Potential COVID-19 treatments and vaccines continue to show promise as the number of Americans put out of work amid the pandemic hits 30 million.
There’s cautious optimism that an experimental drug may help COVID-19 patients recover sooner, and possibly even save lives. The rare good news comes as a team working on a more permanent solution to the coronavirus pandemic says it should have a good idea by July whether its experimental COVID-19 vaccine really works.
As a staggering 30 million Americans apply for unemployment benefits in the space of just six weeks, President Trump says he’ll let national guidelines that impede both the virus and the economy start « fading out » next month.
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Detailed information from the CDC on coronavirus treatment and prevention.
The USNS Comfort is scheduled to depart New York City at noon today, exactly one month after it arrived CBS New York reports.
The Navy hospital ship has been docked at Pier 90 on Manhattan’s West Side since March 30. It started accepting coronavirus patients a week later. All the patients have now been discharged or transferred.
The Comfort is scheduled to return to Norfolk, Virginia, where it will be ready for any future deployments needed during the pandemic.
Pennsylvania has tested less than 2% of its 12.8 million population for COVID-19. For many in Philadelphia, testing can be hard to find.
Pediatric surgeon Dr. Ala Stanford took matters into her own hands to get much-needed tests to the residents of the local community. « Every time someone got turned away, I would get a call, » Dr. Stanford told CBS News’ Jericka Duncan.
Her solution? To pay for the tests herself.
Stanford said she and her team of volunteers have been able to test more than 1,600 people in three weeks. When CBS News caught up with her on Friday, they had given diagnostic tests to over 200 people in a Philadelphia church parking lot.
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A health clinic is traveling throughout California’s Sacramento County to provide free coronavirus testing for its homeless population, CBS Sacramento reports. Elica Health Centers is using one of its three mobile clinics to target eight shelters with the highest populations around the county.
Shelter guests are first pre-screened and required to put on a mask, then are taken to a tent to be tested. Results are available anytime between one and three days after they’re submitted, according to the Sacramento County Department of Health Services.
« Bringing as many of these necessary units on-site to minimize the need for folks to leave to seek services elsewhere is very important, » said Meghan Marshall with the Sacramento County Department of Health Services.
Aide Long, director of Elica Health mobile medicine, said the response from the homeless community has been positive, testing more than 100 people in the three first days. « They are very willing to get tested because they know how dangerous it is, » she said.
The mobile clinic will continue to test at the eight shelters for two weeks.
Gov. Larry Hogan has issued an executive order that requires universal testing of residents and staff at all Maryland nursing homes. Facilities will be prioritized based on an « imminent outbreak or a current rising threat risk, » according to the Hogan administration.
« Even when best practices and care is in place, this virus may still be transmitted by asymptotic staff, meaning that every patient interaction comes with some risk, » Gov. Hogan said.
Under the order, it will be mandatory for facilities to fully comply with strike teams deployed by the state. All nursing homes must have a physician, nurse practitioner, physician’s assistant or registered nurse to evaluate all residents on a daily basis. Click here to read more from CBS Baltimore.
A second Turkish military plane took off from an air base near Ankara on Thursday carrying more medical aid to the United States which has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
The cargo plane is carrying a second consignment of personal protective equipment, including masks, hazmat suits and disinfectants, the Defense Ministry announced.
Turkey also dispatched a planeload of medical supplies on Tuesday that included 500,000 surgical masks,4,000 overalls,528 gallons of disinfectant,1,500 goggles,400 N-95 masks and 500 face shields.
The items dispatched Thursday were sent in boxes displaying the words of 13th-century Sufi Poet Jalaluddin Rumi in Turkish and English: « After hopelessness there is so much hope and after darkness there is much brighter sun. » The government didn’t immediately provide a breakdown of what was in the shipment.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to extend the ongoing coronavirus state of emergency beyond its scheduled end on May 6.
Abe said Thursday that hospitals are still overburdened and medical workers are under severe pressure to deal with the patients still on the rise.
« I believe it will be difficult to return to our normal daily lives after May 7, » Abe said. « We must expect an endurance race to a certain extent. »
Abe said he will consult with experts to decide how long the measures should be extended. Local officials and medical experts have called for an extension for another month nationwide.
The rise in the cases somewhat slowed in the last few days. But Japan still had more than 200 new cases overnight, bringing a national total to some 14,000 cases, with 415 deaths.
Another 3.8 million U. S. workers filed for unemployment insurance benefits last week, bringing the total number of Americans who have sought jobless aid since March to nearly 30 million.
