NBC News -
October 19, 2020
Domestic violence homicides are on the rise in many cities around the country, according to preliminary data from local law enforcement. In at least two major counties, they have doubled — a reversal of multi-year declines. Experts attribute much of the alarming increase to the social and economic pressures of the coronavirus pandemic. Annual national data on domestic violence murders is not released until well into the following year, but violent crime and homicides have increased this year in cities from Milwaukee to New York, and some cities are already reporting spikes in domestic violence homicides.
AP -
October 19, 2020
In the week since he emerged from coronavirus isolation, Trump has demonstrated new determination to minimize the threat of the virus that has killed more than 215,000 Americans and complicated his chances of winning another four years in the White House. “The light at the end of the tunnel is near. We are rounding the turn,” Trump told supporters Friday at an event in Fort Myers, Florida, one of many moments during a week of campaigning when the president tried to play down the virus threat. “Don’t listen to the cynics and angry partisans and pessimists.”
TODAY -
October 19, 2020
MIS-A stands for "multi-system inflammatory syndrome in adults." When the condition was identified in children this spring, it was named MIS-C, with the C standing for "children." Kids were developing dangerous inflammation around the heart and other organs, often weeks after their initial infections with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. … But many doctors may not, in fact, be recognizing the condition in adults. Just a few dozen cases of MIS-A have been reported. And not all patients have obvious rashes.
Reuters -
October 19, 2020
Many experts are convinced that COVID-19 can trigger the onset of diabetes - even in some adults and children who do not have the traditional risk factors. It’s already been well-documented that people with diabetes face much higher risks of severe illness or death if they contract COVID-19. In July, U.S. health officials found that nearly 40% of people who have died with COVID-19 had diabetes. Now, cases like Buelna’s suggest the connection between the diseases runs both ways.
HealthDay -
October 19, 2020
In what will come as reassuring news to those who were born with a heart defect, new research finds these people aren't at increased risk for moderate or severe COVID-19. The study included more than 7,000 adults and children who were born with a heart defect (congenital heart disease) and followed by researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York City.
NPR -
October 19, 2020
People are getting the results of coronavirus tests in the U.S. faster than they were in the spring, but testing still takes far too long to help effective disease control measures such as contact tracing and quarantining, according to the results of a large national survey. … Hispanics and African-Americans are waiting about a day longer than whites on average ... The researchers also found that a disturbingly high proportion of those testing positive — almost half — are never contacted by a health worker to determine who they may have infected, a crucial step for preventing outbreaks.
NBC News -
October 19, 2020
As a third surge of the coronavirus threatens much of the U.S., public health experts across the country say there still aren’t enough tests available to keep the virus under control. Right now, some doctors and hospitals are offering rapid tests to patients, which can give results in minutes. And over the next few weeks, major pharmacy retailers like CVS and Walgreens say they’ll start offering a type of rapid test called an antigen test, which some hope will give Americans more access to testing.
AP -
October 19, 2020
After struggling to ramp up coronavirus testing, the U.S. can now screen several million people daily, thanks to a growing supply of rapid tests. But the boom comes with a new challenge: keeping track of the results. All U.S. testing sites are legally required to report their results, positive and negative, to public health agencies. But state health officials say many rapid tests are going unreported, which means some new COVID-19 infections may not be counted.
NPR -
October 19, 2020
When the coronavirus pandemic hit this spring, government relief payments provided a life raft to millions of people who had been thrown out of work. That life raft, however, is now losing air, threatening to leave the unemployed in a perilous situation just as Washington leaders struggle to clinch a new package of aid ahead of the November election. New research from JPMorgan Chase Institute and the University of Chicago focused on 80,000 unemployed people shows savings built up when the government provided aid is now rapidly running out, leaving people like chemist Kate McAfee fretting about their futures.
TIME -
October 19, 2020
Between August and September, 865,000 women dropped out of the labor force, according to a National Women’s Law Center analysis of the Bureau of Labor Statistics September jobs report. In the same time period, just 216,000 men exited the workforce. Meanwhile, one in four women are considering reducing work hours, moving to part-time roles, switching to less demanding jobs, taking leaves of absence from work, or stepping away from the workforce altogether, according to an annual Women in the Workplace study published in September by McKinsey & Co. and Lean In.
STAT -
October 19, 2020
The decline is notably more pronounced among Black Americans than among white individuals, according to a new survey from STAT and The Harris Poll. Overall, 58% of the U.S. public said they would get vaccinated as soon as a vaccine was available when asked earlier this month, down considerably from 69% who said the same thing in mid-August.
Reuters -
October 16, 2020
U.S. cases of the novel coronavirus crossed 8 million on Thursday, rising by 1 million in less than a month, as another surge in cases hits the nation at the onset of cooler weather. The U.S. reported 60,000 new infections on Wednesday, the highest since Aug. 14, with rising cases in every region, especially the Midwest. .... According to a Reuters analysis, 25 states have so far set records for increases in new cases in October.
Yahoo! -
October 16, 2020
The results are from WHO's "Solidarity" trial, which evaluated the effects of four potential drug regimens, including remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, anti-HIV drug combination lopinavir/ritonavir and interferon, in 11,266 adult patients across more than 30 countries. The study found the regimens appeared to have little or no effect on 28-day mortality or the length of the in-hospital course among patients hospitalized with COVID-19, the WHO said on Thursday. The results of the trial are yet to be reviewed and were uploaded on the preprint server medRxiv.
TODAY -
October 16, 2020
Since the beginning of the coronavirus epidemic, the CDC has said that hand-washing is “one of the best ways to protect yourself and your family from getting sick.” On Global Handwashing Day, a new survey from the CDC showed that men and younger adults aged 18-24 wash their hands less frequently throughout the day, even after being in contact with public, high-touch surfaces. … People that did not know anyone who contracted or died from the virus were less likely to wash their hands.
NBC News -
October 16, 2020
Rates of Covid-19 among dentists were low in the late spring as dental practices reopened and patients returned, a report published Thursday by the American Dental Association suggests. Researchers conducted a nationwide survey June 8 with responses from more than 2,000 dentists from across the country. Just 0.9 percent, they found, had either confirmed or probable cases of Covid-19.