Federal Watchdog Warns $200 Billion In Covid Aid May Have Been Stolen
New estimates from the U.S. Small Businesses Administration inspector general suggest the funds may have been stolen from two large covid relief initiatives. The sum is larger than previous estimates. Separately, research says blood type may be linked to likeliness of catching covid: more for type A.
AP:
The Great Grift: More Than $200 Billion In COVID-19 Aid May Have Been Stolen, Federal Watchdog Says
More than $200 billion may have been stolen from two large COVID-19 relief initiatives, according to new estimates from a federal watchdog investigating federally funded programs that helped small businesses survive the worst public health crisis in more than a hundred years. The numbers issued Tuesday by the U.S. Small Business Administration inspector general are much greater than the office’s previous projections and underscore how vulnerable the Paycheck Protection and COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs were to fraudsters, particularly during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. (Lardner and McDermott, 6/27)
More on the spread of covid —
Fortune Well:
Your Blood Type Can Make You More Likely To Get COVID, New Research Suggests. Who's Most At Risk
Can your blood type increase your chance of developing COVID? The idea was floated early in the pandemic, as scientists worked to determine why some became much sicker than others. Initial research suggested that those with Type A blood might be at an elevated risk compared to those with Type O—and new research published Tuesday in the journal Blood seems to confirm the notion. Those with Type A blood—about a third of the U.S. population—are at a 20% to 30% greater risk of infection with the novel coronavirus than those with Type O blood (nearly half of Americans), Dr. Sean Stowell, associate professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School and lead author on the study, tells Fortune. (Prater, 6/27)
Nature:
Long COVID: Answers Emerge On How Many People Get Better
More than three years after SARS-CoV-2 began its global spread, an estimated 65 million or more people1 are still living with the often devastating effects of long COVID — and scientists are still struggling to understand this complex condition. Even the definition of long COVID, whose symptoms include headaches, fatigue, ‘brain fog’ and more, is debated. Its causes are also elusive. But researchers now have enough data to provide some preliminary answers to urgent questions about the condition, such as the timescale for possible improvement, factors that raise the risk of developing long COVID, and what can be done to prevent it. (Marshall, 6/27)
Reuters:
Lysol Creates 'Air Sanitizing Spray' Effective Against Coronavirus
Reckitt's Lysol disinfectant brand said on Tuesday that it would start selling in the U.S. an "air sanitizing spray" that kills 99.9% of airborne viruses and bacteria. The spray, which Reckitt said helps reduce the spread of airborne pathogens such as cold, Influenza and Coronavirus, has been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (Naidu, 6/27)
KFF Health News:
Listen To The Latest ‘KFF Health News Minute’
On the KFF Health News Minute this week: A doctor in Tennessee surrendered his medical license after giving a fraudulent covid-19 vaccine exemption to a dog, and Congress weighs a proposal for the government to treat hospital accidents more like plane crashes. (6/27)
