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Coronavirus patients taking hydroxychloroquine, a treatment touted by President Trump, were no less likely to need mechanical ventilation and had higher deaths rates compared to those who did not take the drug, according to a study of hundreds of patients at US Veterans Health Administration medical centers. The study, which reviewed veterans' medical charts, was posted Tuesday on medrxiv.org, a pre-print server, meaning it was not peer reviewed or published in a medical journal. The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the University of Virginia. In the study of 368 patients, 97 patients who took hydroxychloroquine...

The Milwaukee VA Medical Center is speeding up care of patients with COVID-19 coronavirus thanks to in-house testing that started the end of March. While it used to take a week or longer to initially get test results sent out and back, the new procedures get results in as little as 90 minutes, said Margaret Durkin, lab manager at the Milwaukee VA. “You know, labs in general, are usually working behind the scenes, but 70 to 80 percent of all physician decisions are based on lab results,” she said. “It makes us happy that we are able to do this...

The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia is actively investigating the complaint against Joe Biden brought by Tara Reade, the woman who accused Biden of sexually assaulting her in 1993, despite her allegation being impossible to prosecute since it is past the statute of limitations. “This is an active, ongoing investigation, and there are no further details to provide at this time,” a Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson told the Washington Examiner Tuesday regarding Reade’s case. “Cases that are handled by the Metropolitan Police Department’s Sexual Assault Unit go through a multi-review prior to being assigned a disposition. This...

The United States of America was founded to free the inhabitants of the 13 original colonies from England and the tyranny of a distant king, George III. Thus we are loath to restrict the actions of other individuals unless we perceive a threat to the freedom of others in those actions. My question is as follows, "Is there a point at which a citizens ignorance of the principles of government would prohibit their voting in elections ?"

The WHO says on their site via a document: "there is currently no evidence that wearing a mask (whether medical or other types) by healthy persons in the wider community setting, including universal community masking, can prevent them from infection with respiratory viruses, including COVID-19." And that masks may cause: • self-contamination that can occur by touching and reusing contaminated mask • depending on type of mask used, potential breathing difficulties • false sense of security, leading to potentially less adherence to other preventive measures such as physical distancing and hand hygiene • diversion of mask supplies and consequent shortage...

- 21 ABR 2020 - 08:51 CEST The Spanish government is trying to get back the money it paid for 640,000 antigen coronavirus tests that it purchased via a Spanish distributor from a Chinese company called Bioeasy. The move comes after the health authorities found that the kits – which were meant to replace another lot that was found to be faulty – don’t work either. As happened the first time around, these tests do not have the sensitivity required to detect the virus, meaning that there is a high chance that they won’t detect the coronavirus in a person...

I've only linked to their physics freebies. Not interested in physics? Play with the "Refine your search" options on the left and choose your discipline. I haven't thoroughly explored it, but it appears to me there are thousands of FREE quality math and science books available right now from Springer in PDF. Who knows how much longer this will last. I'm assuming through the lockdown, then they'll be free no more. So load up while you can! https://link.springer.com/search?facet-content-type=%22Book%22&facet-discipline=%22Physics%22&package=mat-covid19_textbooks&facet-language=%22En%22&sortOrder=newestFirst&showAll=true

RUSH: I found a story here from The Hague. You Democrats, since you’re already off the rails, here’s something that might interest you. “The Netherlands’ highest court has ruled that doctors can carry out euthanasia in patients with advanced dementia if the patient has earlier made a written directive.” Now, the Democrat Party ought to be looking at this through a microscope. Some of them will say, “You mean to tell me that there may be approved euthanasia in advanced dementia cases? The Netherlands’ highest court?” This means The Hague — and of course, whatever happens in The Hague can...

A panel of experts convened by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases recommends against doctors using a combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin for the treatment of COVID-19 patients because of potential toxicities.

PASCO, Wash. -- Franklin County Sheriff J.D. Raymond says he will not be enforcing Gov. Jay Inslee's "stay at home" orders nor "guidelines that infringe on your constitutional rights." The move comes as Franklin County commissioners voted to ignore Inslee's order, county-wide, according to a Facebook post by county commissioner Clint Didier. It's a move the governor's office stresses is illegal. Raymond opened a two-page letter to his constituents Monday by declaring he does believe COVID-19 is real and "needs to be dealt with appropriately." https://komonews.com/news/coronavirus/franklin-county-sheriff-wont-enforce-stay-at-home-order

BRADDOCK, Pa. — A local restaurant owner appeared to be mocking the person who is leading the state’s fight against coronavirus on social media. Robert Portogallo is the owner of Peppers N’at in Braddock. It's super popular in our region, but Portagallo is coming under fire for recent Facebook comments that he posted on his personal page -- comments that some say are transphobic. In one of the Facebook posts, Portogallo is wearing a wig, glasses and pearls, appearing to mimic the look of Pennsylvania Secretary of Health, Dr. Rachel Levine, who is a transgender woman. Another post shows Portogallo...

The whole movie. For real.

Trump-bashing Hollywood figures, from film stars to studio executives, have been conspicuously silent when it comes to China as evidence mounts that Chinese dictators sought to hide the true gravity of the coronavirus outbreak and silence doctors who tried to speak out. Take Disney’s Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista. He’s attacked President Donald Trump for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. As one of Hollywood’s most prominent anti-Trump voices, Bautista has fired off tweets insulting the commander in chief’s daily press briefings and recently called quarantine protestors “morons” for seeking to re-open state economies. But the actor has...

Just one year ago, Jose tweeted about alien contact and time travel. This week, he again tweeted about alien contact, threw in Bigfoot, and expressed concern one or both having the coronavirus. Is he admitting they gave it to him or that he gave it to them? Is any of this true or even possible – including aliens or Bigfoot having the coronavirus? In 2019, after announcing that he’d had contact with aliens, Canseco and Morgan Strelow at Morgan Management announced that five lucky people with $5,000 to waste (ah, those were the days) could “Go on a Bigfoot and...

The 51st running of the World Series of Poker (WSOP), set to begin Tuesday, May 26 from the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas is officially being postponed as a result of the public health emergency involving COVID-19. It is now targeted for fall of 2020, with exact dates and events to be determined.

It’s time to start thinking about what our immigration system might look like in a post-coronavirus world. it won't be what it is now.President Trump’s announcement late Tuesday night that he would sign an executive order “to temporarily suspend immigration” was met with predictable charges of racism, xenophobia, and scapegoating from mainstream media pundits and Democrats who see it as a cynical attempt to use the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to enact his hardline immigration agenda. But in fact an executive order suspending all immigration would just be a formal acknowledgement of the current status quo. The emergency measures...

Virus isolation The virus was isolated from nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal samples from putative COVID-19 patients. Oropharyngeal samples were diluted with viral transfer medium containing nasopharyngeal swabs and antibiotics (Nystadin, penicillin-streptomycin 1:1 dilution) at 1:4 ratio and incubated for 1 hour at 4°C, before being inoculated onto Vero cells. Inoculated Vero cells were cultured at 37°C, 5% CO2 in 1× Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium (DMEM) supplemented with 2% fetal bovine serum and penicillin-streptomycin. Virus replication and isolation were confirmed through cytopathic effects, gene detection, and electron microscopy. Viral culture of SARS-CoV-2 was conducted in a biosafety Level-3 facility according to laboratory...

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Tuesday she expects Gov. J.B. Pritzker to extend the statewide stay-at-home order designed to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. April 30 is “no longer a viable date” for that order to be lifted, Lightfoot said. “I would expect an extension of the stay at home order … through sometime in May,” Lightfoot said. The order could also be extended into June, Lightfoot said.

U.S. states that haven’t been as heavily affected by the coronavirus as others are taking steps to return to normalcy by easing restrictions to reopen their economies. The media seems to overwhelmingly think this is a bad idea and continues to show those efforts in a bad light. The beaches: Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) gave some municipalities the green light April 17 to reopen beaches with strict guidelines in place, but he was still quickly criticized. Residents can walk and run on the beaches but can’t sunbathe or bring towels and chairs. Gatherings of more than 10 people are still...

Missouri on Tuesday became the first U.S. state to sue the Chinese government over its handling of the coronavirus, saying that China's response to the outbreak that originated in Wuhan city led to devastating economic losses in the state. The civil lawsuit, filed in federal court by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, alleges negligence, among other claims. The complaint alleges Missouri and its residents have suffered possibly tens of billions of dollars in economic damages, and seeks cash compensation.