Category: Covid-19

This story is part of an NPR nationwide analysis of states' revenue and budgets during the pandemic.

Before the pandemic hit, Nebraska officials had ambitious plans for the state's roughly $5 billion annual budget, including adding $300 million to the state's cash reserves.

Then came the revenue dropoffs this spring. But by late July, lawmakers were surprised and relieved to see that reduction was not as large as some had anticipated.

State Sen. John Stinner, chair of the Appropriations Committee, had at one point anticipated a revenue reduction on the order of $250 million. But now, Stinner says, Nebraska will only have about $50 million less to spend than projected before the pandemic. That's nothing close to the kind of dropoff seen in some other states.

Following a revised financial forecast, lawmakers passed budget adjustments that actually increased the biennial budget slightly, with the largest increase, $55 million, to help pay costs incurred from devastating flooding last year. That revised spending plan is waiting for Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts' signature.

Ultimately, Stinner says, the state needs to be cautious about future spending given the unpredictability of the coronavirus spread. Cases have been growing in Nebraska.

Fred Knapp is a reporter/producer for NET News Nebraska Public Radio and Television.

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Here's What Nebraska's Revenue And Budget Look Like Amid COVID-19 - NPR

This story is part of an NPR nationwide analysis of states' revenue and budgets during the pandemic.

Texas state revenues have taken a serious beating, thanks largely to falling sales tax revenue since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

The past few months have seen year-over-year sales tax revenue declines. Other revenue sources affected by COVID-19, including taxes on motor fuel, hotel occupancy and alcoholic beverages, have also experienced double-digit drops.

The crash in oil prices sent oil production tax receipts down a whopping 77% June 2020, compared with June 2019, with natural gas production receipts down 84%.

"The drops we've seen in some of our revenue sources ... those are bigger drops than we've ever seen, at least on a month-to-month basis," said Tom Currah, chief revenue estimator with the Texas comptroller's office.

All state agencies have been asked to pare their budgets by 5% for the two-year budget cycle. That translates to about 8.5% cuts in what's left of the cycle.

Andrew Schneider is the politics and government reporter for Houston Public Media.

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Here's What Texas' Revenue And Budget Look Like Amid COVID-19 - NPR

Activists are calling on the pharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences to study a drug for the treatment of Covid-19 that showed promise in curing cats of a coronavirus.

The drug, called GS-441524, is chemically related to remdesivir, an antiviral also made by Gilead, and one of the only treatments to successfully shorten the duration of Covid-19 recovery.

GS-441524 has also attracted attention for its promise to treat another potential coronavirus feline infectious peritonitis, or FIP. The drug has become an unapproved black market treatment for the disease, once universally thought to be fatal to cats.

In a letter sent to the heads of four government agencies currently developing treatments and vaccines for Covid-19, the left-leaning Public Citizen group called on Gilead to work collaboratively to begin development of the drug.

The group also accused Gilead of choosing to develop remdesivir, which is much further along in the clinical trial process than GS-441524, because it would remain under patent longer and therefore produce more profit.

It is sadly predictable that Big Pharma responds to a global pandemic by trying to bring to market only those drugs that maximize its profits, said Dr Michael Abrams, a researcher with Public Citizens health research group and lead author of the letter.

What is alarming here is that federal scientists and Trump administration regulators appear to be willing partners with Gilead in decisions that run distinctly counter to the governments primary imperative of advancing public health during this worldwide crisis, said Abrams.

Gilead specializes in antiviral treatments, and has drawn criticism in the past for its pricing policies. A patented hepatitis C cure costs $1,000 per pill or $84,000 per course in the United States. And the companys HIV prevention medication Truvada, which could significantly reduce transmission, can cost as much as $20,000 a year in the US.

But not all agree pricing alone is driving Gileads decisions. Derek Lowe is a drug discovery scientist and the author of In the Pipeline, a blog which covers early drug development. Lowe said remdesivir could be useful only for a relatively short period of time if a successful vaccine is developed, and that GS-441524 is years behind remdesivir.

Monoclonal antibodies and vaccines are, to my eyes (and not just mine) the answer to this pandemic, said Lowe. As those treatments become available, molecule-based antivirals such as remdesivir and GS-441524, will become less valuable.

Remdesivir was available for human use quickly because Gilead hoped to develop the drug to treat victims of Ebola. Although it failed as a treatment for that virus, remdesivir had an established dosing and safety profile, as National Institutes of Health researchers wrote.

Thats whats driving Gileads decision making they know that remdesivir is their bird-in-the-hand, and that pouring their (large but finite) resources into another compound to try to get it caught up could be a bad move, said Lowe. By the time they get it ready to launch, its possible that no one would care.

A spokesperson for Gilead said the decision to develop remdesivir had been taken because it had been shown to be more effective in certain key areas than GS-441524 and thus a better candidate for potentially treating Covid-19.

Reinforcing this decision was the ability to rapidly progress clinical trials with remdesivir, given the urgency of the global pandemic, the spokesperson added.

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Covid-19 treatment: Gilead Sciences urged to study drug that showed promise with cats - The Guardian

The Emergency Committee on COVID-19, convened by the WHO Director-General under the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR), held its fourth meeting on 31 July. In its statement following the meeting, published today, it expressed appreciation for WHO and partners COVID-19 pandemic response efforts, and highlighted the anticipated lengthy duration of this COVID-19 pandemic, noting the importance of sustained community, national, regional, and global response efforts.

After a full discussion and review of the evidence, the Committee unanimously agreed that the outbreak still constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) and offered this advice toDr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

Dr Tedros accepted the advice of the Committee and confirmed that the outbreak of COVID-19 continues to constitute a PHEIC. The Director-General declared a PHEICWHOs highest level of alarm under IHRon 30 January at a time when there were fewer than 100 cases and no deaths outside China. He issued the Committees advice to States Parties as Temporary Recommendations under the IHR.

The pandemic is a once-in-a-century health crisis, the effects of which will be felt for decades to come," Dr Tedrostold the Committee in his opening remarks on Friday."Many countries that believed they were past the worst are now grappling with new outbreaks. Some that were less affected in the earliest weeks are now seeing escalating numbers of cases and deaths. And some that had large outbreaks have brought them under control."

The Committee made a range of recommendations to both WHO and State Parties.It advised WHO to continue to mobilize global and regional multilateral organizations and partners for COVID-19 preparedness and response, to support Member States in maintaininghealth services, while accelerating the research and eventual access to diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines.

It advised countries to support these research efforts, including through funding, and to join in efforts to allow equitable allocation of diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines by engaging in the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator among other initiatives.

The committee also advised countries to strengthen public health surveillance for case identification andcontact tracing, including in low-resource, vulnerable, or high-risk settings and to maintain essential health services with sufficient funding, supplies, and human resources.

Countries were advised to implement proportionate measures and advice on travel, based on risk assessments, and toreview these measures regularly.

The Committees statement, with further details of the meeting and their recommendations, is available here

A list of the Committee members is available here

The Emergency Committee will be reconvened again within three months or earlier,at the discretion of the Director-General.

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COVID-19 Emergency Committee highlights need for response efforts over long term - World Health Organization

Anthony Fauci and President Trump are still at odds.

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for three decade who has worked on the front lines of the AIDS pandemic in the 1980s and 1990s, the Ebola outbreak of 2014 to 2016 and the anthrax attacks two decades ago, testified before Congress last week that the U.S. should have taken speedier and more comprehensive action to close businesses when coronavirus first appeared in the U.S. earlier this year.

Fauci said the U.S. effectively only shut down half the economy. If you look at what happened in Europe when they shut down, or locked down, or went to shelter-in-place, however you want to describe it, they really did it to the tune of about 95% plus, he told the hearing. When you actually look at what we did, even though we shut down, even though it created a great deal of difficulty, we really functionally shut down only about 50% in the sense of the totality of the country.

President Trump hit back at Fauci on Twitter TWTR, -0.87% on Saturday evening, replying to a post by CBS News VIAC, +1.00% of Faucis testimony. Wrong! We have more cases because we have tested far more than any other country, 60,000,000. If we tested less, there would be less cases. How did Italy, France & Spain do? Now Europe sadly has flare ups. Most of our governors worked hard & smart. We will come back STRONG!

Nearly 53 million people have been tested for coronavirus in the U.S. to date, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with more than 5 million or 10% of those testing positive for the virus. Wait times of more than 10 days have become the norm for many Americans. There are, however, stories of people who have had to wait 26 days to get their results. Waiting 10 days for a test defeats the purpose of getting tested, some health professionals say.

Approximately half of the tests being performed daily are conducted by commercial labs such as Quest Diagnostics DGX, +0.24% and LabCorp. Only one state has an average turnaround time of greater than five days, said Admiral Brett Giroir, a member of the White House coronavirus task force. Five states are between four and five days. 26 states are still three days or less, and the rest are between three and four days. Turnaround times of 10 to 12 days represent outliers, he added.

The Trump administration, meanwhile, is trying to block $25 billion for states to conduct testing and contact tracing in the next coronavirus relief bill, people involved in the talks told the Washington Post this month. Democratic lawmakers, in negotiations over a new stimulus bill, have demanded $25 billion for the testing and contact-tracing, over three times what the GOP have suggested. Contact tracing identifies people who someone with COVID-19 has come into contact with.

At the U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, Fauci reiterated that there was no scientific evidence to show that hydroxychloroquine was helpful for coronavirus patients. You look at the scientific data and the evidence, and the scientific data, on trials that are valid that were randomized and controlled in the proper way; all of those trials show consistently that hydroxychloroquine is not effective in the treatment of coronavirus disease or COVID-19.

When asked by Republican Rep. Blaine Leutkemeyer from Missouri about a peer-reviewed study suggesting otherwise, Fauci said, The Henry Ford Hospital study that was published was a non-controlled retrospective cohort study that was confounded by a number of issues, including the fact that many people who were receiving hydroxychloroquine were also using corticosteroids, which we know from another study gives a clear benefit in reducing deaths with advanced disease.

So that study is a flawed study, and I think anyone who examines it carefully [would see] that it is not a randomized placebo-controlled trial. You can peer review something thats a bad study, Fauci said, adding, I would be the first one to admit it and to promote it, but I have not seen yet a randomized placebo controlled trial thats done that. I dont have any horse in the game one way or the other. I just look at the data.

Social-media sites attempted to quash a video pushing misleading information about hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment which led to Twitter partially suspending Donald Trump Jr.s account. The video featured doctors calling hydroxychloroquine a drug used to treat malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis for decades a cure for COVID, despite a growing body of scientific evidence that has not shown this to be true.

As of Sunday, COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2, had infected at least 17.9 million people globally and 4.6 million in the U.S. It had killed over 686,877 people worldwide and at least 154,793 in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University. Cases in California surpassed 500,000 as the state reported 7,118 new cases Saturday, with 134 new deaths, bringing the death toll in that state to 9,365. New York has the most fatalities (32,710) followed by New Jersey (15,836).

The Dow Jones Industrial Index DJIA, +0.43% closed higher Friday, as investors tracked round two of the potential fiscal stimulus. The S&P 500 SPX, +0.76% and Nasdaq Composite COMP, +1.48% alsoended the week after some of the industrys largest and most powerful players Apple AAPL, +10.46% Facebook FB, +8.17%, Amazon. AMZN, +3.69% and Google parent Alphabet Inc. GOOGL, -3.27% GOOG, -3.16% reported their results.

Related:Dr. Fauci tells MarketWatch: I would not get on a plane or eat inside a restaurant

Health professionals, economists and lawmakers are concerned about the rise in coronavirus over the last month with the rise in daily cases exceeding 1,000 for the sixth consecutive day on Saturday. The U.S. cannot afford to have a resurgence of the virus either now or in the fall, health professionals say. For one, its harder to get people to practice social distancing and stay home again, especially after theyve already abided by stay-at-home orders for more than 11 weeks.

Secondly, the effect on the economy could push the U.S. into a prolonged recession, even greater than the one already predicted by some economists, despite some observers seeing public health and economic health as an either/or scenario. Thirdly, the flu season will already be upon us in the winter and those symptoms are easily confused with those of COVID-19. Fourthly, too few people will be immune to COVID-19 after this first wave ends to support herd immunity.

Another thing to consider: Given the age profile of fatalities in the U.S. and other countries, elderly people would die in far greater numbers if the economy were restarted earlier. Paul Zak, a neuroscientist and author of The Moral Molecule: The Source of Love and Prosperity, said a trade-off between the economy and allowing (older) people to die of COVID-19 reflects that society values people on their economic output, which ignores a multitude of other factors.

Its appalling to attach a dollar number to a human life for non-economists, Colin Camerer, a professor of behavioral finance and economics at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, told MarketWatch. You can never make things perfectly safe with zero risk. We do have limited time, health-care staff, ventilators and money. What is the curve of transmission? How many people are going to die, if you open up the economy? No one is really too sure.

Trump has said he is also concerned about the impact of the pandemic and job losses on peoples mental health; some studies suggest it could lead to tragic outcomes. The growing epidemic of deaths of despair in the U.S. is also increasing due to the pandemic and another 75,000 more people will likely die from drug or alcohol misuse and suicide, according to research from the Well Being Trust, and Robert Graham Center at the American Academy of Family Physicians.

The response to the virus has been split down political lines. The American public has responded differently to the pandemic along political lines: 62% of Republicans and Republican leaners say the seriousness of COVID-19 is generally exaggerated, according to one survey, while just 31% of Democrats and Democrat leaners and 35% of independents say the same. Democrats and independents are more likely than Republicans that coronavirus is a threat.

How COVID-19 is transmitted

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Wrong! Trump and Fauci clash over surge in COVID-19 cases, reopening of economy and hydroxychloroquine - MarketWatch

The West Virginia Department of Health andHuman Resources (DHHR) reports as of 10:00 a.m., on August 2,2020, there have been 291,071 total confirmatorylaboratory results received for COVID-19, with 6,854 totalcases and 117 deaths.

DHHR has confirmed the death of a79-year old male from Kanawha County. Wejoin with the family in grieving the passing of this gentleman, said Bill J.Crouch, DHHR Cabinet Secretary.

In alignment with updated definitions fromthe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the dashboard includes probablecases which are individuals that have symptoms and either serologic (antibody)or epidemiologic (e.g., a link to a confirmed case) evidence of disease, but noconfirmatory test.

CASESPER COUNTY (Case confirmed by lab test/Probable case):Barbour (29/0), Berkeley (633/22), Boone (77/0), Braxton (8/0), Brooke(61/1), Cabell (319/9), Calhoun (6/0), Clay (17/0), Doddridge (4/0), Fayette(129/0), Gilmer (16/0), Grant (76/1), Greenbrier (87/0), Hampshire (74/0),Hancock (95/4), Hardy (53/1), Harrison (192/1), Jackson (157/0), Jefferson(284/5), Kanawha (809/13), Lewis (26/1), Lincoln (67/1), Logan (148/0), Marion(172/4), Marshall (123/2), Mason (46/0), McDowell (36/1), Mercer (164/0),Mineral (108/2), Mingo (125/2), Monongalia (900/16), Monroe (18/1), Morgan(25/1), Nicholas (30/1), Ohio (252/0), Pendleton (36/1), Pleasants (7/1),Pocahontas (40/1), Preston (100/23), Putnam (166/1), Raleigh (183/6), Randolph(204/3), Ritchie (3/0), Roane (14/0), Summers (6/0), Taylor (52/1), Tucker(10/0), Tyler (12/0), Upshur (36/2), Wayne (182/2), Webster (3/0), Wetzel(40/0), Wirt (6/0), Wood (224/11), Wyoming (23/0).

As case surveillance continues at thelocal health department level, it may reveal that those tested in a certaincounty may not be a resident of that county, or even the state as an individualin question may have crossed the state border to be tested.Such is the case of Hancock County in this report.

Pleasenote that delays may be experienced with the reporting of information from thelocal health department to DHHR. Visitthe dashboard at http://www.coronavirus.wv.gov for more detailed information.

On July 24, 2020, Gov. Jim Justiceannounced that DHHR, the agency in charge of reporting the number of COVID-19cases, will transition from providing twice-daily updates to one report every24 hours. This became effective August 1, 2020.

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COVID-19 Daily Update 8-2-2020 - West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources

Five months since the first confirmed COVID-19 case in New York,Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that the State conducted 82,737 COVID-19 tests yesterday the highest number of tests ever conducted in a single day in the state. 0.91 percent of those test results were positive. The governor also updated New Yorkers on the state's progress during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The number of new cases, percentage of tests that were positive and many other helpful data points are always available atforward.ny.gov.

"Today is five months since we had our first case, and yesterday we hit a record number of tests 82,737 the most tests ever conducted in a single day in this state, with 0.91 percent of results coming back positive,"Governor Cuomo said."Our future is dependent on what we do, and social distancing, wearing masks and washing hands are useful and effective tools as we combat this virus. New Yorkers should continue practicing those basic behaviors and local governments should enforce state guidance. That's what it means to be New York Tough."

Governor Cuomo also announced the State Liquor Authority and State Police Task Force visited and observed 1,103 establishments across New York City and Long Islandlast night and found violations at 41 establishments, or 4 percent.

Today's data is summarized briefly below:

Of the 82,737 tests conducted in New York State yesterday, 753, or 0.91 percent, were positive. Each region's percentage of positive tests over the last three days is as follows:

REGION

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

Capital Region

2.1%

1.1%

1.1%

Central New York

1.1%

0.5%

0.7%

Finger Lakes

0.6%

0.7%

0.9%

Long Island

1.2%

0.9%

1.1%

Mid-Hudson

1.3%

0.9%

1.0%

Mohawk Valley

0.9%

1.0%

1.1%

New York City

1.0%

0.9%

0.8%

North Country

0.3%

0.5%

0.2%

Southern Tier

0.7%

0.6%

0.8%

Western New York

0.5%

1.6%

1.1%

The Governor also confirmed 753 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 415,767 confirmed cases in New York State. Of the 415,767 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows:

County

Total Positive

New Positive

Albany

2,515

12

Allegany

74

0

Broome

1,048

11

Cattaraugus

158

0

Cayuga

144

1

Chautauqua

231

3

Chemung

163

0

Chenango

209

2

Clinton

127

1

Columbia

519

3

Cortland

91

0

Delaware

103

1

Dutchess

4,504

14

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Five Months Since First Confirmed Covid-19 Case in New York, Governor Cuomo Announces Highest Number of Tests Ever Conducted in the State - ny.gov

A march earlier Saturday that was criticized by police for not adhering to rules on social distancing and face masks was halted by organizers.

The march, which was named by organizers as "Day of Freedom -- The End of the Pandemic," included anti-vaccine groups and some far-right and neo-Nazi organizations. On livestreams of the event, some protesters could be heard yelling, "We are the second wave."

Current coronavirus guidelines in Germany stipulate that people must maintain a distance of 1.5 meters, or about 5 feet. Where that is not possible, face masks must be worn. Berlin police said on Twitter that most of the protesters were not adhering to social distancing rules or wearing masks.

"Our colleagues are using loud speakers to urge the adherence to the rules. We are also documenting non-compliance for possible later prosecution," Berlin police tweeted, adding that a criminal complaint was filed against one of the march's organizers for not adhering to hygiene rules.

Police warned the roughly 17,000 protesters who participated in the march they would only be allowed to participate in the demonstration if they wore face coverings and maintained social distance.

A livestream from the protest showed almost no one wearing a face mask, although the master of ceremonies told the crowd from the stage to maintain physical distance so as not to give the authorities "a pretext" for breaking up the event.

The data was published Saturday morning but reflects Friday's numbers. The last time Germany recorded a higher number of new coronavirus cases was in May.

The German government has been warning about a new spike in coronavirus cases after the pandemic had largely been brought under control.

The institute says lax enforcement of social distancing and hygiene rules as well as travelers returning from abroad are to blame for the steep rise in cases.

"Especially since it is not large 'hot spots' but smaller clusters of infections. The main risks need to clearly be named so that a more targeted prevention becomes possible," Altmaier wrote.

Starting Saturday, all travelers coming to Germany will be able to get free coronavirus tests up 72 hours after arrival, according to a new directive from Germany's health ministry.

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Thousands gather in Berlin to protest against Covid-19 restrictions - CNN

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Family gatherings linked to COVID-19 spikes nationwide, numbers show - KXAN.com

Faro Tabaja, owner of Waves Barbershop & Boutique in Manhattan Beach, gives a haircut to Gene Geiser. Tabaja moved the barbers chair into the entry way to create a safer environment to cut hair due to the coronavirus outbreak.

(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

John Settles had just finished getting his hair cut. The Rancho Palos Verdes resident stepped out of the barbers chair and turned to check out the results. In the window of a nearby BMW.

Because the mirror at Waves Barbershop & Boutique is inside the tiny ocean view shop on Rosecrans Avenue. And the haircuts happen more or less outside, now that California is on its second COVID-19 shutdown and the only legal salon is an al fresco one.

Its hard to have a more Southern California experience than an open-air grooming session in tony Manhattan Beach, even with a late-season gloom and a slightly chilly ocean breeze.

VIDEO |

Cutting hair outside is the only way to go

That didnt stop Faro Tabaja, Waves owner, from flinging open the shops French doors first thing in the morning, dragging the shiny barbers chair to the very edge of the shop and placing it so the footrest and his clients feet stuck out of the storefront and over the sidewalk.

Men awaiting a much-needed trim cooled their heels in a pair of office chairs Tabaja had positioned across the sidewalk, hard by the parking meters. A surfer wetsuit peeled to his waist, board tucked under his arm headed to his car. A woman with pink hair strolled by with a pair of French bulldogs.

I have a mask on, Tabaja said as he snipped away at a clients salt-and-pepper locks. He has a mask on. Its a different life.

Two miles east on Rosecrans, in the Manhattan Marketplace strip mall, Posh Nails also was doing a brisk outdoor business. The seven sidewalk stations were full. Manicurists in full protective gear bent over clients hands, filing nails, scraping cuticles, brushing on polish.

RonAnn Myers of Hawthorne receives a pedicure from Hue Thi Nguyen, left, and a manicure from Tina Nguyen (no relation) right, in front of Posh Nails in Manhattan Beach.

(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

Women soaked their feet, pre-pedicure, in plastic-lined tubs. An armored car rumbled by, followed by a UPS truck. Where the outdoor nail salon ended, a half dozen shoppers lined up (six feet apart, of course) waiting to get into Helens Cycles.

VIDEO |

Nail salon opens for business outdoors

Jan and Hillary Rosenfeld were out for a late afternoon manicure, a little mother-daughter bonding before Hillary leaves for the University of Wisconsin. Jan has waited out the pandemic in her Manhattan Beach home, cooking, phoning distant relatives, picking up a new hobby or two.

But on this afternoon, she was really, really happy to be outside getting her nails done.

Its nice to be able to pamper yourself, she said, adjusting her slipping face mask. It feels like a little bit of normalcy.

Maria La Ganga

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One day in the life of COVID-19 across L.A. shows wrenching inequities - Los Angeles Times