ABC News -
August 31, 2020
Although these are two very different viruses, experts are now exploring what might happen if people get COVID-19 and the flu at the same time, and whether being ill with one virus might make you more susceptible to the other. "It is certainly possible, although we aren't clear how coinfection occurs," said Dr. Jay Bhatt, an ABC News contributor and former chief medical officer of the American Hospital Association. "We will learn more as we get into the flu season."
AP -
August 31, 2020
Levee breaches from Hurricane Katrina dumped six feet of water into the New Orleans home of Mary Duplessis and her husband in 2005. The house was uninhabitable. Rebuilding meant piles of paperwork in a mountain of bureaucracy. She didn’t return to the city for a year. But as the 15th anniversary of the storm approaches, and as another monster storm narrowly missed the city, it’s not memories of Katrina that weigh on Duplessis’ mind. It’s the coronavirus.
WTOC-11 -
August 31, 2020
CNN -
August 28, 2020
New coronavirus cases are down across the US about 12% on average over the last seven days compared to the previous week, but the nation is still averaging more than 900 deaths a day. According to an analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University, cases are steadily declining in states hard-hit by Covid-19. Compared to last week, new cases are down in Arizona about 36%, California and Texas have seen a decrease of 29%, and Florida's numbers are down 26%.
AP -
August 28, 2020
The WHO said Thursday that countries should actively test people to find coronavirus cases even if they don’t show symptoms — a stance that comes after the U.S. health agency switched its policy to say that asymptomatic contacts of infected people don’t need to be tested. At a press briefing, Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead for COVID-19, said when officials are investigating clusters of COVID-19, “testing may need to be expanded to look for individuals who are on the more mild end of the spectrum or who may indeed be asymptomatic.”
AP -
August 28, 2020
It was a scene from a bygone era: Vice President Mike Pence shaking hands with and fist-bumping audience members who had rushed forward, standing shoulder to shoulder, to greet him and the president after Pence’s speech at the Republican National Convention. No one appeared concerned about social distancing. Few wore masks. Some told reporters they had not been tested for the coronavirus before Wednesday night’s gathering at Fort McHenry in Baltimore
Reuters -
August 28, 2020
Several U.S. Midwest states reported record one-day increases in the number of new coronavirus cases on Thursday as nationwide deaths from the virus topped 180,000 and officials braced for the possibility of another surge with school openings. Meanwhile, the governors of several states said they would not reduce testing as recommended the U.S. CDC, a change many health officials say was based on political pressure and not science. Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota all recorded on Thursday the biggest one-day increases in new infections since the pandemic started.
CBS News -
August 28, 2020
The World Health Organization's chief for Europe has warned COVID-19 is a "tornado with a long tail" and says increased case counts among young people could ultimately be passed on to more vulnerable older people and cause an uptick in deaths. Dr. Hans Kluge said younger people are likely to come into closer contact with the elderly as the weather cools in Europe.
TODAY -
August 28, 2020
The federal government appears to have backtracked on COVID-19 testing guidance, according to a statement released late Wednesday from the director of the CDC. Controversial recommendations posted to the CDC website on Monday suggested people exposed to the coronavirus "do not necessarily need a test" unless they're having symptoms, are older or are otherwise medically vulnerable. In the new statement, the CDC's director, Dr. Robert Redfield, now says that "all close contacts of confirmed or probable COVID-19 patients" may consider testing.
Reuters -
August 28, 2020
Several large U.S. states are not heeding new federal health officials’ calls to reduce COVID-19 testing of some exposed to the virus, 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 suggesting that such tests may not be needed.
Pew Research Center -
August 28, 2020
As the coronavirus pandemic continues, a growing share of Americans say they are regularly wearing a mask or face covering in stores and other businesses. More than eight-in-ten U.S. adults (85%) say they have done so all or most of the time over the past month, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted Aug. 3 to 16. When asked the same question in early June, 65% of Americans said they had been regularly wearing masks.