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I quickly learned that many patients with advanced COVID-19 disease bore none of the hallmarks of severe respiratory illness until they suddenly collapsed and died. ... [A] study from Wuhan, China, describes pathological lung changes on CT scans of completely asymptomatic patients. Asymptomatic carriage is not uncommon in other virulent infections, such as MRSA and C diff, but what is striking with SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) is that it may be accompanied by underlying organ damage. The researchers found lesions consistent with inflammation of the underlying lung tissue (ground-glass opacities and consolidation, to use the medical jargon), which...

The Eurozone economy will fall into a deeper recession this year than initially thought, and the recovery in 2021 will be less robust, according to an updated economic forecast released by the European Commission on Tuesday. The revised forecast predicts the economy of the 19 nations that use the euro will shrink 8.7% in 2020 before recovering by 6.1% next year. For the 27 countries that comprise the EU, a downturn of 8.3% is expected in 2020, before growing 5.8% in 2021. This means that in 2021 Europe will still be worse off than before the global outbreak of COVID-19...

In the past few weeks, many have taken notice of Dr. Anthony Fauci not making as many media appearances as he did in the first few weeks of the coronavirus pandemic. On Face the Nation Sunday, Margaret Brennan said in the past few months, they have attempted to book Fauci to talk about the pandemic, but their requests have not been approved. Brennan opened the show talking about the pandemic and the thousands of new reported cases aross the country. She went on to reveal that they have been trying to get Fauci and CDC officials on the show, but...

Democratic California Congressman Eric Swalwell said Saturday that he agrees there should likely be a nationwide mask mandate amidst the coronavirus pandemic. In an interview on “Cavuto LIVE” with host Neil Cavuto, Swalwell noted case and hospitalization rates in his home state — like much of the South — are increasing at an alarming rate following reopening phases. “Well, you know, we are seeing about a 56 percent increase in hospitalizations in California. In my area, about 200 cases each day in Alameda County — one of the largest counties in Northern California,” he stated. “And, it’s not that we’re...

Two San Quentin Prison death row inmates died Friday from what appear to be complications related to the COVID-19 coronavirus, according to a statement from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. There have been at least three death row inmates at the prison who have died of the virus since June 24. Scott Thomas Erskine, 57, had been on California's death row since 2004, and Manuel Machado Alvarez, 59, had been on death row since 1989, both died on July 3, 2020, at outside hospitals. A third death row inmate at San Quentin, Richard Stitely, 71, died June 24...

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Wednesday that public protests are likely causing the number of citywide coronavirus cases to spike, just two days after claiming there wasn’t “any conclusive evidence” showing a connection between the two. Garcetti, a Democrat, was speaking at a press conference concerning the recent Black Lives Matter protests in Los Angeles when he was asked if the demonstrations were contributing to the spread of COVID-19. He claimed he’d consulted with Dr. Barbara Ferrer, LA County’s director of public health, and determined the protests were in fact contributing to the spread of the virus. “I talked...

 Gavin Newsom continues to kill Californians with Covid-19 to get mail-in-voting. First he was one of 5 Dem governors to force Covid-19 patients in to nursing homes where they could infect and kill the most people. Hey, he had to get Covid-19 numbers up to lock down the state ASAP.‘Playing Russian Roulette’: Nursing Homes Told to Take the Infected 6/29/2020, 6:41:13 PM · by ransomnote · 23 repliesnytimes ^ | April 24, 2020 | Kim Barker and Amy Julia Harris California, New Jersey and New York have made nursing homes accept Covid-19 patients from hospitals.   Congressmen Steve Scalise is...

Frustrated with COVID-19 restrictions on daily life, a friend said to me, “I just want to know the truth.” Like many people, my exasperated friend, and others I know, are mesmerized and frightened by daily news reports. ... The “clear guidance” politicians claim to dispense and “the truth” my friend wants to learn are not rooted in the principles of human flourishing. My friend is waiting for a government official to blow the all-clear whistle. My friend doesn’t want to believe experts are as fallible as he is, and that the prevailing scientific consensus may be false. ... In North...

American travelers look set to be denied entry to the EU when the bloc reopens its borders on July 1st, according to reports, while those from Australia and New Zealand will likely to be allowed to return. Europe will reopen its external borders on July 1st but American tourists may not be allowed to travel because the US is still considered a risk due to the high number of COVID-19 cases.Hard-hit countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Russia and India are also facing a continued travel ban. EU officials are reportedly frantically drawing up a list of countries whose nationals will...

A Saudi official said Tuesday that the hajj pilgrimage, which usually draws up to 2.5 million Muslims from all over the world, will only see at the most a few thousand pilgrims next month due to concerns over the spread of the coronavirus. The kingdom’s Hajj Minister Muhammad Benten said a “small and very limited” number of people — even as low as just 1,000 from inside the kingdom — will be allowed to perform the pilgrimage to ensure social distancing and crowd control amid the global virus outbreak. “The number, God willing, may be in the thousands. We are...

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during a radio interview he has not spoken to President Donald Trump in "weeks." ---------- The White House coronavirus task force expert said his encounters with Trump have become fewer and fewer. Earlier this month, Fauci said, "I was meeting with him four times a week back, a month or so ago. But as you probably noticed, that the task force meetings have not occurred as often lately."

Dr. Deborah Birx, President Trump’s coronavirus response coordinator, warned the nation’s governors on a conference call that 70 coronavirus testing sites had been destroyed amid widespread protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd. During the Monday call, a recording of which was obtained by the Daily Beast, Birx said governors should “scramble now to make sure there is testing available in urban areas.” Vice President Mike Pence, the head of the White House coronavirus task force, said that spikes in cases stemming from the unrest are “an issue our team is following and there is a concern.”...

A man who was arrested for rioting at a Black Lives Matter demonstration of 250 people in Pennsylvania has told authorities that he went out without a face mask despite knowingly having coronavirus. Julio V. Torres, 22, wasn’t practicing social distancing measures at the event on Monday and drew attention to himself when he threw “objects which could cause bodily harm at police officers” and spoke to other individuals in the crowd “appearing to be directing their actions”. After he removed a barricade outside Lancaster Police Station and threw it into the middle of the street, cops chased him down,...

The mayor of Atlanta, one of dozens of U.S. cities hit by massive protests, has a message for demonstrators: “If you were out protesting last night, you probably need to go get a COVID test this week.” As more beaches, churches, mosques, schools and businesses reopened worldwide, civil unrest in the United States over repeated racial injustice is raising fears of new coronavirus outbreaks in a country that has more infections and deaths than anywhere else in the world. And it’s not just in the U.S. — London hosted a large anti-racism protest Sunday that certainly violated government social distancing...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will not travel to Washington at US President Donald Trump’s request to attend the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Washington DC, according to a report from Politico on Friday. “The federal chancellor thanks President Trump for his invitation to the G7 summit at the end of June in Washington,” German government spokesman Steffen Seibert told the outlet. “As of today, considering the overall pandemic situation, she cannot agree to her personal participation, to a journey to Washington,” Seibert said. Trump has been rallying behind the idea of hosting a G7 summit in person, months after...

Europe’s extensive social welfare net was showing signs of fraying under economic strain from the coronavirus, as protests erupted Friday for a second day in Spain against layoffs by French carmaker Renault, while Italy’s chief central banker warned that “uncertainty is rife.” Elsewhere, New Zealand has all but eradicated the coronavirus with just one person in the nation of 5 million known to be infected. But developments were grim in other nations, with India reporting a record increase in cases, and Pakistan and Russia a record number of deaths. As cases steadily rose across Africa, officials who are losing the...

At a blood donation bank in Cologne, western Germany, empty bags sit ready to be filled. A few forms, a quick measure of blood pressure, a scratch on the arm, and seven minutes later donors have made their 500-ml contribution to the 15,000 blood donations needed every day in Germany. The footfall of donors, now wearing face masks due to the coronavirus pandemic, is steady, but not fast enough. Germany’s blood reserves are running low. Under usual circumstances, the German Red Cross (DRK) — which covers two-thirds of Germany’s blood supplies — would aim to have enough blood reserves for...

America's rats are being hit hard by the coronavirus. As millions of Americans shelter indoors to combat the deadly virus, which has claimed over 21,000 U.S. lives, many businesses — including restaurants and grocery stores — have closed or limited operations, cutting off many rodents' main sources for food. On deserted streets across the country, rats are in dire survival mode, experts say. "If you take rats that have been established in the area or somebody's property and they're doing well, the reason they're doing well is because they're eating well," Bobby Corrigan, an urban rodentologist, told NBC News. "Ever...

The construction of the Chinese laboratory at the centre of mounting suspicion over the source of the Covid-19 pandemic was signed off by the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier – despite warnings by French intelligence services. Mr Barnier – currently embroiled in acrimonious negotiations with the UK over a post-Brexit trade deal – was the French foreign minister when he gave the go-ahead for work to start on the Wuhan Institute of Virology in 2004, under a joint deal with the Chinese. The move came despite strong opposition from French diplomatic and security advisers, who argued that the Chinese...

One of the most durable political assets that Republicans have enjoyed throughout the 21st century is their edge among Americans 65 and older, who tend to turn out at the polls more reliably any other group. But with President Trump’s inept and erratic handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic, he is rapidly losing support among the age group most vulnerable to its ravages - which is a big warning sign to Republicans as they look to the fall. Trump has also been showing slippage in support among the next-oldest cohort, those 55 and older. The shift has been showing up...