First Edition: Aug. 27, 2020

Kaiser Health News: Another COVID Mystery: Patients Survive Ventilator, But Linger In A Coma 
Leslie Cutitta said yes, twice, when clinicians from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston called asking whether she wanted them to take — and then continue — extreme measures to keep her husband, Frank Cutitta, alive. The first conversation, in late March, was about whether to let Frank go or to try some experimental drugs and treatments for COVID-19. The second call was just a few days later. Hospital visits were banned, so Leslie couldn’t be with her husband or discuss his wishes with the medical team in person. So she used stories to try to describe Frank’s zest for life. (Bebinger, 8/27)

Kaiser Health News: They Cared For Some Of New York’s Most Vulnerable Communities. Then 12 Died. 
Dr. Reza Chowdhury didn’t charge copays when his patients were low on cash. He gave them his home phone number and answered their medical questions at all hours. Once, when Chowdhury’s daughter, Nikita Rahman, struck up a conversation with a New York taxi driver, it turned out that he was from Bangladesh and knew her dad: “Dr. Reza? He’s my doctor — he’s the best doctor!” she recalled. (Renwick, 8/27)

Kaiser Health News and Politifact HealthCheck: Drug Overdose Deaths Showed A One-Year Decline In 2018. But There’s More To The Story. 
Detective Ryan Holets, whose personal story includes the adoption of an infant born to a drug-addicted mother, addressed the Republican National Convention on its second night. He praised President Donald Trump’s efforts in addressing drug and opioid abuse and noted “drug overdose deaths decreased in 2018 for the first time in 30 years.” (Appleby, 8/27)

Kaiser Health News and PolitiFact: Republican Convention, Day 2: Pomp, The Pandemic And Planned Parenthood 
The Republican National Convention offered Americans a picture Tuesday night of a compassionate White House in action. But not a lot was said about the biggest health crisis in a century that has killed more than 170,000 people in this country. First lady Melania Trump wrapped up the evening with a speech from her redesigned Rose Garden, acknowledging to audience members — almost all without masks — that, “since March, our lives have changed drastically.” She also said her husband’s administration has been relentless in its effort to find a vaccine or treatment for COVID-19. “Donald will not rest until he has done all he can to take care of everyone impacted by this terrible pandemic,” she said. (8/26)

Reuters: Novavax CEO Expects Filing For COVID-19 Vaccine Approval In December: Paper 
Novavax Inc expects filing for approval of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate in the United States in December, Chief Executive Stanley Erck said in an interview for Czech daily Hospodarske Noviny, released on Thursday. The company plans to produce part of the vaccine at its Czech plant, which will give the country access to the product once it is approved, the paper cited Erck as saying. (8/27)

Politico: Moderna Coronavirus Vaccine Shows Strong Immune Response In Older Adults 
Moderna's coronavirus vaccine candidate appears to be safe and produce a strong immune response in older adults, according to new data from an early trial presented by the company at a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention meeting today. The study of 20 adults over the age of 55 found that almost two months after receiving the second of two vaccine doses, participants had antibody levels higher than those of people who have recovered from Covid-19. (Brennan and Wheaton, 8/26)

The Hill: COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Shows Promising Results In Older Patients 
A coronavirus vaccine candidate has shown signs of promise in older adults during an early stage clinical trial. Using participants aged 56 and older, Moderna’s experimental vaccine produced neutralizing antibodies which are believed to build immunity against the virus, the biotech company announced Wednesday. Older adults, particularly those 60 and older, are at highest risk for serious illness or death if infected with COVID-19. (Hellmann, 8/26)

Reuters: Abbott Wins U.S. Authorization For $5 Rapid COVID-19 Antigen Test 
The portable test is about the size of a credit card, requires no additional equipment to operate, and can be conducted using a less invasive nasal swab than traditional lab tests, Abbott executives said on a call with reporters. Abbott expects to ship tens of millions of tests in September, ramping to 50 million tests a month from the beginning of October. (O'Donnell and Roy, 8/26)

Politico: FDA Gives Go-Ahead To Fast $5 Coronavirus Test That Doesn't Require Lab Equipment 
Abbott's test is designed for use within seven days of the onset of symptoms. It gives results on a card reminiscent of the stick used in many over-the-counter pregnancy tests. If one line appears on the card, the patient is negative for the coronavirus; two lines indicates a positive result. Health care providers still must administer the test but it can be done in point-of-care settings like offices. (Lim, 8/26)

The Hill: Abbott Gets Emergency-Use Approval For $5 Rapid COVID-19 Test 
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave emergency use approval for rapid coronavirus tests by Abbott Laboratories on Wednesday. The Abbott tests, which can render results in 15 minutes as opposed to several days, are priced at about $5 each. The company plans to begin shipping them by the end of the month and to make 50 million tests a month by the beginning of October. (Moreno, 8/26)

AP: Rapid $5 Coronavirus Test Doesn't Need Specialty Equipment
The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized the first rapid coronavirus test that doesn’t need any special computer equipment to get results. The 15-minute test from Abbott Laboratories will sell for $5, giving it a competitive edge over similar tests that need to be popped into a small machine. The size of a credit card, the self-contained test is based on the same technology used to test for the flu, strep throat and other infections. (Perrone, 8/27)

The New York Times: Top U.S. Officials Told C.D.C. To Soften Coronavirus Testing Guidelines 
Adm. Brett P. Giroir, the administration’s coronavirus testing czar, called it a “C.D.C. action,” written with input from the agency’s director, Dr. Robert R. Redfield. But he acknowledged that the revision came after a vigorous debate among members of the White House coronavirus task force — including its newest member, Dr. Scott W. Atlas, a frequent Fox News guest and a special adviser to President Trump. “We all signed off on it, the docs, before it ever got to a place where the political leadership would have, you know, even seen it, and this document was approved by the task force by consensus,” Dr. Giroir said. “There was no weight on the scales by the president or the vice president or Secretary Azar,” he added, referring to Alex M. Azar II, the secretary of health and human services. (Gay Stolberg, 8/26)

Politico: Trump Officials Pressured CDC To Change Virus Testing Guidelines 
Top Trump administration officials involved with the White House coronavirus task force ordered the Centers for Disease Control and Protection to stop promoting coronavirus testing for most people who have been exposed to the virus but aren't showing symptoms, according to two people with knowledge of the process. Federal testing czar Brett Giroir denied those allegations Wednesday, telling reporters that the CDC ultimately decided to narrow the recommendations for who should be tested. (Lim and Cancryn, 8/26)

CNN: CDC Was Pressured 'From The Top Down' To Change Covid-19 Testing Guidance, Official Says
A sudden change in federal guidelines on coronavirus testing came this week as a result of pressure from the upper ranks of the Trump administration, a federal health official close to the process tells CNN. "It's coming from the top down," the official said of the new directive from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new guidelines raise the bar on who should get tested, advising that some people without symptoms probably don't need it -- even if they've been in close contact with an infected person. (Valencia, Murray and Holmes, 8/26)

Stat: New Covid-19 Testing Guidelines, Crafted At The White House, Alarm Public Health Experts 
Public health experts reacted with alarm Wednesday to new Covid-19 testing guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, guidance that they said will make it harder to find and isolate people spreading the SARS-2 virus early and will undermine efforts to control transmission. The guidance recommends against testing people who have been in contact with confirmed Covid-19 cases but who don’t yet have symptoms — even though such people can be infectious. It was crafted not by the CDC but by the White House coronavirus task force, and the nation’s best-known infectious disease expert, Anthony Fauci, didn’t sign off on it. (Branswell and Sheridan, 8/26)

CIDRAP: Experts Question CDC Changes To COVID-19 Testing Guidance
The change, made without any rationale or explanation, further erodes the scientific community's confidence in the CDC. For months, the story has been more—not less—testing could only help control the world's worst outbreak of the virus. "If this is coming from HHS, it really undermines the CDC," said Amesh Adalja, MD, a senior scholar with the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security. (Soucheray, 8/26)

AP: New Federal Virus Testing Advice Sparks Criticism, Confusion
Across the country, public health experts called the change bizarre. They noted that testing contacts of infected people is a core element of public health efforts to keep outbreaks in check, and that a large percentage of infected people — the CDC has said as many as 40% — exhibit no symptoms. “The recommendation not to test asymptomatic people who likely have been exposed is not in accord with the science,” said John Auerbach, president of Trust for America’s Health, a nonprofit that works to improve U.S. preparedness against disease. (Stobbe, 8/26)

NPR: CDC's Changed Testing Guidelines Could Lead To Less Testing, Experts Fear
The Trump administration has stirred confusion and concern by rewriting its guidelines for coronavirus testing. Public health experts fear the revised guidelines will lead to less testing – something the president has repeatedly asked for — but the administration denies that. Part of the concern stems from the way the new guidelines were unveiled. There was no press release or announcement in advance, but instead on Monday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quietly updated the website that provides guidance for coronavirus testing. Journalists discovered the change. (Harris, 8/26)

The Hill: Fauci Says Task Force Discussed CDC Testing Guidelines When He Was In Surgery 
Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert and member of the White House coronavirus task force, said Wednesday he was undergoing surgery during the task force meeting when updated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 testing guidelines were discussed. "I was under general anesthesia in the operating room and was not part of any discussion or deliberation regarding the new testing recommendations," Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta. (Klar, 8/26)

CNN: Fauci Says He Was In Surgery When Task Force Discussed CDC Testing Guideline 
White House Coronavirus Task Force member Dr. Anthony Fauci said he was undergoing surgery and not in the August 20 task force meeting for the discussion on updated US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines that suggest asymptomatic people may not need to be tested for Covid-19, even if they've been in close contact with an infected person. "I was under general anesthesia in the operating room and was not part of any discussion or deliberation regarding the new testing recommendations" at that meeting, Fauci told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. (Diamond, Holmes and Gupta, 8/27)

The Hill: GOP Lawmaker Calls Asymptomatic Testing Crucial After CDC Revises Guidance 
Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) said Wednesday that asymptomatic testing for COVID-19 would be “paramount” to addressing the pandemic in the coming months. The remarks by Burgess, the top Republican and the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on health, contrast with new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which said asymptomatic people do not need to be tested for COVID-19, even if they have been in close contact with an infected person. (Bikales, 8/26)

Los Angeles Times: California At Odds With CDC Over Looser COVID-19 Protocols 
New guidance on coronavirus testing and travel issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention drew strong pushback from California officials Wednesday. The CDC is no longer recommending a 14-day quarantine for travelers. After the government issued a mandatory quarantine for travelers arriving in the U.S. from Wuhan, China, in February, the guidance that travelers isolate for two weeks was adopted by several states and encouraged by local officials as a key tool in mitigating the spread of the novel coronavirus — especially among people who may be asymptomatic. (Shalby and Willion, 8/26)

The Hill: California Signs Deal To Double Coronavirus Testing Capacity, Provide Cheaper And Faster Tests 
California has inked a deal with Massachusetts-based diagnostics company PerkinElmer worth about $1.4 million to provide cheaper coronavirus tests that will allow the state to eventually more than double its overall testing capacity to about 250,000 people per day. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) discussed the contract during a press briefing Wednesday, The Associated Press reports. The governor confirmed that California currently averages around 100,000 tests daily, and the state absorbs the $100 cost per test. Results tend to take about five to seven business days to come back. (Kelley, 8/26)

Politico: Pence, Virus Task Force Leader, Mingles With Largely Mask-Free Audience After Convention Speech 
But just moments after presenting himself as a reassuring authority on the raging virus, the maskless vice president, along with President Donald Trump, walked over to greet the mostly mask-free members of the audience, who crowded close to each other on the grounds of Fort McHenry in Baltimore. The lack of masks and social distancing served as a jarring contrast. And it reaffirmed that while Trump and Pence belatedly accepted public health experts’ recommendations on face coverings and distancing, they are still eager to embrace their base’s skepticism of such precautions. (Oprysko, 8/27)

Reuters: A Handshake And A Dearth Of Masks At Pence's Republican Convention Speech 
When U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and President Donald Trump greeted supporters at an outdoor venue on Wednesday night for the Republican National Convention, there were few masks in sight - and Pence exchanged at least one handshake. The scene provided a stark contrast to last week’s nearly all-virtual Democratic convention, when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris scrapped plans to travel to Wisconsin because of the coronavirus and instead delivered speeches in a mostly empty event center. (Mason, 8/27)

Politico: ‘Nation Of Miracles’: Pence Pledges Coronavirus Vaccine By Year’s End 
Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday called the United States a “nation of miracles” and said Americans would see the development of a successful coronavirus vaccine before the end of the year. In his headliner address on the third night of the Republican National Convention, Pence hailed the Trump administration’s management of the pandemic and repeatedly sought to paint Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, as a pessimist who could not realize the country’s potential. (Forgey, 8/26)

Politico: How Mike Pence Slowed Down The Coronavirus Response 
Mike Pence had just accepted the biggest assignment of his political life, overseeing the nation’s response to the emerging Covid-19 virus, when White House officials confronted the vice president with an urgent question: what to do about the cruise ships? It was the last weekend of February, and the nation’s top health officials had concluded that cruise lines were a major factor in spreading the virus — each vessel a potential hothouse of invisible infections. Hundreds of passengers already had been sickened on cruises; efforts to evacuate Americans from two virus-infested ships had become logistical nightmares; and in the health experts’ emerging consensus, the Centers for Disease Control needed to issue an immediate “no-sail” order, keeping ships in port. (Diamond and Cancryn, 8/26)

The New York Times: With Wisconsin Unrest As Backdrop, Republicans Intensify Law-And-Order Message 
Republicans used the third night of their convention on Wednesday to amplify warnings of violence and lawlessness under Democratic leadership, trying to capitalize on the worsening unrest in Wisconsin to reclaim moderate voters who might be reluctant to hand President Trump a second term. The party also made appeals to social conservatives with attacks on abortion and accusations that the Democrats and their nominee, Joseph R. Biden Jr., were “Catholics in name only.” And they intensified their effort to lift Mr. Trump’s standing among women with testimonials vouching for him as empathetic and as a champion of women in the workplace — from women who work for him, a number of female lawmakers and his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump. (Martin and Burns, 8/26)

The Hill: Trump Calls For Drug Tests Before Debate With Biden 
President Trump is calling for drug tests to be administered before his first presidential debate with Democratic nominee Joe Biden next month. Trump made the demand in an Oval Office interview with the Washington Examiner on Wednesday, saying he noticed a sudden improvement in Biden’s primary debate performance against Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in March. He offered no evidence to support his suggestion that the improvement could have been the result of drugs. (Axelrod, 8/26)

Politico: Mark Meadows Predicts No Covid-19 Relief Bill Until After September 
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said Wednesday he is not optimistic about reaching a new coronavirus relief deal before the end of September, predicting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will use the government funding cliff at the end of next month as leverage to strike a deal on pandemic aid. Speaking with POLITICO's Jake Sherman and Anna Palmer, Meadows said his staff had reached out to Pelosi's office Tuesday but added that he does not anticipate a response. The White House chief of staff said lawmakers from both parties have privately expressed to him a desire to make progress on coronavirus relief. The hold up, Meadows said he suspects, is that Pelosi is holding back her party's rank and file in order to secure more Democratic priorities in any legislation. (Choi, 8/26)

The Hill: Meadows 'Not Optimistic' About Quick End To Stalemate On Coronavirus Deal 
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Wednesday warned he did not expect a quick breakthrough on stalled coronavirus relief talks, floating the possibility that they could drag into an end-of-September government funding fight. Meadows, during a live interview with Politico, said he hadn't had any recent conversations with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), beyond his staff reaching out to hers on Tuesday. "I don't anticipate that we'll actually get a phone call," he said. (Carney, 8/26)

NPR: FBI Says It's Seen No Evidence Supporting Trump's Mail Ballot Fears 
The FBI says it has no evidence of any coordinated fraud schemes related to voting by mail this year, undercutting repeated claims by President Trump and his camp about what they've called security problems. That disclosure was made in an election security briefing for reporters on Wednesday by high-ranking officials from the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. (Parks, 8/26)

The Washington Post: Election Security Officials See No Sign Of Foreign Threat To Mail-In Voting 
Foreign governments such as Russia and China continue to try to interfere in the upcoming U.S. election, but officials have seen no evidence of countries trying to manipulate or manufacture mail-in ballots, officials said Wednesday. With less than 70 days left until Election Day, federal authorities are ramping up their efforts to keep state and local election systems secure, particularly in light of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential race, which led to criticism that the government had been slow and soft in its response. (Barrett, 8/26)

Politico: Don Jr. Robocall Urges Supporters To Vote By Mail 
Donald Trump Jr. is urging voters to cast absentee ballots in robocalls detected across the nation Wednesday — even as his father continues to rail against widespread mail-in voting. The robocalls, which reference this week's Republican National Convention have been deployed in 13 states — Arizona, Florida, Iowa, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia, Georgia, Texas and Maine — all states the Trump campaign is targeting. They indicate that either the Trump campaign or Republican National Committee has already mailed absentee-ballot requests to those being called. (Kumar, 8/26)

AP: Judge Orders Tennessee To Mention Virus On Mail Voting Form
A judge has ordered Tennessee election officials to clearly communicate on absentee ballot applications that people can vote by mail if they believe they or someone in their care face a higher risk of COVID-19. State officials promised the Tennessee Supreme Court this month that they would inform voters about that eligibility, asserting for the first time that underlying health conditions could qualify someone to vote absentee under their plan. Days later, the justices overturned a vote-by-mail option for all eligible voters that Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle ordered in June. (Mattise, 8/26)

Politico: Judge Blocks DeVos Plan To Send More Pandemic Relief To Private School Students 
A federal judge in California on Wednesday halted Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ effort to boost emergency coronavirus relief for private school students. The court ruling blocks DeVos from implementing or enforcing her rule in at least eight states and some of the nation’s largest public school districts. The secretary's policy requires public school districts to send a greater share of their CARES Act, H.R. 748 (116), pandemic assistance funding to private school students than is typically required under federal law. (Stratford, 8/26)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Administration Asks High Court To Reinstate Mandate That Women Obtain Abortion Pill In-Person 
The Trump administration Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to reimpose regulations requiring women seeking medication abortions to obtain prescribed pills in-person from a medical facility rather than by mail. The coronavirus pandemic prompted the Food and Drug Administration to relax similar requirements for other drugs beginning in March, along with encouraging telemedicine rather than office visits to reduce the spread of Covid-19. But the Trump administration, which opposes abortion rights, didn’t suspend the in-person pickup requirement for the abortion drug mifepristone. (Bravin, 8/26)

AP: At RNC, Nun Lauds Trump For Being Anti-Abortion
A Washington nun who is also a surgeon and retired U.S. Army officer says, “Donald Trump is the most pro-life President that this nation has ever had.” Sister Deirdre “Dede” Byrne of the Little Workers of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary focused her remarks Wednesday night at the Republican National Convention on abortion.S he says the president’s “belief in the sanctity of life transcends politics.” (8/27)

AP: DOJ Seeks Data On Care Home Deaths In 4 Democrat-Led States
The Justice Department on Wednesday sent letters to the governors of New York and three other Democratic-led states, seeking data on whether they violated federal law by ordering public nursing homes to accept recovering COVID-19 patients from hospitals — actions that have been criticized for potentially fueling the spread of the virus. Prosecutors said the fact-finding letters also sent to New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan were aimed at determining whether the orders “may have resulted in the deaths of thousands of elderly nursing home residents.” (Condon, 8/27)

The Hill: DOJ Asks Governors About Coronavirus Orders That May Have Resulted In Nursing Home Deaths 
The Justice Department (DOJ) on Wednesday requested data from four governors on their orders requiring nursing homes to admit coronavirus patients. “Protecting the rights of some of society’s most vulnerable members, including elderly nursing home residents, is one of our country’s most important obligations,” Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Division Eric Dreiband said in a statement. “We must ensure they are adequately cared for with dignity and respect and not unnecessarily put at risk," he added. (Budryk, 8/26)

The Washington Post: Chemical Experts Question EPA’s Decision Monday To Approve A New Disinfectant For The Coronavirus 
With great fanfare, the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday gave emergency approval to a disinfectant it said would kill the coronavirus on surfaces for up to a week. Calling it “a major game-changing announcement,” EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said the first to use the solution would be American Airlines and two sports clinics in Texas. But health and chemical experts say the cleanser might actually harm passengers and flight attendants and do little to protect against the virus, which is mainly transmitted through the air in closed spaces. (Mufson and Kornfield, 8/26)

Stat: Trump Has Launched An All-Out Attack On The FDA. Will Its Integrity Survive?
President Trump has instigated an all-out crusade against the Food and Drug Administration at a critical point in the federal government’s fight against Covid-19. Three senior FDA officials and several outside experts told STAT that Trump’s attacks threaten to permanently damage the agency’s credibility — especially when combined with a disastrous series of public misstatements on Sunday from Stephen Hahn, the cancer doctor who became FDA commissioner in December. (Facher, 8/27)

The Washington Post: Hurricane Laura Makes Landfall As Coronavirus Complicates Evacuation And Shelter Plans
Ahead of Hurricane Laura’s landfall, evacuation plans had hit roadblocks as social distancing limited shelters in Texas and Louisiana. Officials in coastal states most affected by the hurricane season have had months to prepare for the summer’s storms. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced shelters and buses would be stocked with hand sanitizer and face masks and shelters would be spaced appropriately. Abbott also said 200,000 hotel rooms would shelter evacuees from Southeast Texas, effectively isolating groups rather than gathering people in a large shelter. (8/27)

CNN: FEMA Braces For Hurricane Laura Amid Coronavirus Response 
Before Hurricane Laura made landfall, emergency management responders were already facing unprecedented demands as they juggled wildfires, hurricanes, and ongoing disaster and recovery efforts amid a nationwide pandemic. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, is among those assisting with the response on all fronts. (Santiago and Alvarez, 8/27)

The Washington Post: A Hurricane In The Middle Of A Pandemic: Medical Facilities Say They’re Ready 
With years of experience dodging major hurricanes and months of practice fending off the novel coronavirus, medical officials in the path of Hurricane Laura said Wednesday they are prepared for the Category 4 storm despite the trying circumstances of a pandemic. Evacuations were more cumbersome with the added requirements of social distancing and masks because of the coronavirus. But critically ill patients have been transferred from hospitals and frail patients are out of nursing homes in Jefferson County, Tex., where Laura is expected to make landfall with winds that could reach 150 miles per hour. (Bernstein, 8/26)

The New York Times: A Woman May Have Been Cured Of H.I.V. Without Medical Treatment 
A woman who was infected with H.I.V. in 1992 may be the first person cured of the virus without a risky bone-marrow transplant or even medications, researchers reported on Wednesday. In an additional 63 people in their study who controlled the infection without drugs, H.I.V. apparently was sequestered in the body in such a way that it could not reproduce, the scientists also reported. The finding suggested that these people may have achieved a “functional cure.” (Mandavilli, 8/26)

NPR: From Southern Hemisphere, Hints That U.S. May Be Spared Flu On Top Of COVID-19
This year's flu season in the Southern Hemisphere was weirdly mild. A surprisingly small number of people in the Southern Hemisphere have gotten the flu this year, probably because the public health measures put in place to fight COVID-19 have also limited the spread of influenza. That makes public health experts hopeful that the U. S. and other northern countries might be spared the double whammy of COVID-19 and a bad flu season this winter. (Greenfieldboyce, 8/26)

Time: COVID-19 Is Transmitted Through Aerosols. We Need To Adapt 
The evidence in favor of aerosols is stronger than that for any other pathway, and officials need to be more aggressive in expressing this reality if we want to get the pandemic under control. (Jimenez, 8/25)

CNN: Woman May Have Caught Coronavirus In Airplane Toilet, Researchers Say 
Researchers say they have evidence that a woman caught coronavirus on a flight -- perhaps in the jet's restroom. The 28-year-old woman was among about 300 South Koreans evacuated from Italy at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in Milan last March, the researchers wrote in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. "On the flight from Milan, Italy, to South Korea, she wore an N95 mask, except when she used a toilet," they wrote. (Fox, 8/26)

CIDRAP: Obesity, Metabolic Syndrome Tied To Risk Of COVID Infection, Severity
Three new studies describe the link between obesity and elevated risk of COVID-19 infection and poor outcomes. The first study, published yesterday in Diabetes Care, shows that predominantly black hospitalized COVID-19 patients with metabolic syndrome (a combination of obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and/or abnormal cholesterol levels that increases the risk of cardiovascular disease) were nearly five times more likely than their peers to require intensive care and a ventilator or experience respiratory distress and 3.4 times more likely to die from their infections. (Van Beusekom, 8/26)

CIDRAP: Household Case Contacts At 10 Times The Risk Of COVID-19, Review Finds
Household contacts of people infected with COVID-19 are 10 times more likely than non-household contacts to contract the virus, a systematic review and meta-analysis published yesterday in the Journal of Infection shows. Chinese researchers who analyzed data from 24 published retrospective cohort, prospective, and case ascertainment studies from China, South Korea, the United States, and Germany conducted from Jan 1 to Mar 31 also concluded that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is much more easily spread in households than SARS-CoV-1 (severe acute respiratory syndrome virus, which causes SARS) and MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, which causes MERS), which complicates home isolation of COVID-19 patients. (8/26)

AP: Washington University Spit Test Approved By FDA For Virus
A Washington University saliva test for the coronavirus has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson announced Wednesday. The St. Louis-area university worked with biotechnology company Fluidigm to develop the test, which allows people to collect their own testing samples by spitting into small tubes. Test results are available in a few hours. (Ballentine, 8/26)

Stat: Foundation Medicine Wins FDA Approval For Liquid Biopsy Able To Detect Mutations In Multiple Cancers
he Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved a comprehensive “liquid biopsy” platform that can detect multiple kinds of cancer and genomic alterations from pieces of tumor DNA circulating in a patient’s blood. The Foundation Medicine test, designed to identify specific types of cancer and match patients’ mutations to genetically targeted therapies, joins one approved earlier this month developed by Guardant Health. The FDA has previously approved liquid biopsy tests for individual cancers and as so-called companion diagnostics, which identify whether patients are likely to benefit from a specific targeted drug. Foundation Medicine, a Cambridge, Mass., unit of Swiss biopharma Roche, has won the agency’s second nod for a pan-cancer blood assay, which combines liquid biopsy with other kinds of testing to find more diagnostic and genomic biomarkers. (Cooney, 8/26)

Stat: Scientists Create A Synthetic Intestinal Lining To Make Delivering Drugs Easier
Scientists have created a synthetic small intestinal lining designed to treat certain digestive diseases or make it easier for the body to absorb certain drugs — all contained in a solution that one day be could be gulped down in a single drink. The small intestine is involved in a wide range of health conditions — from lactose intolerance to parasitic infections — and also plays a part in processing drugs. The new solution sticks to the lining of the small intestine and can be loaded up with drugs. (Gopalakrishna, 8/26)

CNN: Artificial Pancreas Helps Children As Young As 6 With Type 1 Diabetes Better Control Blood Sugar Levels, Study Finds 
An artificial pancreas system is safe and helped children as young as six with type 1 diabetes better control blood sugar levels, according to a new study from researchers at four pediatric diabetes centers in the United States. The study was published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. (Erdman, 8/27)

Stat: Catalyst Takes Its Fight Over A Rare Disease Drug To Canada
An unusual battle between two small companies over the market for a rare disease drug has now spread to Canada, where Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (CPRX) has gone to court in hopes of blocking a rival medicine sold by Jacobus Pharmaceuticals, a small, family-run company, from reaching patients. At issue is the small, but potentially lucrative market to treat people with a rare neuromuscular disorder called Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome, or LEMS. (Silverman, 8/26)

Boston Globe: Telehealth Company Amwell Files To Sell Shares To Public, Google
American Well Corp., a Boston telehealth company known as Amwell, said it plans to sell shares to the public and Google, amid a surge in demand for remote health services. The company, founded by brothers Ido and Roy Schoenberg in 2006, didn’t disclose the number of shares or target price for its initial public offering. In a registration statement filed Monday with securities regulators, it listed a placeholder value of $100 million. (Edelman, 8/26)

AP: Red Cross Chief: Cyber Attacks Increasing On Hospitals
The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross warned Wednesday that the frequency of sophisticated cyber attacks against hospitals, electricity and water supplies, and other critical civilian infrastructure is increasing. Peter Maurer said the ICRC is increasingly concerned about the destructive effects of cyber operations that cut off electricity supplies and water systems in war-affected countries and halted hospital services in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as “an attempted attack against a petrochemical plant and especially alarmingly, cyber-attacks against nuclear facilities.” (Lederer, 8/26)

AP: SUNY Plattsburgh Punishes 43 Students After Packed Party
SUNY Plattsburgh officials suspended 43 students Wednesday after a party on Lake Champlain, becoming the latest school to clamp down on students violating rules designed to limit the spread of the coronavirus. College officials said the students violated campus health and safety policies when they gathered at the closed Sailor’s Beach park in Plattsburgh on Friday. Police said students failed to socially distance and very few, if any, wore face coverings. (8/27)

The Washington Post: Cornell Students Petition For TikTok Star Jessica Zhang's Expulsion For Flouting Covid Rules 
[At] Cornell University, it’s the students who are becoming the most vocal enforcers of coronavirus-era rules. “Jessica Zhang has shown that she does not care to comply to public safety measures and wants to put other citizens at risk for the sake of her own entertainment,” reads an online petition from a “Concerned Student Coalition” that had gathered nearly 2,000 signatures by Wednesday night. It says Zhang — a freshman who happens to be a TikTok star with more than half a million followers — should be expelled for flouting coronavirus precautions while partying. (Knowles, 8/26)