Forbes -
October 28, 2020
Researchers in Spain have discovered that 82% of hospitalized patients with Covid-19 were vitamin D deficient in a new study published today. They studied vitamin D levels in 216 patients admitted to the hospital for Covid-19 treatment in March this year, finding that 8 in 10 patients were considered clinically deficient. … However, it is important to point out that the conclusions of this study are correlative, not causative - meaning that it can’t be concluded that vitamin D deficiency was directly responsible for a higher chance of being hospitalized with Covid-19.
NBC News -
October 28, 2020
While there is no comprehensive tally of elderly people dying from causes linked to social isolation and confinement, evidence is mounting that restrictions related to Covid-19 are taking a toll on their health, according to a review of recent research and interviews with medical experts and dozens of families across the country. The phenomenon is far harder to track than the number of Covid-19 deaths linked to long-term care facilities — 84,000 as of early October, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation — as it is unusual to list isolation as an official cause of death. But the harms are still real, experts say.
AP -
October 28, 2020
Medicare will cover the yet-to-be approved coronavirus vaccine free for older people under a policy change expected to be announced shortly, a senior Trump administration official said Tuesday. The coming announcement from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services aims to align the time-consuming process for securing Medicare coverage of a new vaccine, drug or treatment with the rapid campaign to have a coronavirus vaccine ready for initial distribution once it is ready, possibly as early as the end of the year.
NBC News -
October 28, 2020
A majority of American adults say they know someone who has been diagnosed with Covid-19, according to new data from the NBC News|SurveyMonkey Weekly Tracking Poll. Sixty-eight percent of adults say they know someone who has had the coronavirus since December, while 31 percent say they don't know someone who has been diagnosed with the virus. Thirty-four percent of adults say either they or someone in their household hse been tested for the coronavirus in the past month, while 64 percent say no one in their home has.
Reuters -
October 28, 2020
Walmart Inc, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc, CVS Health Corp and Rite Aid Corp have told Reuters demand for flu shots at their U.S. pharmacies is up sharply - in some cases double from last year - as people try to protect themselves from influenza in the midst of a worsening COVID-19 pandemic. The pharmacies are giving millions more flu shots than they have in past years, filling a gap from COVID-19 wary consumers who are avoiding the doctor’s office.
AP -
October 28, 2020
If Joe Biden wins next week’s election, he says he’ll immediately call Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert. He’ll work with governors and local officials to institute a nationwide mask-wearing mandate and ask Congress to pass a sweeping spending bill by the end of January to address the coronavirus and its fallout. … But Biden would still face significant political challenges in combating the worst public health crisis in a century. He will encounter the limits of federal powers when it comes to mask requirements and is sure to face resistance from Republicans who may buck additional spending.
Reuters -
October 28, 2020
President Donald Trump acknowledged on Tuesday that a coronavirus economic relief deal would likely come after the Nov. 3 election, with the White House unable to bridge differences with fellow Republicans in the U.S. Senate as well as congressional Democrats.
CNBC -
October 28, 2020
Millions of jobless Americans are poised to lose their unemployment benefits at the end of the year without action from Congress to extend temporary aid programs. A federal program paying benefits to gig workers and others (such as the self-employed, freelancers, contractors and part-timers) is poised to lapse after December, as is one paying extra relief to workers who've exhausted their standard state benefit. In all, there are about 13.5 million people in these two programs — more than half of the roughly 23 million people receiving unemployment benefits, according to Labor Department data.
STAT -
October 28, 2020
Pfizer revealed Tuesday that researchers have not yet conducted an analysis of the efficacy of the vaccine it is developing against Covid-19. … That means that the study is progressing more slowly than Pfizer and its partner, BioNTech, originally expected. In August, Pfizer had thought that the first interim analysis could occur as early as September.
CBS News -
October 28, 2020
Under the new mandate, effective Wednesday, masks will be mandatory in crowded public spaces, such as public transportation, parking lots and elevators, according to the order ... The department has also advised local authorities to ban all entertainment activities, including bars and restaurants, between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.
AP -
October 27, 2020
Deaths per day from the coronavirus in the U.S. are on the rise again, just as health experts had feared, and cases are climbing in practically every state, despite assurances from President Donald Trump over the weekend that “we’re rounding the turn, we’re doing great.” With Election Day just over a week away, average deaths per day across the country are up 10% over the past two weeks, from 721 to nearly 794 as of Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Newly confirmed infections per day are rising in 47 states, and deaths are up in 34.
Reuters -
October 27, 2020
In the early days of what became a historic public health crisis, the novel coronavirus was, in the lexicon of U.S. politics, a “blue state” problem - centered in East and West Coast areas, particularly New York and New Jersey, that voted against President Donald Trump in 2016. It remained so for weeks, and that fact defined what became battle lines between mask wearers and skeptics, and between those convinced restrictions on commerce were needed to save lives versus those who wanted less government intervention. Now, though, it is squarely a “Trump country” issue.
STAT -
October 27, 2020
The WHO on Monday warned countries against giving up on efforts to control the coronavirus pandemic, with the head of the agency saying doing so would be “dangerous.” “Giving up on control is dangerous,” said Tedros Adhamon Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director-general. “Control should … be part of the strategy.” The remarks by Tedros, as he is known, came a day after White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows seemed to indicate in a CNN interview that the administration has concluded containment of the virus is not possible.
Kaiser Health News -
October 27, 2020
COVID-19 cases are surging in rural places across the Mountain States and Midwest, and when it hits health care workers, ready reinforcements aren’t easy to find. In Montana, pandemic-induced staffing shortages have shuttered a clinic in the state’s capital, led a northwestern regional hospital to ask employees exposed to COVID-19 to continue to work and emptied a health department 400 miles to the east. … In North Dakota, where cases per resident are growing faster than any other state, hospitals may once again curtail elective surgeries and possibly seek government aid to hire more nurses if the situation gets worse, North Dakota Hospital Association President Tim Blasl said.
NBC News -
October 27, 2020
Most health care workers who were hospitalized with Covid-19 early in the pandemic had had direct interactions with patients, according to a report published Monday by the CDC. The report, which focused on Covid-19-related hospitalizations among health care workers from March through May, found that 67 percent were in roles with patient contact. More than one third were nurses.
CNN -
October 27, 2020
Children account for 11% of all Covid-19 cases in the US, a 14% increase over the past two weeks, the American Academy of Pediatrics said Monday. The group, which represents pediatricians, says about 792,188 children have been infected in the US as of October 22. According to Johns Hopkins University, more than 8.6 million Americans have been infected with the novel coronavirus. The AAP said 94,555 new child cases were reported from October 8 to October 22.