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CDC removes unusual guidance to doctors about drug favored by Trump The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has removed from its website highly unusual guidance informing doctors on how to prescribe hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, drugs recommended by President Donald Trump to treat the coronavirus. It had previously noted anecdotal evidence that the drugs were effective in combatting COVID-19. The original guidance was crafted by the CDC after Trump personally pressed federal regulatory and health officials to make the malaria drugs more widely available to treat the novel coronavirus, though the drugs in question had been untested for COVID-19. The site now states “There are no drugs or other therapeutics approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to prevent or treat COVID-19.” The updated, and shortened, guidance adds that “Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are under investigation in clinical trials” for use on coronavirus patients. On Tuesday, the president said he had watched "one of the shows" that featured a woman, ostensibly a coronavirus patient, who took hydroxychloroquine after days of illness and, "four hours later, she awoke and she said, 'I feel better.'" Share this -







Survey: 1 in 4 unable to cover full housing bill Nearly one in four Americans responsible for rent or mortgage payments was unable to cover the full April bill for housing, a new analysis says. It cites a new, frozen "quarantine economy." Listings site Apartment List surveyed 4,129 renters and homeowners; the margin of error was +/-2 percent. It said 13 percent of renters paid a portion of April rent; 12 percent paid none of it. Eleven percent of homeowners with mortgages made partial payments; 12 percent made none. The analysis compared that to a 3.9 percent rate for underpayment of rent in 2017 and said, "typical delinquency rates among mortgaged homeowners are even lower." "In April 2020, we saw this delinquency rate skyrocket 550 percent, as over one-quarter of renters failed to pay their entire rent on time," the analysis said. The news came after President Donald Trump vowed to suspend evictions and foreclosures for 60 days as part of a $2 trillion coronavirus relief package he signed March 27. Share this -







'Pharma Bro' says he should be freed from prison to help research coronavirus Convicted former drug company CEO Martin Shkreli, known as “Pharma Bro,” wants to get out of prison so he can help research a treatment for the coronavirus, his lawyer said Tuesday. Defense attorney Ben Brafman said that he will file court papers asking federal authorities to release Shkreli for three months so he can do laboratory work “under strict supervision.” His client — best known before his arrest for drug price-gouging and his snarky online persona — is housed at a low-security prison in Allenwood, Pennsylvania. "I have always said that if focused and left in a lab, Martin could help cure cancer," Brafman said in a statement. "Maybe he can help the scientific community better understand this terrible virus." Read the full story here. Share this -







Paterson, N.J., mayor tests positive The mayor of Paterson, New Jersey, Andre Sayegh, says he has tested positive for COVID-19. The mayor of the city of around 146,000 west of New York City said Tuesday that he is not suffering a fever or cough, and discovered he was positive after he was one of "hundreds" of first responders and city employees tested over the weekend. "I encourage all Patersonians to take this disease seriously and stay at home when possible. Even with all my careful efforts of social distancing for the last month ... I have fallen prey to this virus," Sayegh said. He said he would continue in his role and would keep the public updated on his health. More than 44,400 people in New Jersey have tested positive for COVID-19, including 1,232 people who have died, according to the state health department. In Passaic County, where Paterson is located, there have been more than 4,000 positive cases and 62 deaths. Share this -







65,000 people leave Wuhan as lockdown is lifted BEIJING — Within hours of China lifting an 11-week lockdown on the central city of Wuhan early Wednesday, roughly 65,000 people had left the city by train and plane alone, according to local media reports. Highways, bridges and tunnels were also opened, allowing thousands of more to exit by car and bus, as long as they were able to show a mandatory smartphone application powered by a mix of data-tracking and government surveillance shows they are healthy and have not been in recent contact with anyone confirmed to have the virus. Despite the new freedom, many prevention measures remain in force in the city and those leaving Wuhan — the epicenter of the global pandemic — face numerous hurdles when arriving at their destinations elsewhere. That includes being required to undergo 14-day quarantines and submit to nucleic acid tests. China on Wednesday reported 62 new virus cases, 59 of them brought from outside the country, and two additional deaths. The country where the virus first emerged now has recorded 3,333 deaths and 81,802 total cases, with 1,190 people remaining in treatment, 189 in serious condition. Another 83 suspected cases and 1,095 people who have tested positive but show no symptoms remain under isolation and monitoring. Share this -







Country, folk legend John Prine dies at 73 Singer-songwriter John Prine died from complications related to COVID-19, his family said. He was 73. Singer-songwriter John Prine attends the 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 10, 2019. Rich Fury / Getty Images file The country-folk singer was at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville being treated for coronavirus when he passed, his family said. He received lifetime achievement recognition from the Grammy Awards this year. In 2015, he was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Read the full story here. Share this -





