Dear Reader:

Worldometer (Aug 26): Over 24 million cases and 827 thousand deaths worldwide. Almost 6 million cases and more than 183 thousand deaths in the U.S A. Over 40 thousand new cases and 1,290 new deaths yesterday in the U.S.

More than 3.6 million cases and almost 117 thousand deaths in Brazil. Almost 47 thousand new cases and 1,215 new deaths yesterday, in Brazil.

Over 3.3 million cases and over 60.6 thousand deaths in India. More than 66 thousand new cases and 1,066 new deaths yesterday in India.

USA Today: Scientists worry FDA could be pressured to approve Covid vaccine before it is fully tested (Aug 26): “Sunday, President Donald Trump announced the FDA had issued an Emergency Use Authorization for blood plasma. The president, the health and Human Services Secretary and the head of the FDA all  said the treatment reduced deaths in Covid-19 patients by 35%. It did not, and scientists immediately questioned FDA’s claims about the data.

“‘You saw FDA be bullied by the president of the United States into approving something that they didn’t want to approve earlier..,’ said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Cent4er at Children’s hospital in Philadelphia… The Infectious Disease Society of America was concerned enough that it published a statement saying while there were ‘some positive signals’ that the plasma helped, it shouldn’t be authorized for wider use before randomized, controlled studies are done…

“The overstatement, and the fact that the FDA would  approve emergency use of a Covid-19 treatment based on flawed analysis of a therapy that was already available, worries scientists and researchers focused on vaccines. They’re concerned the FDA might cave to pressure from the White House to issue an Emergency Use Authorization, or EUA, for a coronavirus vaccine in order to boos the president’s chances of re-election.

“Trump has said he expects a vaccine ‘very soon.’ He has floated the possibility that a supposed ‘deep state’ conspiracy at the FDA might delay it until after the Nov. 3 presidential election.”

NBC News: CDC reverse Covid-19 guidelines says testing may not be needed after exposure (Aug 25 or 26): “The Center for Disease Control and Prevention quietly tweaked its guidance on Covid-19 testing Monday, making a change that could result in fewer people getting 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… President Donald Trump has been outspoken about his belief that the United States has the most Covid-19 cases in the world because of the number of tests it carries out.

“But ‘testing, even for asymptomatic people, is critical to keeping the community transmission low since we know that presymptomatic transmission drives much of the spread of SARS-Cov-2,’ Rasmussen said, referring to the virus that cause Covid-19.”

CNN: US coronavirus covid-19, child cases have increased by 21 since early August new data shows (Aug 25 or 26): “More than 70,000 new Covid-19 cases in children have been reported across the US since early August, new data shows. Child cases increased by 21% between August 6 and August 20… More than 440,000 children have been infected in the US since the start of the pandemic, the report said. Despite the climbing numbers, severe illness in children from the virus is rare… Of those hospitalized with the virus, about one in three children is admitted to intensive care- the same as adults… while the risk for Covid-19 related complications seems to be lower, there are still a lot of unknowns when it comes to children and the virus- including how big their role is in transmitting it.”

anita

• This reply was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by .