CVS is hiring 15,000 new staff to prepare for an expected rise in COVID-19 cases during the colder months. This includes more than 10,000 pharmacy technicians, who will dispense medicines and administer COVID-19 tests. They may even be able administer vaccines, if the government authorizes proposed healthcare changes backed by […]
A woman in her 40s is the first person known to experience brain fluid leakage after a COVID-19 nasal swab test. She had an undiagnosed skull defect, likely allowing the complication and other side effects, like sensitivity to light, to occur. For most people, a COVID-19 test is momentarily uncomfortable, […]
The US significantly scaled up its COVID-19 testing capacity after early missteps and prolonged delays. As coronavirus cases in the US surge, one of the most important metrics to track a region’s outbreak is its positivity rate: the share of tests that come back positive. The WHO recommends stay-at-home orders […]
The US on Thursday announced more than 39,000 new coronavirus cases, breaking the single-day record it set the day before. Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters that the true number of cases was most likely 10 times the official count. […]
Sweden lags behind much of the world in its coronavirus testing rate. Some residents with coronavirus symptoms say they can’t get tested – and without a test, they’re not able to receive proper care. Some Swedish residents say the lack of testing is reflective of a general attitude that the […]
The US must dramatically ramp up testing to give most Americans confidence that can safely return to work during the coronavirus pandemic. The White House thinks 200,000 daily tests is plenty, but independent experts and reports call for between 500,000 by mid-May to 30 million tests per day by the […]
Ultrawealthy and sometimes asymptomatic Americans are using concierge doctors to access COVID-19 tests amid a nationwide shortage. The doctors, whose monthly fees can range up to $US10,000 a month and don’t accept insurance, can offer coronavirus antibody test results in as little as two hours; results for the general public […]
The Trump administration says it is prepared to send states enough COVID-19 diagnostic tests to screen 2% of their populations each month, CBS reported. That plan is “inadequate” for reopening the economy, according to public-health expert Dr. Ashish Jha. If states begin to lift lockdowns without doing enough testing and […]
The US needs to be able to conduct at least 20 million tests a day in order to fully reopen the economy by late July, according to a report from Harvard University’s Edmond J. Safra Centre for Ethics. Forty-five cross-disciplinary experts compiled the report, titled “Roadmap to Pandemic Resilience.” The […]
At least 1.4 million coronavirus test kits and 2.4 million face masks are stuck in warehouses in China and can’t reach the United States, The Wall Street Journal reported. Business Insider previously reported that US companies were waiting on tens of thousands of antibody kits that would detect past exposure […]