COVID-19 News from Around the Web

U.S. health officials sparked criticism and confusion after posting guidelines on coronavirus testing from the White House task force that run counter to what scientists say is necessary to control the pandemic. The new guidance says it’s not necessary for people who have been in close contact with infected people, but don’t feel sick, to get tested. It was posted earlier this week on the website of the CDC. The CDC previously had advised local health departments to test people who have been within 6 feet of an infected person for more than 15 minutes. Across the country, public health experts called the change bizarre. They noted that testing contacts of infected people is a core element of public health efforts to keep outbreaks in check, and that a large percentage of infected people — the CDC has said as many as 40% — exhibit no symptoms.

The number of Georgians under the age of 18 diagnosed with COVID-19 has jumped 65% in the past month, with more than 21,000 testing positive since March. And, as more children are diagnosed with the illness, doctors are encountering more with complications than they have so far in the 6-month-old pandemic, experts say.

Three new studies describe the link between obesity and elevated risk of COVID-19 infection and poor outcomes. The first study, published yesterday in Diabetes Care, shows that predominantly black hospitalized COVID-19 patients with metabolic syndrome (a combination of obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and/or abnormal cholesterol levels that increases the risk of cardiovascular disease) were nearly five times more likely than their peers to require intensive care and a ventilator or experience respiratory distress and 3.4 times more likely to die from their infections. … The second study, a systematic review and meta-analysis of 75 Chinese- and English-language studies on obesity and COVID-19 published today in Obesity Reviews, found that obese people were at 1.5 times higher risk of coronavirus infection than their non-obese peers, 2.1 times more likely to be hospitalized for their infections, 1.7 times more likely to be admitted to an ICU, and 1.5 times more likely to die of the virus.

As the coronavirus pandemic rolls on, an unknown number of seemingly recovered patients are experiencing what is being called post-Covid syndrome — weeks or months of profound fatigue, fevers, problems with concentration and memory, dizzy spells, hair loss, and many other troubling symptoms. Among these “long-haulers,” as they have become known, a significant number face a very specific challenge: convincing others they had Covid-19 in the first place.

More than half of U.S. states have been approved for President Donald Trump's extra $300 in weekly jobless benefits. The aid is geared toward helping the 28.2 million workers who are currently collecting their states' regular unemployment benefits, which typically replaces only a fraction of a worker's regular income. … Even so, it's unclear how many states are currently disbursing the extra benefits, with FEMA officials last week saying that only one state so far — Arizona — had actually begun payment of the extra $300 per week.

As COVID-19 continues to spread, an increasing number of rural communities find themselves without their hospital or on the brink of losing already cash-strapped facilities. Eighteen rural hospitals closed last year and the first three months of 2020 were “really big months,” said Mark Holmes, director of the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Many of the losses are in Southern states like Florida and Texas. More than 170 rural hospitals have closed nationwide since 2005, according to data collected by the Sheps Center.

Moderna Inc said on Wednesday its experimental COVID-19 vaccine induced immune responses in older adults similar to those in younger participants, offering hope that it will be effective in people considered to be at high risk for severe complications from the coronavirus. The company is one of the leading contenders in the race to develop a vaccine against the virus that has killed more than 820,000 people worldwide. Its candidate, mRNA-1273, is already in late-stage human trials testing its ability to safely prevent infection.

Employers grappling with COVID-19's impact on the workplace may soon be forced to make another tough decision after months of agonizing over layoffs, furloughs and the right strategies to keep their businesses afloat during the pandemic. The next challenge? Should they require workers to take vaccines?Some companies concerned about liability issues, health and safety may need to decide whether to force their employees to get vaccinated if they want to continue working or return to the office, experts say.

Under normal circumstances, it could take years — if not decades — to bring a new vaccine to market. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed all that. In May, the Trump Administration launched Operation Warp Speed with the goal of delivering initial doses of a safe and effective vaccine by January, 2021 --shortening the development time from years to months. Some worry that to meet that ambitious schedule, the Administration might cut important scientific corners. They fear that President Trump could announce an "October surprise"-- declaring that a vaccine works before it has passed scientific muster in order to enhance his reelection chances.

The CDC quietly tweaked its guidance on COVID-19 testing Monday, making a change that could result in fewer people being tested and hinder contact tracing efforts. The guidance now states that healthy people who have been exposed to COVID-19 "do not necessarily need a test," as long as they don't have symptoms. That's a reversal from previous advice that clearly recommended testing for all close contacts of infected individuals, regardless of whether they had symptoms.

More U.S. colleges were grappling with high numbers of students testing positive for the coronavirus just days into the start of the fall semester after some universities rolled back their campus reopening plans in recent weeks. The University of Alabama on Monday reported more than 550 people across its campuses had tested positive for COVID-19 since it resumed in-person classes on August 19. Most of those infected were students, faculty and staff at the university’s main campus in Tuscaloosa.

The number of Americans newly diagnosed with the coronavirus is falling — a development experts say most likely reflects more mask-wearing but also insufficient testing — even as the disease continues to claim nearly 1,000 lives in the U.S. each day. About 43,000 new cases are being reported daily across the country, down 21% from early August, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.