Tag: remdesivir

The Past 24 Hours or So – Coronavirus/COVID-19 Update

Read Time: 4 Minutes

  • The U.S. reported 46,546 new cases and 1,023 additional deaths.
  • A model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington that previously has been cited by the White House now forecasts that more than 317,000 people in the U.S. will die from Covid-19 by December. 
  • Several states are not heeding new federal health officials’ calls to reduce COVID-19 testing, joining a broad rebuke of the Trump administration by public health leaders.

Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Texas, New Jersey and New York all plan to continue to test asymptomatic people who have been exposed to COVID-19, despite new guidance from the CDC.

  • Groups representing local health departments asked the CDC to reverse a change to coronavirus testing guidance that they argue would hurt their ability to slow the spread of the disease.

“CDC’s own data suggest that perhaps as many as 40 percent of COVID-19 cases are attributable to asymptomatic transmission. Changing testing guidelines to suggest that close contacts to confirmed positives without symptoms do not need to be tested is inconsistent with the science and the data.”

NOTE: The Trump administration’s moves pressuring science agencies to take controversial steps on the coronavirus are threatening to undermine public confidence in health experts.

  • Top FDA spokeswoman Emily Miller has been removed from her position after just eleven days on the job. Her ouster comes amid the backlash the agency is facing for issuing an emergency authorization for convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19 patients.
  • The FDA extended emergency use authorization for remdesivir to all patients hospitalized for coronavirus, regardless of the severity of their disease.
  • Operation Warp Speed, the White House’s race for a Covid-19 vaccine, will likely continue if Donald Trump loses the presidential election in November, Paul Mango, deputy chief of staff for policy at the US Department of Health and Human Services said.
  • Pharmacists will be able to administer the Covid-19 vaccine to children and adults once a vaccine becomes available, Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the CDC said.
  • The coronavirus pandemic has had an especially harsh impact on people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and they need special support. Many have lost the critical support they need and cannot advocate for themselves.
  • White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said that President Trump would be willing to sign a coronavirus relief package totaling $1.3 trillion, an increase over the $1.1 trillion proposed by Senate Republicans but well short of the $2.2 trillion relief package House Democrats have demanded.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has stood firm in her demand for a $2.2 trillion relief package.

  • A senior White House official told CNN that “everybody” in America will get COVID-19. The White House statement is consistent with Trump’s reported desire to execute a “herd immunity” pandemic response. Experts say such a plan would kill millions.
  • Children and young people are far less likely than adults to get severe cases of COVID-19 infection, and death from the pandemic disease among children is rare, according to a new UK research study.
  • Researchers for the first time have identified a 25-year-old man living in Reno, Nevada, who tested positive for the virus in April after showing mild illness. He got sick again in late May and developed more severe COVID-19.
  • Dozens of Secret Service agents who protect President Trump and Vice President Pence have either contracted the coronavirus or were benched after coming in contact with people infected with COVID-19.
  • Two attendees and two event support staff at the Republican National Convention in North Carolina tested positive for COVID-19. 
  • Singer-songwriter Van Morrison is launching a campaign encouraging his fellow artists to fight against “pseudo-science” surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, warning that false claims are delaying efforts to slow its spread.
  • French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday his government was doing everything possible to avoid another nationwide coronavirus lockdown but added it would be dangerous to rule out any scenario.
  • German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the coronavirus pandemic was likely to worsen in coming months, and that life would not return to normal until a vaccine to combat it had been developed.
  • Texas Christian University in Fort Worth is reporting 447 active cases of Covid-19 among students and university employees.
  • About 65% of all K-12 Vermont students will participate in remote learning at least three or four days a week.
  • Health officials in Massachusetts and Rhode Island confirmed a bachelorette party that occurred last month in the Ocean State is now linked to nearly 20 COVID-19 cases. “Everyone who went to that wedding except one person tested positive for COVID,” Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) said.
  • New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said schools are still on track to start in-person learning on Sept. 10.

Youth sports will also return on or around Sept. 15, with a permit required to restart leagues. Leagues receiving permits will be given three strikes of violating health and Covid-19 guidelines before having their play suspended.

  • A 1-year-old African-American boy from Covid-19 in Cobb County, just outside of Atlanta, became the youngest Covid-19 death reported in the state.
  • The Colorado Supreme Court declined to hear a case challenging Gov. Jared Polis’ (D) statewide mask order.

Sources:  ABC News, Associated Press, The Atlantic, Axios, Bloomberg, CBS News, CNN, Chicago Tribune, Financial Times, Forbes,  Fox News,The Hill, Independent, MSNBC, NBC News, NJ.com, NPR, NY Times, Politico, Reuters, Salon, Slate, Vanity Fair, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post

The Past 24 Hours or So – Coronavirus/COVD-19 Update

Read Time: 7 Minutes

  • Gilead Sciences, the maker of the drug, remdesivir, that has been shown to shorten recovery time for severely ill COVID-19 patients says it will charge $2,340 for a typical treatment course for people covered by government health programs in the United States and other developed countries.

The price would be $3,120 for patients with private insurance. The amount that patients pay out of pocket depends on insurance, income and other factors.

  • In a May report, Public Citizen, a non-profit consumer rights advocacy group, estimated that U.S. taxpayers contributed at least $70.5 million to the development of remdesivir.
  • The Trump administration has secured 500,000 doses of remdesivir, the first drug shown to be effective at treating hospitalized coronavirus patients.
  • Global monitoring of the coronavirus shows that it has not mutated, a good sign for vaccine research and development.
  • A new University of Virginia School of Medicine study has shown that doctors can identify, via blood samples, those at greater risk of severe illness after being diagnosed with coronavirus, including those who may need a ventilator.
  • The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)  has come out with a strong statement in favor of bringing children back to the classroom this fall wherever and whenever they can do so safely. AAP “strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school.”

AAP argues that remote learning is likely to result in severe learning loss and increased social isolation. Social isolation, in turn, can breed serious social, emotional and health issues: “child and adolescent physical or sexual abuse, substance use, depression, and suicidal ideation.” Furthermore, these impacts will be visited more severely on Black and brown children, as well as low-income children and those with learning disabilities.

  • Coronavirus cases linked to crowds who visited a Michigan bar after it reopened have risen to 85, according to health officials.

The Ingham County Health Department is asking anyone who visited Harper’s Restaurant & Brewpub, outside of Michigan State University in East Lansing, between June 12 and 20, to self-quarantine for two weeks.

  • Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Monday appeared to blame a rise in coronavirus cases across several U.S. states on a lack of “personal responsibility” during an appearance on “CBS This Morning.”

Azar, in a response to a question over whether some U.S. states reopened too quickly, said that Americans must practice smart procedures to stop the virus from spreading, including social distancing and wearing masks.

  • Health officials in Allegheny County, PA, say a surge in novel coronavirus cases recently reported around Pittsburgh has been tied to bars, not protests. 
  • The Broadway League has announced that all productions will remain closed through at least January 3, 2021.
  • “We must have no stigma — none — about wearing masks when we leave our homes and come near other people,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said calling people to wear face masks as outbreaks spread. “Wearing simple face coverings is not about protecting ourselves. It is about protecting everyone we encounter.”
  • More than 10 million people across the globe have tested positive for the coronavirus, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday, nearly 180,000 of whom tested positive in the last 24 hours.

“The reality is this is not close to being over,” Tedros told reporters. “Globally, the pandemic is actually speeding up.”

About half the cases, and nearly half the deaths across the globe, have come in the Americas. The United States, which accounts for about 4 percent of the global population, has nearly a quarter of the total confirmed cases, 2.4 million.

  • India reported close to 20,000 fresh novel coronavirus cases for the second day running on Monday, as the financial hub of Mumbai extended its lockdown by a month.
  • Prime Minister Boris Johnson acknowledged Monday that the coronavirus pandemic has been a “disaster” for Britain. “This has been a disaster,” Johnson acknowledged Monday. “Let’s not mince our words. I mean, this has been an absolute nightmare for the country and the country’s gone through a profound shock.” 
  • Scotland has recorded no new deaths from coronavirus for the fourth day running.
  • The coronavirus is spreading too rapidly and too broadly for the U.S. to bring it under control, Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Monday.

The U.S. has set records for daily new infections in recent days as outbreaks surge mostly across the South and West.

  • GOP Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has ordered the closure of bars and gyms, a ban on mass gatherings and has delayed the start of in-person schooling as the state faces record-breaking cases in coronavirus ahead of the Fourth of July weekend.
  • A group of bar owners in Texas is suing after the governor ordered closures to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the state, which is facing one of the toughest outbreaks in the country. In the lawsuit, restaurants accuse Gov. Greg Abbott of acting “like a king,” and “unilaterally destroying our economy and trampling on our constitutional rights.”
  • Just minutes after the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors closed local beaches for the long holiday weekend, a somber Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti took to his podium.

He then announced that, along with the beach closures, Fourth of July firework displays would be prohibited in hope of keeping Angelenos from gathering in groups.

Also, he said, “Gatherings of people you do not live with are not allowed.”

  • Effective Tuesday, Riverside County, CA is ordering all bars to close down again to help slow a new surge in coronavirus cases.
  • Officials warn hospital beds in Los Angeles County may not meet demand in coming weeks as coronavirus cases surge.
  • Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly says she will issue an executive order mandating the use of masks in public spaces starting Friday to stop the spread of COVID-19.

“The evidence could not be clearer — wearing a mask is not only safe, but it is necessary to avoid another shutdown.

  • The Monongalia County (West Virginia) Health Department warned more than 200 Planet Fitness users that they could have been exposed to the coronavirus if they visited the gym last Wednesday.
  • In a statement, Oregon Governor Kate Brown said, “Keeping Oregonians safe is my top priority. Over the last month, COVID-19 spread at an alarming rate in both urban and rural counties. That’s why I’m requiring face coverings in indoor public places in ALL counties, effective 7/1. We can and must reduce the spread of this disease.”
  • Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf Tweeted: “Masks are required in Pennsylvania businesses. No mask = no service.

The importance of mask-wearing to reduce the spread of #COVID19 and protect people and businesses cannot be overstated.”

  • Jacksonville, Florida created rules requiring face masks both indoors and in public as the coronavirus spreads rapidly throughout the state, creating a serious question as to whether President Trump and GOP voters will wear a mask and follow guidelines when the Republican convention is held in the city in August.

Trump has specifically expressed a desire to hold the convention without masks or social distancing.

  • Experts and officials in Florida are warning that house parties are the “largest problem” driving the spike in coronavirus cases in the greater metropolitan area of Miami, with private gatherings leading to the rapid spreading of the virus.

“The law does not enable us to enforce the rules we use on public spaces on private property. So, our current option is to appeal to the common sense and decency of our citizens. This danger comes directly from within.”

  • An IRS watchdog says in a new report that coronavirus has led to major delays in the processing of tax filings this year, warning there is a backlog of 4.7 million paper filings that could result in those who filed paper tax returns waiting a considerable amount of time for their refunds. The report also reveals a slew of other problems facing taxpayers due to coronavirus-related delays and errors.
  • Americans say they trust information on the coronavirus pandemic from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the most — and President Trump the least — according to a Pew Research Center survey released Monday. 

The majority of respondents to the survey, 64 percent, said the CDC and other public health organizations get the facts right almost or most of the time regarding COVID-19. Only 30 percent said the same about Trump and his administration.

  • A strain of flu that has become prevalent in pigs in China that can be passed to humans could become another pandemic and needs to be closely monitored, according to researchers behind a new study.

Sources:  ABC News, Axios, Bloomberg, CBS News, CNN, Financial Times, Fox News,The Hill, NBC News, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, NJ.com, NPR, NY Times, Politico, Reuters, Salon, Slate, Vanity Fair, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post