Bhinneka News Online: Tuesday Morning Briefing: Patients re-infected with coronavirus

Tuesday, 25 August 2020

Tuesday Morning Briefing: Patients re-infected with coronavirus

What you need to know about the coronavirus today

Patients re-infected
Two European patients were confirmed to have been re-infected with the coronavirus, according to regional public broadcasters, raising concerns about immunity. The news follows a report this week by researchers in Hong Kong about a man there who had been re-infected four and a half months after recovering.

Broadcasters said on Tuesday a patient in the Netherlands and another in Belgium had also been re-infected with the virus.

Infections, deaths slow in most of world
The COVID-19 pandemic is still expanding, but the rise in cases and deaths has slowed globally, except for Southeast Asia and the eastern Mediterranean regions, the World Health Organization said. In its latest epidemiological update, it said that the Americas remained the hardest-hit region, accounting for half the newly reported cases and 62% of the 39,240 deaths worldwide in the past week.

Hope for medical solutions
Trial data for the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca’s possible coronavirus vaccine could be given to regulators this year but corners cannot be cut to speed up approval for emergency use, a scientist leading the trials said. The Oxford vaccine produced an immune response in its first human trials, underlining its position as one of the leading candidates in the race to combat the virus.

Fastest man alive tests positive
World-record sprinter and eight-time Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt has tested positive for the coronavirus and is self-isolating at his home in Jamaica after last week celebrating his 34th birthday with a big bash mask-free. Jamaica’s health ministry confirmed that Bolt, who holds world records in the 100m and 200m distance, had tested positive after he posted a video on social media around midday saying he was waiting to hear back on his results.

KFC says hold off on the “Finger Lickin”
Kentucky Fried Chicken is temporarily suspending its long-time advertisement slogan “it’s finger lickin’ good”, calling it inappropriate in the current COVID-19 pandemic where personal hygiene has become top priority to stem transmission. In an era when face masks and hand-washing have become the norm and health officials are recommending people to stop touching their faces, KFC said the slogan “doesn’t feel quite right”.

From Breakingviews - Corona Capital: Luxury negotiators, Tencent, Dmall.
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Reuters reporters and editors around the world are investigating the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

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U.S.

The Republican Party kicked off its convention to re-elect Donald Trump with an unsubstantiated warning from the president himself that he may face a “rigged election,” followed in the evening by full-throated praise for Trump and warnings that America would crumble under Democratic leadership.

President Trump and his fellow Republicans opened their national convention on Monday by painting a dire portrait of America if Democrat Joe Biden wins the White House in November, arguing he will usher in an era of radical socialism and chaos.

In a claim likely to intensify the controversy surrounding one of the most influential figures in the American Christian conservative movement, a business partner of Jerry Falwell Jr has come forward to say he had a years-long sexual relationship involving Falwell’s wife and the evangelical leader.

Jerry Falwell Jr, whose endorsement helped power Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency, agreed to immediately resign as head of the Christian university he runs but then withdrew his resignation following media reports about it, the school said in a statement.

First lady Melania Trump will make the case for Donald Trump’s re-election on the second night of the Republican National Convention on Tuesday, while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will address the convention in a break with norms discouraging partisan political activity by the nation’s top diplomat.

Special Report: A Reuters investigation of U.S. court data shows wide regional disparities in how judges are applying a legal doctrine — now under fire — called qualified immunity, which protects police officers accused of excessive force.

COVID Science

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not harbor “deep state” elements, the agency’s head told Reuters, rejecting criticism from President Donald Trump that staff there were trying to delay a coronavirus vaccine. Dr. Stephen Hahn said he was completely confident that FDA workers were focused solely on the interests of the American people during the coronavirus pandemic.

Without evidence, Trump on Saturday accused members of the so-called “deep state” working within the FDA of complicating efforts to test COVID-19 vaccines in order to delay results until after the Nov. 3 presidential election.