bars, he said. In addition to the statewide order, Newsom said he would also close indoor operations for fitness centers, worship services, personal care services, malls, offices, hair salons and barbershops for 30 counties on California’s monitoring list, which represent 80% of the state’s population.
• Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said Monday he wants to see if existing restaurant restrictions, an ongoing 10 p.m. curfew and a countywide mask order help stabilize the county’s alarming COVID numbers before forcing more businesses to close. Gimenez is under pressure on both sides, with cities and restaurant groups criticizing last week’s ban on indoor dining and Miami-Dade seeing much more coronavirus spread and hospitalizations than when the county mayor ordered all nonessential businesses to close in March.

July 12, 2020

• New cases of COVID-19 rose by over 69,000 across the United States on Friday, according to a Reuters tally, setting a record for the third consecutive day as Walt Disney Co stuck to its plans to reopen its flagship theme park in hard-hit Florida. A total of nine U.S. states - Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Ohio, Utah and Wisconsin - also reached records for single-day infections.
• Elliot Truslow went to a CVS drugstore on June 15 in Tucson, Arizona, to get tested for the coronavirus. The drive-thru nasal swab test took less than 15 minutes.
  More than 22 days later, the University of Arizona graduate student was still waiting for results. CVS told Truslow to expect results in two to four days, but 22 days later, still nothing. Truslow was initially told it would take two to four days. Then CVS said five or six days. On the sixth day, the pharmacy estimated it would take 10 days. Truslow’s experience is an extreme example of the growing and often excruciating waits for COVID-19 test results in the United States.
• The Florida Department of Health has reported at least 15,299 new Covid-19 cases, the highest number of new cases in a single day by any state since the coronavirus pandemic began. The record-setting number from Saturday was reported by the state Sunday morning. But it's not just the number of new cases that's concerning. The test positivity rate -- which can indicate how rampantly the virus is spreading -- reached 19.6% as of Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Across the country, more than half the states are dealing with increased rates of new cases compared to last week. And more than half the states have paused or rolled back their reopening plans in hopes of getting coronavirus under control. Now, some state and local leaders are at odds over what to do next.

July 9, 2020

• Researchers from the University of Houston designed an air filter that can trap the virus responsible for COVID-19, killing it instantly.
• Layoffs associated with the coronavirus pandemic have hit lower-income workers much more than those at the highest end of the pay scale, but their compensation while off the job can double their typical wages.
• States with rapidly expanding coronavirus outbreaks should seriously consider “shutting down” like the country did when the virus first hit the U.S. in March, White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said Thursday.

July 8, 2020

• Texas reported more than 10,000 new Covid-19 cases Tuesday, a record-breaking daily surge as the state responds to a growing outbreak and rising hospitalizations.
• The director-general of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said Tuesday the coronavirus outbreak is "accelerating, and we have clearly not reached the peak of the pandemic."
• Model projects 200K US Covid-19 deaths if masks aren't worn.
• Experts claim the coronavirus can linger in the air, but the WHO believes the science isn't definitive. It is expected to release a brief within the coming days.
• The 2020 coronavirus and 1918 Spanish influenza pandemics share many similarities, but they also diverge on one key point. “A major difference between Spanish flu and COVID-19 is the age distribution of fatalities,” according to Deutsche Bank DB, +0.91%. “For COVID-19, the elderly have been overwhelmingly the worst hit. For the Spanish flu of 1918, the young working-age population were severely affected too. In fact, the death rate from pneumonia and influenza that year among 25-34-year-olds in the United States was more than 50% higher than that for 65-74-year-olds. A remarkable difference to Covid-19.”
• Now, a new study from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in the U.K. shows why it's particularly important to get frequently tested: 78 percent of people who tested positive for COVID-19 showed no symptoms when they got swabbed.

July 6, 2020

• The United States reported more than 55,000 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday July 2nd, a new daily global record for the coronavirus pandemic, as infections rose in a majority of states.
• The number of coronavirus cases increased in the vast majority of states over the last week, and decreased in only two states plus the District of Columbia.
• The US notched 57,683 COVID-19 cases in 24 hours Friday, a tally by Johns Hopkins University showed, the third consecutive day with record numbers of new infections.
• Some scientists now say their findings show that the coronavirus is airborne. This means particles can linger in the air and indoor spaces while infecting others when these particles are inhaled.
• The "donation haircut after social distancing" may be one of the first beauty trends to happen as a result of COVID-19. Search #hairdonations on Instagram or Twitter and you’ll be flooded with images of people, many of them in salons in masks, proudly showing off their before and after shots, often holding the lobbed off ponytails and braids that will be sent off to charity organizations.

July 2, 2020

• The United States and South Africa have both reported record new daily coronavirus infections, with U.S. figures surpassing 50,000 cases a day for the first time, underlining the challenges still ahead as nations press to reopen their virus-devastated economies.

July 1, 2020

• Some high-end Manhattan hotels aren’t thoroughly cleaning rooms between guests amid the coronavirus pandemic, a new report found. Three different Midtown hotels didn’t even bother to change pillowcases or wipe down commonly used surfaces, according to an investigation by Inside Edition set to air Monday night.
• It doesn’t matter if you feel sick or you feel like a million bucks. Even asymptomatic COVID-19 patients can not only infect others directly, but also contaminate the surrounding environment. That’s the conclusion drawn from a new study using Chinese data. The study’s authors say their findings emphasize the importance of hospitals properly cleaning all areas touched or inhabited by all COVID-19 patients. “Placement of COVID-19 patients in rooms with negative pressure may bring a false feeling of safety and rigorous environment cleaning should be emphasized,” writes lead study author Zhiyong Zong, from the Department of Infection Control at West China Hospital.
• Only a few weeks ago, thousands of Southern Californians were flocking to beaches, Disneyland was announcing it would soon reopen and Whoopi Goldberg was lauding Gov. Gavin Newsom on “The View” for the state’s progress in combating the coronavirus. The worst, many in California thought, was behind them. In fact, an alarming surge in cases up and down the state was only just beginning. Over the past week California’s case count has exploded, surpassing 200,000 known infections, and forcing Mr. Newsom to roll back the state’s reopening in some counties. On Monday, he said the number of people hospitalized in California had risen 43 percent over the past two weeks.

June 30, 2020

• The COVID-19 pandemic is not even close to being over, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing on Monday. Tedros noted that, six months after China first alerted the WHO to a novel respiratory infection, the grim milestones of 10 million confirmed infections and 500,000 deaths had been reached. "Most people remain susceptible, the virus still has a lot of room to move," he said. "We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives. But the hard reality is that this is not even close to being over. Although many countries have made some progress globally, the pandemic is actually speeding up."
• At least 16 states have paused or rolled back their reopening plans as the United States sees a surge in coronavirus cases across the country. With July 4 celebrations approaching, officials are trying not to repeat scenes from Memorial Day, when thousands flocked to beaches, bars and parties while experts cautioned that crowds could lead to spikes in cases down the road. In Texas and parts of California, bars were directed to close back down, while beaches in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach were ordered off-limits to the public during the upcoming holiday weekend. In Florida, on-premises alcohol consumption was suspended in bars statewide. The risk of keeping bars and restaurants open is exemplified by a bar in East Lansing, Michigan, where 85 people contracted Covid-19 after visiting early this month.

June 29, 2020

• Only two US states are reporting a decline in new coronavirus cases compared to last week: Connecticut and Rhode Island. A rise was reported in a staggering 36 states, including Florida, which some experts have cautioned could be the next epicenter for infections. Officials there and across the US are also warning of an increase in cases among younger people.
• Gilead Sciences Inc. detailed its pricing plans for Covid-19 drug remdesivir, saying it will charge U.S. hospitals $3,120 for a typical patient. The drugmaker on Monday disclosed its pricing plans as it prepares to begin charging for the drug in July. The U.S. has been distributing remdesivir donated by Gilead since the drug was authorized for emergency use in May.
• New York malls will need high quality air systems that can filter out the coronavirus before they will be allowed to reopen, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Monday. High efficiency particle air filters, or HEPA filters, have been shown to help reduce the presence of Covid-19 in the air, according to a presentation from Cuomo. He said the state recommends all businesses and offices “explore the potential for their air conditioning air filtration system.”
• The Business Roundtable, a trade group representing the CEOs of the country’s biggest companies, released its second-quarter report on Monday. Most of the CEOs said they expect the business impact from the coronavirus lingering until at least the end of 2021. But nearly a third expect the recovery to stretch beyond 2021.

June 27, 2020

• The virus that ravaged Northeastern U.S. cities is surging through Southern and Western states. It’s different this time. Younger people are getting sick with Covid-19. States that had brief coronavirus lockdowns are struggling to encourage social distancing and mask-wearing. Many people appear to have embraced their usual summer rituals. Health officials are sounding alarms about a surge in cases racing not through nursing homes, but bars and house parties. Hospitals are filling with medically-vulnerable elderly.
• Congestion or runny nose, nausea and diarrhea were added to the wide range of possible COVID-19 symptoms listed on the federal agency's website. The added symptoms come as almost 125,000 Americans have died of coronavirus, the highest known death toll from the highly infectious disease in the world. It appears the official change to the list of symptoms were secretly added to the CDC website on May 13, according to OurCommunityNow.
• Florida’s Department of Health on Saturday confirmed 9,585 new cases of COVID-19, surpassing Friday’s record-breaking 8,942 cases. The new cases brings the state total of confirmed cases to 132, 545. There were also 24 new deaths announced Saturday, bringing the statewide death toll to 3,390. In just over a week, Florida has reported nearly 40,000 new cases, which accounts for about a third of all the confirmed cases in the state since the pandemic began.
• Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez announced late Friday night he plans to shut down Miami-area beaches during the upcoming July 4 holiday weekend and possibly longer in response to the recent surge in coronavirus cases. "After consulting with our county's public health experts, I will be signing an emergency order on Saturday to close all beaches in Miami-Dade County starting Friday, July 3, and ending Tuesday, July 7," the mayor said in a statement released Friday night. Florida state officials have ordered all consumption of on-premises alcohol suspended at bars statewide.

June 26, 2020

• Around 80 percent of people who contract coronavirus are asymptomatic, according to the World Health Organization. And while showing no symptoms is a better outcome than having severe symptoms that require hospitalization, there is a downside to being an asymptomatic COVID-19 carrier as well. According to new research, it may actually mean that you're more likely to get the coronavirus again.
• Texas pauses reopening plan and elective surgeries as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations rise. Businesses that were permitted to open under the previous phases can continue to operate at the designated occupancy outlined by the Texas Department of State Health Services, according to statement from Gov. Greg Abbott’s office. Earlier Thursday, Abbott ordered all licensed hospitals in hard-hit Bexar, Dallas, Harris and Travis counties to postpone elective procedures in order to protect hospital capacity for Covid-19 patients. Those counties include the state’s largest cities — Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Austin.
• The European Union will bar most travelers from the United States, Russia and dozens of other countries considered too risky because they have not controlled the coronavirus outbreak, EU officials said Friday. By contrast, travelers from more than a dozen countries that are not overwhelmed by the coronavirus will be welcomed when the bloc reopens after months of lockdown Wednesday. The acceptable countries also include China — but only if China allows EU travelers to visit as well, the officials said. The list of safe countries was completed by EU senior diplomats in Brussels after tortuous negotiations on how to reopen the 27-member bloc to commerce and tourism under a common set of standards after months of lockdown.

June 25, 2020

• New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will impose a quarantine on travelers from any state where infections pass a certain level. The order currently applies to eight states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah, and Texas. The 14-day self-quarantine order mirrors similar orders other states imposed on New Yorkers earlier in the crisis. The order, which went into effect at 11:59 p.m. ET Wednesday, does not block people from traveling. But it does make clear that if you've been in a state that meets the guidelines -- like taking a vacation to Florida and then coming home, or visiting New York from Texas on business -- you will have to quarantine for 14 days on arriving. Airports and highways will have reminder signs, and hotels will be asked to inform guests as well.
• The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday painted a bleak portrait of the global economy, saying the coronavirus pandemic has caused more widespread damage than expected and will be followed by a sluggish recovery. The global economy will shrink this year by 4.9 percent, worse than the 3 percent decline predicted in April, the IMF said. No major economy is escaping the pandemic. The U.S. economy, the world’s largest, is expected to shrink this year by 8 percent. Countries that use the single European currency are headed for a decline of more than 10 percent while Japanese output will fall by 5.8 percent, the IMF said.
• The U.S. saw a record number of new coronavirus cases in a single day, with 45,557 diagnoses reported Wednesday, according to a tally by NBC News.
  Wednesday’s cases top the previous highest daily count from April 26 — during the first peak of the pandemic in the U.S. — by more than 9,000 cases, according to NBC News’ tracking data. The World Health Organization reported its single-day record on Sunday, with more than 183,000 new cases worldwide. Health experts said Monday that the resurgence in cases in Southern and Western states can be traced to Memorial Day, when many officials began loosening lockdowns and reopening businesses.

June 24, 2020

• As several states start to see a surge in COVID-19 cases since reopening, Ohio has not. Ohio has gradually lifted its stay-at-home order over the past six weeks. The result: a plateau in newly reported cases and a decline in hospitalizations, both reported and estimates of people currently hospitalized.
• Employers cannot require coronavirus antibody testing for employees returning to work, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in guidance issued Wednesday. Employers can test workers for COVID-19 under the Americans With Disabilities Act. They can require workers to wear masks and have their temperatures checked without violating federal law, according to the EEOC, which polices workplace discrimination.
• Are you worried about getting coronavirus if you dine out or order in? Here’s some good news: The risk of getting the disease from consuming food is “thought to be very low,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Coronaviruses, like the one that causes COVID-19, are thought to spread mostly person-to-person through respiratory droplets when someone coughs, sneezes, or talks,” the CDC said Monday. That news comes as more than 3,000 New York City restaurants reopened for outdoor dining on Monday as part of the state’s Phase 2 reopening policy.

June 23, 2020

• The U.S reported more than 30,000 new coronavirus cases on Friday and Saturday, the highest daily totals since May 1, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. New cases across the country are surging faster than ever, especially in states in the South, West and Midwest. Seven states hit record cases on Saturday, including Florida and South Carolina, which had their third consecutive day breaking single-day records. Missouri, Nevada, Montana, Utah and Arizona also hit records.
• China suspends imports of poultry from Tyson plant over coronavirus concerns. The General Administration of Customs said on its website it had decided on the suspension after the company confirmed a cluster of coronavirus cases at the plant, which is located in Springdale, Arkansas. China has stepped up its oversight of imported foods after a new cluster of coronavirus cases were linked to a sprawling wholesale food market in the capital just over a week ago. On Friday, customs asked food exporters to sign a declaration that their produce is not contaminated by the novel coronavirus.

June 22, 2020

• The news in the US has been dominated by anti-racism protests for the past couple of weeks, but coronavirus is now back in the headlines. Several states have seen a record number of cases in recent days, leading to fears that the country is experiencing a second wave of infections. But Vice-President Mike Pence said those fears were "overblown" and accused the media of using "grim predictions" to scare the American people. So what is going on in the US?
• Officials in states across the South are warning that more young people are testing positive for coronavirus. The shifts in demographics have been recorded in parts of Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Texas and other states -- many of which were some of the first to reopen. And while some officials have pointed to more widespread testing being done, others say the new cases stem from Americans failing to social distance.
• The World Health Organization on Sunday reported the largest single-day increase in coronavirus cases by its count, at more than 183,000 new cases in the latest 24 hours. The UN health agency said Brazil led the way with 54,771 cases tallied and the U.S. next at 36,617. Over 15,400 came in in India. Experts said rising case counts can reflect multiple factors including more widespread testing as well as broader infection. Overall in the pandemic, WHO reported 8,708,008 cases — 183,020 in the last 24 hours — with 461,715 deaths worldwide, with a daily increase of 4,743.

June 19, 2020

• China has found the trading sections for meat and seafood in Beijing’s wholesale food market to be severely contaminated with the new coronavirus and suspects the area’s low temperature and high humidity may have been contributing factors, officials said on Thursday. Their preliminary report comes as the country’s capital tackles a resurgence of COVID-19 cases over the past week linked to the massive Xinfadi food center, which houses warehouses and trading halls in an area the size of nearly 160 soccer pitches.
• California on Thursday started requiring people throughout the state to wear masks in most indoor settings and outdoors when distancing isn't possible. The order came as California broadly reopens its economy. In most counties, people can now shop, dine in at restaurants, get their hair done and go to church, among other things.
• The coronavirus was present in Milan and Turin’s sewage systems as early as December, two months before the first Covid-19 cases were detected in Italy, a new study shows. “Traces of SARS-Cov-2 have been found in samples of waste water taken in Milan and Turin on Dec. 18 and in Bologna on Jan. 29,” said Giuseppina La Rosa, who led the research for a coming study from the country’s ISS National Health Institute. “More traces were detected in other test samples through January and February.”

June 18, 2020

• Scientists hail dexamethasone as ‘major breakthrough’ in treating coronavirus. Dexamethasone, a cheap and widely used steroid, has become the first drug shown to be able to save lives among Covid-19 patients in what scientists hailed as a “major breakthrough”. Results of trials announced on Tuesday showed dexamethasone, which is used to reduce inflammation in other diseases, reduced death rates by around a third among the most severely ill Covid-19 patients admitted to hospital.
• Bank of England adds another £100 billion to bond-buying program to combat coronavirus slowdown. The Bank resisted taking interest rates into negative territory, a decision being closely watched by investors, instead opting to hold its main lending rate steady at 0.1%. Rates have been reduced twice from 0.75% since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
• As of 2 a.m. Thursday, Gila River Hotels & Casinos shuttered all three of its properties for two weeks amid a recent rise in COVID-19 cases in Arizona. Leaders at Gila River Hotels & Casinos declined The Arizona Republic's repeated requests to confirm the number of employees who have tested positive for COVID-19, saying that they will not disclose the information to "protect the privacy" of their workers. The announcement comes a week after a security guard at Lone Butte Casino died of complications related to COVID-19, according to his family. This is the second closure for the casinos. Like other tribal casinos across Arizona, Gila River's three casinos shut down because of COVID-19 in mid-March. The Gila River casinos initially reopened May 15, the same day Gov. Doug Ducey lifted Arizona’s stay-at-home order.
• Early coronavirus testing data from a handful of U.S. cities and states suggest that recent protests against racial injustices haven't yet led to a marked uptick in new cases. Public-health officials warn that the data is still preliminary, however, and protest-related cases could still rise.

June 17, 2020

• Brazil ignored the warnings. Now, while other countries fret over a second coronavirus wave, it can’t get past its first.
• As the coronavirus pandemic continues, it has become clear that asymptomatic COVID-19 cases are cause for concern. A study published in the journal Nature Medicine found that almost half of the cases studied were infected by someone who did not show symptoms. Asymptomatic cases are especially dangerous because the coronavirus carrier does not know they have the virus, which means they are still living life normally, which can potentially contribute to more transmissions. That's why identifying asymptomatic individuals and ensuring they self-isolate could be integral to mitigating the spread of COVID-19. As it turns out, one age group in particular has an overwhelmingly high number of asymptomatic cases.
• A coronavirus model once used by the White House now projects more than 200,000 Americans could die of COVID-19 by October 1. The prediction went up by more than 30,000 since last week. As of Tuesday, more than 116,000 people in the U.S. have died of the coronavirus, and the death toll is still growing by hundreds per day. Infection rates and hospitalizations are rising in numerous states as businesses open up and people drop precautions.
• African-Americans and Latinos are vastly overrepresented when it comes to coronavirus infections, according to an analysis released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday morning. The findings provide additional confirmation that, as the CDC’s own report says, black and brown communities have been “disproportionately affected” by the pandemic. The new data, the first from the federal government to fully describe the pandemic’s racial impact, comes amid continuing protests against police killings of black men. Those protests have highlighted broader inequalities in American society, including those pertaining to how widely different communities can access proper health care.
• A woman in Dallas is fighting her second battle against the coronavirus. Meredith McKee first tested positive for the potentially deadly virus in February, diagnosed after feeling "clear and obvious" symptoms, she told NBC 5. "I had a dry cough like you would not believe. It would not stop,” McKee recalled, explaining that she managed to fight off the first bout of the virus from home. She even donated some of her plasma after testing positive for antibodies. However, last week, McKee shared a tearful photo of herself from a hospital bed at Texas Health Presbyterian in Dallas. After admitting herself with high blood pressure and a headache on Friday, she found out she was one again positive for COVID-19 four months after her initial diagnosis.

June 16, 2020

• Coronavirus may sway regulators to allow casinos to say good-bye to cash. No states currently allow cashless payments on casino floors. The CDC recommends mobile payments to limit the handling of cash, and therefore, risk of Covid-19 exposure. More than half of casino customers say they are less likely to use cash in their everyday lives because of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report released Tuesday by the American Gaming Association.
• Authorities in Beijing have described the city’s coronavirus outbreak as “extremely severe” as dozens more cases emerged and travel from the city was curtailed.
  Additional neighborhoods were fenced off on Tuesday, with security checkpoints set up at residential compounds, and high-risk people – such as close contacts of people who test positive – prevented from leaving the city. The outbreak is the most significant in China since February, prompting fears of a second wave and questions over how the virus was able to spread given severe quarantine measures taken by authorities. The outbreak is potentially embarrassing for Beijing, which had declared victory over the virus and ordered citizens back to work.
• Researchers on Tuesday announced the first drug shown to save lives among severely ill coronavirus patients, offering hope even as infection rates rose in Africa and Asia, and there were worrisome upticks of contagion in countries that had largely contained the virus. The cheap, widely available steroid, called dexamethasone, reduced deaths by 35% in patients who needed treatment with breathing machines and by 20% in those only needing supplemental oxygen, the researches said in England. It did not appear to help less ill patients.
• Coronavirus infections continued to rise in many parts of a divided nation on Monday, with public health recommendations under attack from communities tired of staying home and officials eager to restart local economies. Even as the number of infections rose and hospital beds filled in some places, voices clamored for an end to mandatory mask-wearing. And relaxation of restrictions designed to curb the novel coronavirus continued.
• One in five people worldwide is at risk of developing ‘severe’ cases of Covid-19, scientists claim. Since the beginning of the outbreak, health authorities around the world have agreed that people with chronic illnesses are most prone to developing severe or fatal symptoms of the coronavirus. In a study published on Monday in the Lancet medical journal, researchers from the U.K., China and the U.S. calculated how many people worldwide had pre-existing health conditions that increased their risk of being severely impacted by the virus. According to the paper, 1.7 billion people around the world — or 22% of the global population — are at “increased risk” of developing severe symptoms if infected with Covid-19.

June 15, 2020

• We classify coronavirus cases as one of three categories—mild, moderate, or severe—and at face value, these designations may seem simple enough. Yet according to a new study out of Emory University School of Medicine, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, many patients with milder cases of coronavirus have experienced enduring symptoms. Though these patients were able to avoid the hospital and other serious medical intervention, over 40 percent reported one lingering problem three weeks after their symptoms first appeared: they still had a persistent cough.
• Italy, the first major European country to roll out a smartphone app to trace COVID-19 infections that does not rely on a centralised database, has already seen 2.2 million downloads in 10 days, a sign Italians are setting aside privacy concerns. The government, like those of other European countries hit by the virus, is touting the software as a vital tool to help avoid a second wave of infections. Germany launches its own version next week.
• It's an outcome no one wants, but could become a "harsh reality": a second wave of shutdowns. Weeks after lifting stay-at-home orders, some states are seeing record numbers of hospitalizations from Covid-19 as thousands more Americans get infected every day. "We're going to have to face the harsh reality in some states that we may need to shut down again," said Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a professor at George Washington University School of Medicine. And the second wave of state shutdowns could be more damaging than the first.
• If Covid-19 cases keep rising in the weeks to come, city and state leaders might reimpose a strict lockdown. They should bear in mind who’d be harmed most by the ensuing economic destruction. From February to April, the number of active black business owners fell 41%, according to an analysis last week from the National Bureau of Economic Research.

June 12, 2020

• How New York’s Coronavirus Response Made the Pandemic Worse: New York leaders faced an unanticipated crisis as the new coronavirus overwhelmed the nation’s largest city. Their response was marred by missed warning signs and policies that many health-care workers say put residents at greater risk and led to unnecessary deaths. In the first few days of March, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio assured New Yorkers things were under control. On March 2, Mr. de Blasio tweeted that people should go see a movie.
• A second wave of coronavirus cases is emerging in the U.S., raising alarms as new infections push the overall count past 2 million Americans. Texas on Wednesday reported 2,504 new coronavirus cases, the highest one-day total since the pandemic emerged. A month into its reopening, Florida this week reported 8,553 new cases -- the most of any seven-day period. California’s hospitalizations are at their highest since May 13 and have risen in nine of the past 10 days.

June 11, 2020

• Coronavirus cases across the US are spiking up again after states eagerly reopened and as protesters demonstrated George Floyd’s death in large gatherings throughout the country. In 21 states, including Arizona, Arkansas, and Utah, cases are rising again after the states reopened local businesses amid the outbreak.
• As Ohio struggles to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic and the accompanying bad economic times, new projections of the tax collections underlying the 2020-21 state budget are downright grim. State tax collections are expected to fall $2.292 billion, or 9.4%, amid the fiscal fallout from the virus crisis, the Office of Budget and Management announced Wednesday. Sales-tax revenue is forecast to drop 13%, accompanied by a 7.2% decrease in income-tax take and a 9.9% reduction in the commercial activity taxes paid by businesses in the budget year beginning July 1. After accounting for losses in investment earnings and other funds, the state projects there will be a $2.43 billion hole in what’s needed to fully fund the $35 billion general revenue fund. To put that number in context, it’s only $374 million less than annual state spending on higher education.
• The WHO’s remark that transmission of the coronavirus by people who never developed symptoms was rare “was not correct,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said. The organization “walked that back because there’s no evidence to indicate that’s the case,” he said. The WHO said its comment was a “misunderstanding” and “we don’t actually have that answer yet.”
• The federal government plans to fund and conduct the decisive studies of three experimental coronavirus vaccines starting this summer, according to a lead government vaccine researcher. These phase 3 trials are expected to involve tens of thousands of subjects at dozens of sites around the U.S., John Mascola, director of the vaccine research center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said. Meant to determine a vaccine’s safety and effectiveness, they would mark the final stage of testing.

June 10, 2020

• As the number of new coronavirus cases continues to increase worldwide, and more than a dozen states and Puerto Rico are recording their highest averages of new cases since the pandemic began, hospitalizations in at least nine states have been on the rise since Memorial Day. In Texas, North and South Carolina, California, Oregon, Arkansas, Mississippi, Utah and Arizona, there are an increasing number of patients under supervised care since the holiday weekend because of covid-19 infections. The spikes generally began in the past couple weeks and in most states, are trending higher.
• Texas has reported two consecutive days of record-breaking Covid-19 hospitalizations as the state continues to open businesses and resume activities that were temporarily shuttered due to the coronavirus. There are currently 2,056 patients sickened with Covid-19 in hospitals across the state as of early Tuesday afternoon, up from a record 1,935 patients Monday, according to updated data from the Texas Department of State Health Services. Texas was among the first states to relax its statewide stay-at-home order, allowing it to expire April 30 and some businesses to resume operations May 1.
• Cases and hospitalizations are going up again in parts of California, causing the state to place nine counties on a watchlist, according to Reuters. Entertainment venues, including movie theaters, can reopen on Friday in California, according to guidance released by Gov. Gavin Newsom. California is currently in the second stage of its four-phase reopening plan, which focuses on reopening lower-risk workplaces. However, entertainment venues are classified as higher-risk businesses, which weren’t set to open until the third stage of the state’s reopening.

June 9, 2020

• There are currently 1,935 Covid-19 patients in hospitals across the state of Texas, topping the previous hospitalization record of 1,888 patients on May 5, according to new data from the Texas Department of State Health Services. Texas was among the first states to relax its statewide stay-at-home order, allowing it to expire April 30 and some businesses to resume operations May 1. The coronavirus has infected more than 75,400 people in Texas, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
• Government responses should focus on detecting and isolating infected people with symptoms, the World Health Organization said. Preliminary evidence from the earliest outbreaks indicated the virus could spread even if people didn’t have symptoms. But the WHO says that while asymptomatic spread can occur, it is “very rare.”
• Santa Clara County health officer Dr. Sara Cody said in a Board of Supervisors meeting Monday that a small rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations is "likely" related to the county's reopening measures in May.
• On Monday, the former epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States began the first phase of its reopening. With New York City finally beginning to ease out of lockdown, it’s tempting to think that the virus is behind us. Indeed, millions of Americans seem to be behaving as if it is. But in some states, the data is discouraging. It’s not just that the number of positive cases is continuing to rise; that was expected with the availability of widespread testing. In some places, hospitalizations are increasing. This is all taking place amid the backdrop of civil unrest in some American cities, which is bringing people into uncomfortably close contact with one another, and the loosening of restrictions meant to slow the virus’s spread. More than 100 days after the first coronavirus case in the U.S., here are the states where things are still getting worse.

June 8, 2020

• Brazil faces criticism over coronavirus data. Over the weekend, the country’s health ministry took down months of coronavirus data from its website and stopped releasing total numbers for reported infections and deaths, according to the news agency. The health ministry explained the move on Monday, saying it had to correct mistakes in the data from two states, the report said. It also said that cumulative infections in Brazil reached 707,412 in the last day, while the death toll rose to 37,134, Reuters said. The Brazilian government has faced mounting criticism over the transparency and credibility of its data. 
  Exports out of Germany plunged by 31.1% in April compared to the same month a year ago — the steepest decline since the data was first published in 1950, according to the country’s statistics office. 
• Coronavirus outbreaks at U.S. meatpacking plants continue to soar as the beleaguered industry ramps up production, scales back plant closures and tries to return to normal in the weeks after President Donald Trump declared it an essential operation.
• Understandably, people are nervous about leaving their homes for groceries or for a stroll, let alone traveling and staying in a hotel. But as confinement restrictions ease, many are itching to have a getaway. And, after the unprecedented global spring shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic left millions of hotel rooms empty, the hotel industry is making all efforts to gain public trust and rebuild business. Certainly, hotel cleaning protocols top that list and will be highly visible. Hoteliers want guests to see their efforts and feel confident and are promising deep cleaning,  enhanced cleaning, and retraining staff on proper cleaning techniques – even down to disinfecting key cards.
• Memory loss, gnarled fingers, panic attacks: COVID-19 didn't kill these Americans, but many might never be the same. Many of the 1.7 million Americans who've contracted coronavirus deal with lingering symptoms and a life unrecognizable from the one they had before.

June 4, 2020

• 'Best day ever': Gamblers flock to downtown Las Vegas on first night of casino reopenings.
• The large crowds of people at the Lake of the Ozarks over Memorial Day weekend have not led to any more reported cases of COVID-19, Missouri’s top health official health department said Wednesday. “The answer, to our knowledge, is no,” Dr. Randall Williams, director of the Department of Health and Senior Services, said when asked whether more cases have come from the gatherings, photos of which showed throngs of people close together without wearing masks.

June 3, 2020

• Could you have had COVID-19 and not even realized it? Possibly. "The majority of people who contract the coronavirus will experience mild symptoms, the most common being a high temperature and a new, dry and continuous cough. A smaller percentage of people will experience more severe symptoms," explains Dr. Daniel Atkinson, GP Clinical Lead at Treated.com. However, because the coronavirus actually has a spectrum of symptoms—some so mild they are barely noticeable or easily confused with something else—it can go unnoticed or undiagnosed. Read on to discover the 17 subtle signs you've already had coronavirus.
• Retirees across the United States were already overwhelmed and underprepared for their futures before the coronavirus, but uncertainties about the health-care system and economy are making it harder to plan ahead. There may be some relief in sight. The good news: COVID-19 could spark numerous outcomes that improve retirement security, according to a paper distributed by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Health insurance and pensions may be disassociated from employers, so that people aren’t at risk of losing their insurance or cutting their retirement savings in the event of a job loss, said Olivia Mitchell the researcher behind the paper and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

May 28, 2020

• Global ad spend is set to fall by almost $50 billion this year as businesses in all sectors cancel or postpone media buys. The ad market will reduce by 8.1%, or $49.6 billion, according to data from the World Advertising Research Center (WARC) published Thursday, compared to a previously forecast growth of 7.1%. This means that overall global ad spend is forecast to reach $563 billion this year, down from a previously projected $612.6 billion.

May 27, 2020

• Maintaining a healthy lifestyle, exercise regimen, and diet is difficult in the best of times, and it’s become that much harder in the wake of COVID-19. With gyms shut down, many Americans have turned to junk food and late night snacks to calm their viral nerves over the past few months. While college students have long fought to keep off the infamous “freshman 15,” adults of all ages are now swearing off the newly-dubbed “COVID-15.” In fact, according to a new survey of 2,000 U.S. citizens, one in two (49%) are afraid they’ll never get their pre-quarantine body back.
• Ford is ready to bring the heat to the coronavirus fight. The automaker has developed a software update for some of its Explorer-based Police Interceptor Utility patrol vehicles that allows them to use the climate control system to raise the cabin temperature to 133 degrees for 15 minutes to help kill any coronavirus inside. Research conducted in conjunction with The Ohio State University found that the cycle could reduce concentrations of the virus present by up to 99 percent.
• As the U.S. continues to battle the novel coronavirus outbreak, fears over a second wave of cases have been looming over the country. While there is no doubt that more cases will continue to emerge in the months ahead, it's not too late for America to prevent a second wave of COVID-19, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and member of the White House COVID-19 task force.

May 26, 2020

• As more places across the US offer people a chance to shop or dine inside, the issue of whether to wear a mask has again become a flashpoint. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends wearing a cloth face covering in public when it is hard to stay socially distant. But some Americans have resisted wearing a face covering, arguing that adhering to mask wearing rules feels like a forfeiture of their freedoms.
•  “No mask, No service” signs are popping up at all kinds of businesses as the country begins to slowly reopen after the coronavirus pandemic shutdown that began in March. Some retail chains, like Costco Wholesale, have already started to require masks for all customers and employees. The move follows a flood of videos on social media showing shoppers who refuse to wear face masks being confronted by store employees (and other shoppers, in some cases) who explain that customers are required to wear masks. But can store owners legally enforce that policy? The short answer is yes, as long as they don’t discriminate against anyone on the basis of “protected classes” such as gender, race, age, disability, national origin and religion.
• There have been over 1.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases and over 94,000 deaths as of May 21, but the rate of spread of the coronavirus appears to be slowing in some parts of the country. The U.S. has not had a day with over 30,000 new infections since May 2. While infections are trending down nationwide, not every state has seen the worst of the pandemic yet. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed projections from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation which provides estimated peak COVID-19 dates in every state, both in terms of the total number of estimated active infections and the total number of hospital beds needed to treat COVID-19 patients. Unlike frequently cited confirmed infections data, the IMHE active infection estimate takes into account people who are asymptomatic or untested.

May 25, 2020

• Countries where coronavirus infections are declining could still face an “immediate second peak” if they let up too soon on measures to halt the outbreak, the World Health Organization said on Monday. The world is still in the middle of the first wave of the coronavirus outbreak, WHO emergencies head Dr Mike Ryan told an online briefing, noting that while cases are declining in many countries they are still increasing in Central and South America, South Asia and Africa. Ryan said epidemics often come in waves, which means that outbreaks could come back later this year in places where the first wave has subsided. There was also a chance that infection rates could rise again more quickly if measures to halt the first wave were lifted too soon.
• The Memorial Day weekend marking the unofficial start of summer in the U.S. meant big crowds at beaches and warnings from authorities Sunday about people disregarding the coronavirus social-distancing rules and risking a resurgence of the scourge that has killed nearly 100,000 Americans. Sheriff’s deputies and beach patrols tried to make sure people kept their distance from others as they soaked up the rays on the sand and at parks and other recreation sites around the country. On the Sunday talk shows, Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, said she was “very concerned” about scenes of people crowding together over the weekend.

May 24, 2020

• The U.S. COVID-19 death toll has nearly surpassed 100,000, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center. The total number of confirmed cases in the country stands at just over 1.6 million with more than 361,200 of those being patients that have recovered. The worst-hit state is New York with more than 29,000 fatalities, followed by New Jersey and Massachusetts with over 11,000 and 6,300 COVID-19 deaths respectively.
• President Donald Trump said he completed his course of treatment with hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug he’s promoted as a therapy for coronavirus despite an outcry from medical professionals about its unproven efficacy and potential side effects.

May 22, 2020

• In new guidance for mathematical modelers and public health officials, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is estimating that about a third of coronavirus infections are asymptomatic. The CDC also says its "best estimate" is that 0.4% of people who show symptoms and have Covid-19 will die, and the agency estimates that 40% of coronavirus transmission is occurring before people feel sick. The agency cautions that those numbers are subject to change as more is learned about Covid-19, and it warns that the information is intended for planning purposes. Still, the agency says its estimates are based on real data collected by the agency before April 29.

May 20, 2020

• Chinese doctors are seeing the coronavirus manifest differently among patients in its new cluster of cases in the northeast region compared to the original outbreak in Wuhan, suggesting that the pathogen may be changing in unknown ways and complicating efforts to stamp it out.

May 19, 2020

• The US government on Tuesday extended for another month restrictions on non-essential travel across the borders with Canada and Mexico to help stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. The US Department of Homeland Security said the closure, first ordered on March 20 and due to expire Wednesday, will be extended until June 22 and reviewed every 30 days.
• Passengers boarding a United Airlines flight will receive a packet containing a face mask and hand sanitizer wipes, the airline said. United now joins a list of other U.S. carriers ramping up sanitization habits to show potential customers that it's safe to fly again.
• Under coronavirus lockdowns, countries around the world have restricted travel and closed businesses. Flights were grounded and highways deserted. The major slowdown of movement has led to an "extreme" decline in carbon dioxide emissions — with daily levels 17% lower compared to averages from last year.  According to a study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Climate Change, daily emissions in early April, when most of the world was under strict lockdown measures, fell to levels last seen in 2006. Lockdowns could lead to an annual carbon emissions decline of up to 7% — the biggest drop since World War II, the researchers say.

May 18, 2020

• Fewer Americans are calling their mortgage servicers to ask for relief from mortgage payments, but the housing industry isn’t out of the woods yet. More than 4.1 million homeowners are in forbearance plans now, according to the latest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. While mortgage servicers are still facing stress because of the record deluge of requests for payment relief, signs suggest that homeowners’ prospects have improved as parts of the country have begun to emerge from coronavirus stay-at-home orders.
• Some 108 million people in China’s northeast region are being plunged back under lockdown conditions as a new and growing cluster of infections causes a backslide in the nation’s return to normal. In an abrupt reversal of the re-opening taking place across the nation, cities in Jilin province have cut off trains and buses, shut schools and quarantined tens of thousands of people. The strict measures have dismayed many residents who had thought the worst of the nation’s epidemic was over. While the cluster of 34 infections isn’t growing as quickly the outbreak in Wuhan which started the global pandemic last December, China’s swift and powerful reaction reflects its fear of a second wave after it curbed the virus’s spread at great economic and social cost. It’s also a sign of how fragile the re-opening process will be in China and elsewhere as even the slightest hint of a resurgence of infections could prompt a return to strict lockdown.

May 17, 2020

• If Oxford's coronavirus vaccine works, officials say UK will get it first. The U.K. government made a deal to get 30 million doses by September.
• Where coronavirus isn't: What's kept cases officially at zero in these 200 counties? Limited testing may create undercounts, but isolation also seems to play a role in keeping the dwindling list of American places virus-free.
• Four months into the U.S. coronavirus outbreak, tests for the virus finally are becoming widely available, a crucial step toward lifting stay-at-home orders and safely returning to normal life. But while many states no longer report crippling supply shortages, a new problem has emerged: too few people lining up to get tested.

May 15, 2020

• U.S. officials are preparing to begin checking passengers’ temperatures at roughly a dozen airports as soon as next week, as the coronavirus pandemic has heightened travel anxieties, according to people familiar with the matter.

May 13, 2020

• A viral video from Japan aims to show how easily germs and viruses can spread in restaurants when just one person is infected. The experiment simulates the atmosphere at a buffet restaurant or on a cruise ship. It was conducted by the public broadcasting organization NHK in conjunction with health experts. The video shows 10 people coming into the restaurant, with one singled out as the "infected" person. Each participant goes about the buffet as they normally would, not considering a potential contamination. At the end of the video, the participants are cast under black lights illuminating where the "infection" has spread. The substance, used to signify the germs, can be seen on food, serving utensils and platters, and even on the faces of some of the participants.
• The FBI said it had seen hacking attempts on US groups researching vaccines, treatments and testing. The US has long accused the Chinese government of cyber-espionage, something Beijing denies. The pandemic has worsened tensions between the two countries, which have both accused each other of failing to contain the outbreak.
• Scientists race to find a cure or vaccine for the coronavirus. There are no proven, knockout treatments and U.S. health officials say a vaccine could take at least a year to 18 months.
• The novel coronavirus has brought the shared scooter and bike business to the brink of financial collapse. Demand has evaporated — an analysis of credit card data by The New York Times found that spending on scooter rentals had fallen the most of all transportation modes, by nearly 100 percent — companies are laying off employees en masse, and their previously sky-high valuations have been almost wiped out. Rather than basking in the sun and delighting in the reduced car traffic, the scooter industry is looking at end times.

May 12, 2020

• There’s one big reason the U.S. economy can’t reopen. The country faces the same problem today that it did two months ago: there are not enough tests to contain the virus.
• A high-profile infectious disease researcher warns COVID-19 is in the early stages of attacking the world, which makes it difficult to relax stay-at-home orders without putting most Americans at risk. Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said the initial wave of outbreaks in cities such as New York City, where one in five people have been infected, represent a fraction of the illness and death yet to come.
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Sunday that the number of new daily Covid-19 hospitalizations had returned to the level it was at when he issued a statewide closure of nonessential businesses nearly two months ago. Cuomo said that 521 people were hospitalized with the disease on Saturday and 207 died of it. The hospitalization figure, he said, “takes us right back to where we started this hellish journey.” “Where we are today is basically, with the number of new cases, is basically right where we were when we started. It has been a painful period of time between March 20 to May 9,” Cuomo said.
• U.S. grocery costs jump the most in 46 years, led by rising prices for meat and eggs.

May 11, 2020

• Abbott plans to ship nearly 30 million tests this month and will have the capacity to ship 60 million tests in June. The tests can indicate whether a person has had Covid-19 and was either asymptomatic or recovered.
• Many consumers are going to think twice about venturing to the mall to try on clothes in a fitting room because of the coronavirus pandemic. Retailers are scrambling to figure out how to work around this. Solutions range from reserving sanitized fitting rooms to window shopping.
• You get what you pay for — usually. But as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, many parents find themselves at home with their kids 24/7, while still paying child-care bills.
• Several vaccines will likely be needed to combat the coronavirus and immunize groups of people in America and abroad, U.S. National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins said in an interview. Collins, 70, is a physician and geneticist who leads the agency overseeing the U.S. research response to the pandemic. He discussed efforts to develop and manufacture a vaccine, potential mutations and what they mean for immunity, and how inoculations would be tested.
• One idea for speeding a Coronavirus vaccine: deliberately infecting people. Debate is rising among scientists about whether a so-called human challenge trial is worth the risk.

May 10, 2020

• China on Sunday reported the first case of coronavirus in over a month in Wuhan, the city where the outbreak first started in December last year.
• Men's blood has higher levels than women's of a key enzyme used by the new coronavirus to infect cells, the results of a big European study showed on Monday -- a finding which may help explain why men are more vulnerable to infection with COVID-19. The study, published in the European Heart Journal, also found that widely-prescribed drugs called ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) did not lead to higher ACE2 concentrations and should therefore not increase the COVID-19 risk for people taking them.
• It’s no surprise that news outlets are in demand with a story that directly affects so many people, whether they’ve gotten sick, lost jobs or are locked down at home. A Pew Research Center survey taken the third week of April found that 88 percent of Americans said they were following coronavirus news either very or fairly closely. Yet that takes a toll. Pew also found that 71 percent of Americans said that they need to take breaks from the news. To watch something else. To do something else. To breathe a little.
• The real unemployment rate, which includes people who are not looking for work or are underemployed, already stands at 22.8%. Mnuchin acknowledged that the jobless rate may be even higher and stand at 25%. “The reported numbers are probably going to get worse before they get better,” he said.
• In places like China, robots and drones are being used to spray disinfectant in public spaces. Airlines and companies like Amazon have been using disinfectant fogging as a sanitation technique to keep their facilities clean. But there is another solution. Ultraviolet light is an effective tool that has been in use for decades in hospitals and operating rooms. The global UV disinfection equipment market was valued at $1.1 billion in 2018 and is projected to reach $3.4 billion by 2026, according to Allied Market Research. Technological breakthroughs in UV light could become a key piece in returning to normal in a world with the looming threat of Covid-19.

May 9, 2020

• The debt of the federal government topped $25 trillion for the first time on Tuesday, when it climbed from $24,948,983,700,916.84 to $25,057,924,023,406.80, according to data released by the Treasury Department. On Wednesday, it continued to climb, reaching $25,058,528,802,142.42 by the close of business that day. The federal debt had topped $24 trillion for the first time on April 7, when it rose from $23,917,212,663,857.59 to $24,011,523,316,653.36. Thus, the federal debt increased by more than $1 trillion in just 28 days.

May 7, 2020

• Early look at data from 100 New York hospitals shows that 66% of new admissions related to the virus are people who were at home, Cuomo said. He also said a majority of the cases in New York City are minorities, with nearly half being African American or Hispanic.
• The White House is seeking revisions to a document drafted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that offers detailed advice to local leaders on how to reopen public places after determining that it was “overly specific,” according to a coronavirus task force official. The official responded to an Associated Press report that the 17-page document had been shelved by the administration. Meanwhile, a U.S. military member who works on the White House campus has tested positive for the coronavirus, though both President Trump and Vice President Pence have since tested negative.

May 6, 2020

• The coronavirus that emerged in Wuhan, China, has mutated and the new, dominant strain spreading across the U.S. appears to be even more contagious, according to a new study. The new strain began spreading in Europe in early February before migrating to other parts of the world, including the U.S., becoming the dominant form of the virus across the globe by the end of March, researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory wrote. If the coronavirus doesn’t subside in the summer like the seasonal flu, it could mutate further and potentially limit the effectiveness of the coronavirus vaccines being developed by scientists, the researchers warned.

May 5, 2020

• While cities like New York have seen a hopeful drop in cases, upticks in other major cities and smaller communities have offset those decreases.
• More than half of workers at some American meat plants tested positive for coronavirus. Employees are still out sick, keeping production slow even as some facilities reopen, and grocers from Kroger Co. to Costco Wholesale Corp. are rationing supplies. Even Wendy’s Co. dropped burgers from some menus. Prices for wholesale beef and pork have jumped more than 20% since President Donald Trump’s historic executive order to keep plants running during the pandemic. The supply shortfalls and soaring prices underscore the challenges of quickly fixing America’s broken meat supply chain.
• States facing sudden drops in tax revenue amid the pandemic are announcing deep cuts to their Medicaid programs just as millions of newly jobless Americans are surging onto the rolls. And state officials are worried that they’ll have to slash benefits for patients and payments to health providers in the safety net insurance program for the poor unless they get more federal aid.

May 4, 2020

• A Trump administration projection and a public model predict rising death tolls. More states are allowing certain businesses to open, even as cases grow. The White House will restrict coronavirus officials from testifying before Congress. The Supreme Court heard the first arguments via phone. California readies plans for some stores to reopen on Friday. World leaders pledge $8 billion for a vaccine, but the U.S. declines to participate. As daily deaths fall in New York, Cuomo outlines criteria for reopening.
• They politely took turns speaking. Not a child, spouse or dog could be heard in the background. The conference call went long, but not by that much. And with that, the Supreme Court made history Monday, hearing arguments by telephone and allowing the world to listen in live, both for the first time. The arguments were essentially a high-profile phone discussion with the nine justices and two arguing lawyers. The session went remarkably smoothly, notable for a high court that prizes tradition and only reluctantly changes the way it operates.
• Another threat from the lung virus that causes Covid-19 has emerged that may cause swift, sometimes fatal damage: blood clots. Doctors around the world are noting a raft of clotting-related disorders -- from benign skin lesions on the feet sometimes called “Covid toe” to life-threatening strokes and blood-vessel blockages. Ominously, if dangerous clots go untreated, they may manifest days to months after respiratory symptoms have resolved.

May 3, 2020

• The US just reported its deadliest day for coronavirus patients as states reopen, according to WHO. The U.S. saw 2,909 people die of Covid-19 in 24 hours, according to the data, which was collected as of 4 a.m. ET on Friday. That’s the highest daily death toll in the U.S. yet based on a CNBC analysis of the WHO’s daily Covid-19 situation reports. The country’s deadliest day comes as state officials weigh reopening parts of the economy and easing stay-at-home orders.
• U.S. officials believe China covered up the extent of the coronavirus outbreak — and how contagious the disease is — to stock up on medical supplies needed to respond to it, intelligence documents show. Chinese leaders “intentionally concealed the severity” of the pandemic from the world in early January, according to a four-page Department of Homeland Security report dated May 1 and obtained by The Associated Press. The revelation comes as the Trump administration has intensified its criticism of China, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying Sunday that China was responsible for the spread of disease and must be held accountable.
• COVID-19 meat shortages could last for months. Experts warn that shoppers should prepare for meat to be more expensive, less varied and harder to find over the coming weeks and even months. Here's what you need to know before your next grocery shopping trip.

April 30, 2020

• President Donald Trump has speculated that China could have unleashed the coronavirus on the world due to some kind of horrible “mistake,” and his intelligence agencies said they are still examining a notion put forward by the president and aides that the pandemic may have resulted from an accident at a Chinese lab. Trump even suggested Thursday that the release could have been intentional. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the clearinghouse for the web of U.S. spy agencies, said it had ruled out the virus being man-made but was still investigating the precise source of the global pandemic, which has killed more than 220,000 people worldwide.
• With coronavirus cases beginning to level off, states are looking to jump-start economies hard hit by the virus. And with jobless claims totaling 30.3 million in six weeks, Americans are clamoring to get back to work. Governors have taken vastly different tactics in developing plans to reopen business in their states and remove social-distancing restrictions. Here’s a complete, state-by-state listing, which will be periodically updated.
• America’s meat processing-plants are hard-hit by COVID-19. Speculation runs that the immigrant laborers are less aware of health precautions given in English and that their living situations and the “elbow-to-elbow” nature of work at these industrial butchers and packers make them especially vulnerable. Tyson’s CEO warned that closure of plants mean that “millions of pounds of meat will disappear from the supply chain.” Millions of animals that are raised for slaughter may simply be plowed under and buried alive.

April 28, 2020

• The U.S. National Archives says that 58,220 American soldiers died in the Vietnam conflict, which began in 1955 and ended in 1975. Covid-19 has now claimed more lives in the U.S. since it officially arrived in the country in January, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Nearly half of the country’s deaths are concentrated in New York state, which is home to the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, New York City.
• The coronavirus has now infected more than 1 million people in the United States as the nation grapples with roughly a third of all global cases — making it the worst outbreak in the world, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. A large portion of U.S. Covid-19 cases remain in New York state, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo is currently testing about 20,000 people a day for the virus and is working with President Donald Trump to double that number.
• As New York prepares to let businesses reopen with the easing of the coronavirus pandemic, the state will have measures in place that will signal another outbreak of the disease and the need to curb activity once again, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday. In particular, Mr. Cuomo said that if either the hospital system in an area of the state hits 70% of capacity or if the rate of transmission reaches 1.1—meaning for every person who has the virus, another 1.1 are infected—that would constitute what he called a “circuit breaker.”

April 27, 2020

• America's food supply chain is in trouble because of coronavirus outbreaks in rural meatpacking plant communities. For consumers, this means less meat at the grocery store. For many farmers, this means the prospect of financial ruin. For many animals, this means euthanasia instead of slaughter. Plants in more than a dozen states have closed in recent weeks, spanning beef, pork, poultry and fish.
• JetBlue was one of the first U.S. airlines to mandate crew to wear masks while working. And now, it’s the first to require the same from passengers. This new policy, which goes into effect on May 4, 2020, will be applied throughout all steps of the passenger journey — from check-in all the way through deplaning. JetBlue plans to remind passengers of this policy both before their flight and in the airport terminals.
• In the last week alone, there has been a 43% jump in the number of reported COVID-19 cases in Africa, and the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the continent of 1.3 billion people is poised to potentially become the next epicenter of the highly infectious and deadly disease.
• UPS plans to use drones for deliveries of prescription medicines from a CVS pharmacy to The Villages retirement community in Florida. The Sandy Springs-based shipping giant said the service by its drone-subsidiary UPS Flight Forward will support social-distancing efforts and allow faster same-day delivery of medicines as an alternative to visiting a pharmacy.

April 26, 2020

• The World Health Organization is warning that people who have had Covid-19 are not necessarily immune by the presence of antibodies from getting the virus again. It cautions against governments that are considering issuing so-called "immunity passports" to people who have had Covid-19, assuming they are safe to resume normal life.
• As the United States struggles to track coronavirus fatalities amid spotty testing, delayed lab results and inconsistent reporting standards, a more insidious problem could thwart the country's quest for an accurate death toll. Between 20 and 30 percent of death certificates nationwide were wrong before COVID-19, Bob Anderson, chief of the mortality statistics branch at the National Center for Health Statistics, said in an interview with the USA TODAY Network.

April 24, 2020

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tripled the number of coronavirus symptoms it lists on its website. The federal organization previously listed fever, cough and shortness of breath as symptoms of COVID-19. The CDC has added six additional symptoms as people “have had a wide range of symptoms reported,” it says on its website.
• The economy will shrink at an annualized rate of 39.6 percent in the second quarter, according to the latest projections from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), its first to take into account the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The CBO projects that things will rebound somewhat in the third quarter, with 23.5 percent annualized growth, followed by a projection of 10.5 percent growth in the final quarter of the year.
• The millions of Americans who have lost their jobs in recent weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic will have a devastating effects on the economy going forward as workers are left without pay. Losses in April alone could push the unemployment rate to 16%, according to James Knightley, chief international economist at ING. If another 10 million Americans file jobless claims in May, that would push the unemployment rate to 22%, he said.

April 23, 2020

• The US economy has wiped out all the job gains since the Great Recession. The Labor Department reported that the number of Americans applying for state unemployment benefits totaled 4.427 million last week. Combined with the prior four jobless claims reports, the number of Americans who have filed for unemployment over the last five weeks is 26.45 million. That number far exceeds the 22.442 million jobs added to payrolls since November 2009, when the U.S. economy began to add jobs back after the recession.
• The U.S. agency that enforces civil rights laws against disability discrimination said on Thursday that companies can test employees for COVID-19 before permitting them to enter the workplace as long as the tests are accurate and reliable. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) last month said employers may take workers’ temperatures without violating the the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), but Thursday’s guidance appears to authorize a broader array of testing options.
• More evidence is emerging that far more New Yorkers have had the coronavirus than the number confirmed by lab tests, officials said Thursday, offering insight that could help authorities decide how and how quickly to let people stop isolating from friends and return to work. Blood samples collected from about 3,000 people indicated that nearly 14% had developed antibodies to fight a coronavirus infection, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at his daily news briefing. In New York City, the epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S., 21% of the people tested had antibodies.

April 22, 2020

• State and local governments are warning of a wave of layoffs and pay cuts after getting left out of the federal coronavirus relief package expected to pass Congress this week. In many places, such as Detroit and Los Angeles, those painful reductions are already taking shape. State and local governments received aid under the $2.2 trillion CARES Act signed late last month, but they are pleading for new relief as Congress prepares to pass a bill to help small businesses and hospitals.
• Governors in 17 states have committed to regional coordination to reopen their economies during the coronavirus outbreak — but none are in the South, where leaders are going it alone, just as they did in imposing restrictions. As questions about when and how to ease virus-control measures becomes increasingly politically charged, governors in the Deep South have resisted any appearance of synchronization, instead driving home their message that each state must make its own decision.
• A second wave of the coronavirus is expected to hit the United States next winter and could strike much harder than the first because it would likely arrive at the start of influenza season, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned on Tuesday. As the current outbreak continues to taper off, as shown by a recent decline in hospitalization rates and other indicators, authorities need to prepare for a probable resurgence in the months ahead.

April 21, 2020

• Reopening the U.S. economy is complicated by some troubling scientific questions about the new coronavirus that go beyond the logistics of whether enough tests are available.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that all available evidence suggests that the novel coronavirus originated in bats in China late last year and it was not manipulated or constructed in a laboratory. "All available evidence suggests the virus has an animal origin and is not manipulated or constructed virus in a lab or somewhere else," WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told a Geneva news briefing. "It is probable, likely that the virus is of animal origin." It was not clear how the virus had jumped the species barrier to humans but there had "certainly" been an intermediate animal host, she added.
• Can colleges survive coronavirus? The math is not pretty. Most campuses in the United States are sitting empty. Courses are online, students are at home. And administrators are trying to figure out how to make the finances of that work.

April 20, 2020

• After weeks of sheltering in place, Americans are asking how soon we can return to a more normal life outside our homes. Much of the answer might be in a test. The first phase of testing has been about determining who has COVID-19. The next phase will be about who had it – or may still be fighting it. Instead of looking in our throats for the coronavirus itself, health care workers will look for signs in our blood that we developed antibodies to fight the virus.
• Not since the Great Depression have so many in this country faced the prospect of being unable to put food on their table. And it's not just families trying to feed themselves, farmers, processing plants and supermarkets have all experienced disruptions. Late Friday, President Trump directed $19 billion in relief for farmers and ranchers to maintain the integrity of our food supply chain and to aid local food banks.
• A flood of new research suggests that far more people have had the coronavirus without any symptoms, fueling hope that it will turn out to be much less lethal than originally feared. While that’s clearly good news, it also means it’s impossible to know who around you may be contagious. That complicates decisions about returning to work, school and normal life.

April 17, 2020

• The Chinese city at the origin of the coronavirus outbreak, Wuhan, revised up its death toll by 50 percent on Friday, as global criticism mounted over China's handling of the deadly pandemic and as the U.S. plots re-opening.
• Some of America’s largest food companies are finally feeling the pinch with restaurants across the U.S. remaining closed for weeks as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. After weeks of consumer hoarding, panic buying is abating and the lack of demand from shuttered restaurants, schools and coffee shops is starting to set in.
• China acknowledged Friday that the coronavirus death toll in the one-time epicenter city of Wuhan was nearly 50% higher than reported, underscoring just how seriously the official numbers of infections and deaths around the world may be understating the dimensions of the disaster. In Italy, Spain, Britain, the United States and elsewhere, similar doubts emerged as governments revised their death tolls or openly questioned the accuracy of them.
• A Chicago hospital treating severe Covid-19 patients with Gilead Sciences’ antiviral medicine remdesivir in a closely watched clinical trial is seeing rapid recoveries in fever and respiratory symptoms, with nearly all patients discharged in less than a week.

April 16, 2020

• A dozen Ford Motor Co. workers are experimenting with wearable social-distancing devices that could be deployed more widely once the carmaker reopens idled manufacturing plants.
• Thanks to COVID-19, Social Security's day of reckoning may be even closer than we thought. A lot less money is coming in, and pretty soon, more will be going out.
• 5 million more people filed jobless claims last week, bringing total to almost 22 million in one month. "The labor market is showing us what I think we all know, that the economy is falling off a cliff at an unprecedented rate," said one economist.
   

   

   

April 15, 2020

• Hydroxychloroquine, the 65-year-old malaria drug that President Donald Trump has praised, appeared not to help patients get rid of the pathogen in a small study.
• Coronavirus is making touch-free shopping a necessity. Amazon Go stores, delivery drones and contactless terminals will play a big role for consumers.
• A team of government officials - led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - has created a public health strategy to combat the coronavirus and reopen parts of the country.
• U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday his government is trying to determine whether the coronavirus emanated from a lab in Wuhan, China, and Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, said Beijing “needs to come clean” on what they know.

April 14, 2020

• Those $1,200 federal payments to help Americans through the coronavirus crisis have started arriving in some people's bank accounts via direct deposit. But many people will have to wait longer — and there could be pitfalls, such as debt collectors grabbing the money before you do.
• The U.S. Treasury Department is holding firm on the terms of a $25 billion offer for government aid to airlines to help them meet payroll during the coronavirus downturn, officials said on Monday. Under Treasury’s terms, Reuters calculates that the government could end up with about 3% of American, which has the most employees of the U.S. carriers and has said it was seeking about $6 billion in payroll support.

April 13, 2020

• More than 41,000 people in America have recovered from the coronavirus that has prompted states nationwide to close businesses and restrict social gatherings. As the United States looks toward the end of President Donald Trump's 30-day plan to slow the spread of the outbreak, recovered patients could be key to reopening the country. Based on how previous viruses have behaved, officials believe those who have recovered will have at least some immunity, meaning their return to daily life may be less likely to fuel an outbreak.
• South Korea plans to send 600,000 coronavirus testing kits to the United States on Tuesday in the first such shipment following a request from U.S. President Donald Trump, a Seoul official told Reuters on Monday.

April 12, 2020

• Americans spent a glum Easter Sunday largely confined to their homes by the still-raging coronavirus pandemic as the U.S. death toll neared 22,000, with more than half a million confirmed cases nationwide.

April 8, 2020

• The researchers behind the new study tested the virus' life span in a 71-degree-Fahrenheit room at 65% relative humidity. After three hours, the virus had disappeared from printing and tissue paper. It took two days for it to leave wood and cloth fabric. After four days, it was no longer detectable on glass or paper money. It lasted the longest, seven days, on stainless steel and plastic.  Strikingly, the authors wrote, the coronavirus was still present on the outward-facing side of a surgical mask on day seven of the investigation. That's the longest duration of all the materials they tested.

• France has recorded the world's highest daily coronavirus death toll after 1,417 victims died in the past 24 hours. The leap makes the country the fourth in the world to surpass 10,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

• Survivors of Coronavirus Face an Uncertain Road Back to Normal.  Guidelines vary widely for when recovered Covid-19 patients can safely return to their pre-coronavirus lives.

April 6, 2020

• Former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the current unemployment rate could be 13% while economic growth is down 30% or more. Yellen expressed some doubt as to whether the U.S. recovery will signal a quick recovery shaped like a “V′ and told CNBC the current situation is a “huge, unprecedented, devastating hit” though it is not in the same category as the Great Depression.

• U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams warned Sunday amid the coronavirus pandemic that the week ahead would be the “hardest and the saddest” of “most Americans’ lives.” He added, however, that there "is a light at the end of the tunnel if everyone does their part for the next 30 days."

• WHO says the coronavirus can spread one to three days before symptoms start. Whether the person is symptomatic or presymptomatic, the disease is still spread in the same way — through droplets from the nose and mouth, said the official, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s team lead on the coronavirus.

• What happens if you’re seriously ill and it’s not from Covid-19? At a world-renowned cancer center in Houston, a woman was told her lung-cancer surgery, booked weeks ago, could be canceled last-minute. In New York City, none of the doctors’ offices at a major hospital system are doing procedures. In Toronto, operating rooms sat empty at a hospital specializing in organ transplants and cardiac care, and surgeons rested at home as wards were cleared in preparation for what’s to come.

April 2, 2020

• US weekly jobless claims double to 6.6 million. Initial jobless claims surged to more 6.6 million last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. That brings the two-week total to about 10 million due to the coronavirus-induced economic shutdown.

• Antibody tests key to ending COVID-19 lockdowns. It's the key that opens to door from total lockdown: serologic testing, which will show definitively who has contracted COVID-19 and is in theory safe to return to work.

• What to watch: Key data points as US nears 1 in 1,000 infected. Even with a lack of available testing and delays in getting test results back, about 1 in every 1,500 people in the U.S. have a confirmed case of coronavirus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University and the U.S. Census Bureau. The daily case count has been rising, but even if it levels off, the U.S. may still get to a point where 1 in 1,000 nationally have it in the next week or so.

• Disaster in motion: 3.4 million travelers poured into US as coronavirus pandemic erupted. With the advent of COVID-19, the world has officially entered a dangerous new phase where a surge in international travel in recent decades served as the springboard -- jet fuel, really -- for an infectious disease potentially to kill hundreds of thousands in the U.S. and infect the global economy at breathtaking speed.

March 31, 2020

• Cuomo says coronavirus is ‘more dangerous’ than expected as New York cases jump 14% overnight to 75,795.

• Study shows middle-age COVID-19 mortality risk. They found that age was a key determining factor in serious infections, with nearly one in five over-80s requiring hospitalization, compared to around 1 percent among people under 30.

March 26, 2020

• Jobless claims soar past 3 million to record high. Claims had been expected to hit a record 1.5 million for the week, according to economists surveyed by Dow Jones.

• U.S. to Take Stakes in Airlines in Exchange for Grants, Mnuchin Says. Plan emerged during last-minute negotiations over $2 trillion economic rescue package to address coronavirus crisis. 

• One map shows how many coronavirus tests each US state has done so far.

March 24, 2020

• Traces of new coronavirus were found on surfaces in cruise-ship cabins for as many as 17 days after passengers left, researchers said, though it wasn’t possible to determine whether they caused any infections.

• A key modelling study from Singapore has found that putting multiple social lockdowns in place - including school closures - will have the biggest impact on curbing COVID-19.

• A California police department is planning on using drones equipped with cameras and loudspeakers to monitor a coronavirus shutdown.

March 23, 2020

• This was the fastest 30% sell-off ever, exceeding the pace of declines during the Great Depression.

• Why this Nobel laureate predicts a quicker coronavirus recovery: 'We're going to be fine'. Michael Levitt, a Nobel laureate and Stanford biophysicist, began analyzing the number of COVID-19 cases worldwide in January and correctly calculated that China would get through the worst of its coronavirus outbreak long before many health experts had predicted. Now he foresees a similar outcome in the United States and the rest of the world.

• U.S. Jobless Rate May Soar to 30%, Fed’s Bullard Says.  Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard predicted the U.S. unemployment rate may hit 30% in the second quarter because of shutdowns to combat the coronavirus, with an unprecedented 50% drop in gross domestic product.

• Lost sense of smell could be a peculiar clue to coronavirus infection. Several patients who have had symptoms consistent with coronavirus, but who have not been tested or are still awaiting results, described losing senses of smell and taste, even though their noses were clear and not congested. The loss occurred regardless of how sick they got, or whether they were congested. Using nasal drops or sprays did not help.

March 19, 2020

• On March 17, 2020, the Federal Reserve announced that it is establishing a Commercial Paper Funding Facility (CPFF) to provide liquidity to credit markets. Many of the largest corporations in the world, including Apple, Caterpillar, and JP Morgan, use commercial paper to fund their daily operations. By supporting the commercial paper market, the Federal Reserve is assuring that high-quality corporations do not run into funding issues because of the coronavirus and its impact on financial markets.

•  White House officials are working with congressional Republicans on an emergency stimulus package that could send two $1,000 checks to many Americans and also devote $300 billion towards helping small businesses avoid mass layoffs, according to two senior administration officials. The current $1 trillion Trump plan would seek to spend $500 billion towards the cash payments to individual Americans, though some people wouldn't qualify if their income is over a certain level.

• The UCLA Anderson School of Business predicted Monday that the economic recession caused by the tightening government restrictions would cost 2 million jobs and raise the national unemployment rate to 5% over the next few months — up from 3.5% in February. Administration officials have warned Congress the unemployment rate could quickly soar into double digits.