Covid-19

The Trump administration has sent hundreds of millions of dollars in pandemic-related bailouts to health care providers with checkered histories, including a Florida-based cancer center that agreed to pay a $100 million criminal penalty as part of a federal antitrust investigation.At least half of the top 10 recipients, part of a group that received $20 billion in emergency funding from the Department of Health and Human Services, have paid millions in recent years either in criminal penalties or to settle allegations related to improper billing and other practices, a Kaiser Health News review...

NOTE: This story and its headline have been updated to reflect how the state is classifying coronavirus deaths at longterm care facilities.Nine weeks into New Jersey’s coronavirusoutbreak — the second-largest among American states — more than a third of the state’s deaths officially attributed to the disease have come at long-term care facilities.And that doesn’t account for another 1,400 deaths at the facilities that officials say are probably linked to COVID-19.The state has reported 3,440 of its 9,116 lab-confirmed COVID-19-related deaths — or about 38% — have come at the facilities, which ...

SEATTLE — One of the hottest debates in the coronavirus pandemic is whether the malaria drugs promoted as possible treatments by President Donald Trump really work. But Americans don’t seem overly eager to help answer the question.Enrollment in several clinical trials of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine — including two by the University of Washington — has been anemic so far. Fewer than 260 volunteers, out of a target of 2,000, have signed up for a $9.5 million UW study being conducted in Seattle and six other sites across the country. Another multi-site project coordinated by the UW has onl...

MIAMI — As Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to allow phased reopenings in more parts of the state, the state’s Department of Health announced a new app that streamlines the way Floridians and others can take the Community Action Survey, which officials say can help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.Data from the survey show Floridians aren’t following some health official safety measures.The Community Action Survey Report was first announced in early April. DeSantis said, “In addition to helping our state better identify and predict coronavirus trends in Florida, the StrongerThanC-19...

Anthony Fauci, the federal government’s top infectious disease expert, is putting himself in “modified quarantine” after possibly being exposed to a White House staffer with coronavirus, CNN reported Saturday.Fauci, 79, told CNN correspondent Jake Tapper that the contact was “low risk” — meaning he did not have direct contact with the sick staffer.A test Friday found Fauci did not have COVID-19, CNN reported.Fauci plans to be tested every day, and will work from home wearing a mask, the network said. Fauci might eventually go to his office at the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious ...

Washington (AFP) - In a world suddenly fearful of touch, voice technology is getting a fresh look.Voice-activated systems such as Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and Apple's Siri have seen strong growth in recent years, and the virus pandemic could accelerate that, analysts say.Voice assistants are not only answering queries and shopping, but also being used for smart home control and for a range of business and medical applications which could see increased interest as people seek to limit personal contact."Voice has already made significant inroads into the smart home space and voice control ...

Stockholm (AFP) - Bjorn Branngard's mother died in a Stockholm nursing home where five of the eight people in her section and more than a third of residents have so far succumbed to the new coronavirus."They didn't have time to take care of my mother," he told AFP.Her coronavirus test came back negative two days after her death, but Branngard, who claims she died of neglect, says the nursing home staff lacked protective gear and were spreading the virus around the home.Sweden, whose softer approach to the coronavirus has garnered international attention, admits it has failed to adequately prot...

New York (AFP) - Could a new type of ultraviolet lamp be used in stations, airplanes and schools to kill dangerous viruses, becoming a gamechanger in the COVID-19 fight?Researchers at Columbia University have been working on such uses for years, and the current pandemic could confirm the value of their efforts.UVC lamps have long been used to kill bacteria, viruses and molds, notably in hospitals and in the food-processing industry. As the coronavirus pandemic knocks world economies on their heels, this technology is experiencing a boom.But UVC (for Ultraviolet-C) rays are dangerous, causing s...

Washington (AFP) - One week after Sally realized she was pregnant, her home state Texas temporarily banned abortions, deeming them unnecessary elective procedures that were suspended because of the coronavirus crisis.So, the 34-year-old, whose name has been changed for this story to protect her privacy, took matters into her own hands -- something she never would have considered in the past.Having split with her boyfriend, she decided to buy pills on the internet, and perform her own abortion at home. It's illegal, and certainly stressful, but more and more women -- faced with difficult decisi...

United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The United States on Friday stunned other members of the UN Security Council by preventing a vote on a resolution for a ceasefire in various conflicts around the world to help troubled nations better fight the coronavirus pandemic, diplomats said.Washington's reversal came a day after it agreed to the text, negotiators said under cover of anonymity."The United States cannot support the current draft," the country's delegation declared, without further detail, to the 14 other Security Council members, after nearly two months of difficult negotiation over t...