Gilead to begin human trials for the inhaled version of coronavirus drug remdesivir https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/22/cor...ls-for-the-inhaled-version-of-remdesivir.html Gilead’s remdesivir, which was granted an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration to treat patients hospitalized with Covid-19, is administered intravenously. The company told investors in April that it was looking to develop easier-to-administer versions of the drug, including an inhaled version. Remdesivir can’t be administered in pill form because its chemical makeup would impact the liver, the company noted. Gilead Sciences will begin human trials for an inhaled version of its antiviral drug remdesivir in August, the biotech company said Monday. Remdesivir, which was granted an emergency use authorization (EUA) from the Food and Drug Administration to treat patients hospitalized with Covid-19, is administered intravenously. The company told investors in April that it was looking to develop easier-to-administer versions of the drug, including an inhaled version. The drug can’t be administered in pill form because its chemical makeup would impact the liver, the company noted. Gilead said it will administer the drug through a nebulizer, a delivery device that can turn liquid medicines into mist. An inhaled version “could potentially allow for easier administration outside the hospital, at earlier stages of disease,” Gilead Chairman and CEO Daniel O’Day said in an open letter Monday. “That could have significant implications in helping to stem the tide of the pandemic.” Gilead will screen healthy volunteers for the early-stage trial and hope to begin studies in patients with Covid-19 in August. (More at above url)
Delta Air Lines confirms some 500 employees have tested positive for COVID-19 and 10 have died The Atlanta-based company is now testing for all 86,000 employees. https://www.11alive.com/article/tra...eaths/85-5f9f8221-d95f-4354-8a91-9fbd2666614a For the airline they are currently at a 2% Case Fatality Rate (CFR) from 10 deaths / 500 cases.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrew...k-will-end-federal-funding-for-testing-sites/ Trump—After ‘Slow The Testing Down’ Remark—Will End Federal Funding For Testing Sites TOPLINE Just days after walking back President Trump’s comments about “slowing down” coronavirus testing at a rally in Tulsa, the White House now plans to end funding for coronavirus testing sites in several states as the virus continues to ravage parts of the country, according to reports from CNN and Talking Points Memo. At his Tulsa rally on Sunday, Trump remarked that he instructed his people to “slow the testing down please,” repeating a false claim which he and Vice President Mike Pence frequently deploy that testing increases are the cause of coronavirus case surges. The White House attempted to walk that comment back, with one official telling Forbes Trump was “obviously kidding” and trade advisor Peter Navarro calling it “tongue-in-cheek,” but Trump appeared to stand by the comment on Monday, saying the U.S. has done “too good a job” at testing, and on Tuesday he insisted, “I don’t kid.” Despite White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany claiming Trump was being sarcastic in saying “I don’t kid,” it seems his Tulsa remark has become manifest, as the White House is planning to end federal funding for 13 coronavirus testing sites across five states on June 30. The sites, down from 41 originally put in place to speed up testing at the local level, include seven in hard-hit Texas, where cases are currently surging, as well as two in Illinois and New Jersey and one in Colorado and Pennsylvania each. Testing is already a serious issue in Texas, as people have had to wait in long lines for over two hours to receive tests. KEY BACKGROUND The White House had initially planned to end funding to the sites in April by “transitioning to state-managed sites,” but reversed the plan after receiving bipartisan pushback from Congress. KEY QUOTE “Cases are going up in the U.S. because we are testing far more than any other country, and ever expanding,” Trump tweeted on Tuesday. “With smaller testing we would show fewer cases!” CHIEF CRITIC Rocky Vaz, Dallas’ director of emergency management, told Talking Points Memo that the White House “told us very clearly that they are not going to extend it,” but that cases are on the rise in Dallas and that they “want to continue with the testing.” A health official in the Philadelphia suburbs called their site "very successful” in April, adding that it provides supplies that the county would not be able to acquire on its own. TANGENT The White House has also been criticized by Senate Democrats for nearly $14 billion in undistributed funds allocated for testing and tracing months earlier. In a letter, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) alleged that the Department of Health and Human Services has spent just $10.8 million of $2 billion set aside for free testing for the uninsured. BIG NUMBER 34,700. The U.S. had its third highest number of new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, with 34,700 cases reported, according to the Associated Press.
Coronavirus: US Secret Service staff self-isolating after Trump rally www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53175452 Dozens of US Secret Service personnel have been told to self-isolate after two who attended President Donald Trump's rally in Tulsa on Sunday tested positive for Covid-19, US media report. Continues... The University of Washington predicts 180,000 US deaths by October - or 146,000 if 95% of Americans wear masks.