TODAY -
August 28, 2020
A new study out of Wuhan, China, where the novel coronavirus was first detected last year, indicates that some children infected with COVID-19 may show eye symptoms. … The recent study, which was published in the medical journal JAMA Ophthalmology on August 26, examined 216 children between the ages of 2 and 11 years old. All children had tested positive for COVID-19, and while many symptomatic patients had common coronavirus symptoms like fevers and coughs, 49 (22.7%) of the children studied showed "various ocular manifestations."
AJC -
August 28, 2020
The coronavirus freaked people out in its early weeks. Researchers at the Qualcomm Institute’s Center for Data Driven Health at the University of California San Diego now know how much. The group examined internet searches related to acute anxiety during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. … The largest increase in acute anxiety queries occurred March 28, 2020, with 52% more queries than expected during normal times. On that date, the U.S. passed 2,000 deaths from COVID-19.
HealthDay -
August 28, 2020
The case involved a woman who was 34 weeks pregnant. She visited the emergency department at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas with signs of premature labor and was admitted when she tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19… After a few days in the hospital, the woman gave birth in early May to a 7-pound, 3-ounce girl who initially appeared healthy. After 24 hours, however, the baby developed a fever and signs of respiratory distress, including an abnormally high breathing rate and lower blood-oxygen levels. Tests showed that she had COVID-19.
VOX -
August 28, 2020
Some of these at-home tests are ready to go. But they have been sitting on the shelf, unused, for months. Why? The holdup is that rapid, over-the-counter antigen tests are not nearly as sensitive to the coronavirus as the molecular PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests currently used for most Covid-19 testing. In fact, by PCR standards, some at-home antigen tests might catch only half or a third of people who test positive on a PCR test. But that’s because they’re looking for different things in different ways.
CNN -
August 28, 2020
The US FDA is warning consumers about alcohol-based hand sanitizers being packaged in containers that look like food or drink packaging. "The agency has discovered that some hand sanitizers are being packaged in beer cans, children's food pouches, water bottles, juice bottles and vodka bottles," a news release from the agency said. "Additionally, the FDA has found hand sanitizers that contain food flavors, such as chocolate or raspberry."
AJC -
August 28, 2020
From April through late July, more than 900 fraudulent items from around the country, including fake test kits, cures and counterfeit PPE, along with proceeds of more than $7 million, were seized by federal agencies, according to data from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Operation Stolen Promise, an effort to protect citizens from COVID-19-related criminal activity and fraud.
ProPublica -
August 28, 2020
Most, though not all, of the roughly 2.2 million Americans living in nursing homes or assisted living communities are elderly — and thus at higher risk of dying from the coronavirus. They’re also part of the most politically engaged demographic in the country. In 2018, 66% of Americans over 65 voted, compared with just 35% of those 18 to 29.
AP -
August 28, 2020
Home sales are booming. Stocks are setting record highs. Industrial production is clambering out of the ditch it fell into early this year. And yet the U.S. economy is nowhere close to regaining the health it achieved, with low unemployment, free-spending consumers and booming travel, before the coronavirus paralyzed the country in March. … Every week, roughly 1 million new Americans are applying for unemployment benefits — a depth of job insecurity not seen in any single week during the depths of the 2007-2009 Great Recession.
NPR -
August 28, 2020
That's a big part of what's driving home sales right now — people want more space. Despite the steepest plunge into a recession on record, historically high unemployment and an uncertain outlook for the economy, the housing market is on a tear. … In June, sales of existing homes jumped more than 20%, a record. Then they broke that record in July with a nearly 25% gain.
YAHOO! Finance -
August 27, 2020
Another 1 million Americans filed for first-time unemployment insurance benefits last week, as the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic continue to reverberate across the economy.
AP -
August 27, 2020
The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized the first rapid coronavirus test that doesn’t need any special computer equipment to get results. The 15-minute test from Abbott Laboratories will sell for $5, giving it a competitive edge over similar tests that need to be popped into a small machine. The portable test is based on the same technology used to test for the flu, strep throat and other infections. It’s the latest cheaper, simpler test to hit the U.S. market, providing new options to expand testing as schools and businesses struggle to reopen and flu season approaches.