Tuesday, April 28th, 2020
Promising Vaccine, Lakers Return Loan & Asteroid Fly-by
All the news you need in less than 10 min:
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Story Summaries
All the news stories mentioned in today's episode are listed with links below, so you can spend as much -- or as little -- time as you want to read the latest happenings...
Reopening Guidance
The White House is reportedly considering the most detailed guidance yet on how to gradually lift stay-at-home restrictions. It gives specifics for certain kinds of organizations. For example, it suggests schools space chairs and desks six feet apart. It recommends churches hold services through video streaming or at outdoor venues. It says restaurants should consider using disposable menus, dishes, and utensils. This is all just advice since state and local officials are the ones in charge of adopting and enforcing limits.
Federal Guidelines for Lifting Restrictions: WaPo, AP
States’ Timelines for Reopening: AP, WSJ, State-by-State
Battling Testing Shortages
A new analysis from Harvard researchers and Stat News found most of the U.S. needs to significantly step up COVID-19 testing. However, help could soon be on the way. A senior Trump administration official told the Wall Street Journal the White House is planning to send all 50 states testing kits in the next few weeks. Then, each state should be able to screen about 2% of their populations. Still, some experts say that’s not enough.
More retailers and pharmacy chains are also stepping up. About 1 in 10 CVS stores will be offering self-swab tests in the next month. Walmart is hoping to get 100 self-swab test sites up, and Walgreens says it's working to open drive-thru testing in 49 states.
Read More: STAT, WSJ, USA Today, CDC
Oxford Vaccine Trials
Oxford University in England is on track to have a COVID-19 vaccine ready in as soon as four months. Already, Oxford scientists have tested it on monkeys with promising results. Now, the vaccine will reportedly be tested on 6,000 humans by the end of May. If that trial goes well, regulators should give it emergency approval so the first few million doses can be available by September. Keep in mind: it's not guaranteed.
Read More: NY Times, CBS News
Small Business Loan Trouble
The federal government made a new round of small business loans available yesterday. That made it a frustrating day for some banks and businesses. The online portal for submitting applications crashed several times throughout the day. Despite the glitches, the SBA reportedly processed more than 100,000 new loans by mid-day.
Read More: NY Times, NPR, LA Times
NBA Team Returns PPP
Even more big businesses who managed to qualify for the Paycheck Protection Program, meant to help small businesses, are now returning the money. The Los Angeles Lakers is the latest big-name brand to join the list. It’s one of the most profitable franchises in the NBA but managed to get about $4.6 million from the PPP. More than a dozen other big companies and some elite colleges have also given back the taxpayer money.
Read More: CNN, NBC News
Primary Shuffle
The coronavirus pandemic is making this one of the most unusual election seasons ever. New York canceled its Democratic presidential primary. The Democratic chair of the state’s election board called the primary “essentially a beauty contest,” since former Vice President Joe Biden is already the presumptive nominee.
Meanwhile, today is technically Election Day in Ohio. The state’s in-person primaries were supposed to happen last month but were called off. Since then, election officials have been sending out paper ballots that are due today. The votes will start being counted tonight, but don’t expect the results right away.
NY Cancels Primary: NPR, NY Times
Ohio Primaries Ballot Deadline: Politico, Reuters
Drones to Deliver Prescriptions
Starting next month, drones will start delivering prescription medications in Florida. CVS will use UPS’ drone program, called Flight Forward, to take medicine from a CVS pharmacy to a nearby retirement community. CVS says it’s looking to expand the offering to other locations over time. The UPS drone program is also being used in parts of North Carolina.
Read More: The Verge, Business Insider, Press Release
Frontline Workers Free Phone Repairs
Samsung and Google are offering free phone repairs to healthcare workers and first responders. The two tech giants aren’t doing the repairs themselves though. They’re partnering with a company called UBreakiFix. There are hundreds of participating locations across the U.S. that will offer free repairs until June 30.
Read More: The Verge, Samsung, Google
Hotels & Airbnb Cleaning Protocols
Airbnb is rolling out a new cleaning protocol for its hosts starting Friday. Under the new guidelines, housekeepers will be required to wear masks and gloves and to only use disinfectants approved by regulatory authorities. The company is also making sure the homes are vacant for at least 24 hours between bookings, so the virus is less likely to remain in the air. Hotels are also beefing up sanitary practices. Marriott and Hilton have partnered with infectious disease specialists to develop new cleaning procedures that will be rolled out over the next few months.
Read More: The Verge, AP, Airbnb, Hilton, Marriott
Asteroid to Fly By Earth
A big asteroid is flying by Earth tomorrow, but it will stay about 3.9 million miles away. That’s 16 times further than the moon. Still, amateur astronomers may be able to see it, even using small telescopes. It will zoom past Earth at about 6 a.m. ET, clocking speeds of nearly 20,000 miles per hour.
Read More: Space.com, LiveScience, CNN
Talk to Me Tuesday
Q: Did COVID-19 circulate in the U.S. last fall?
A: At this point, there’s no research to back up the theory. Scientists all over the world have been using samples to track COVID-19 back to its origin and updating findings on NextStrain. The project shows researchers have tracked the virus back to a single source in China. Experts told Politifact it’s possible the earliest case may have been in November, but it’s unlikely there were cases in the U.S. before January. Still, more research and testing is needed.
Read More: PolitiFact, Slate, USA Today, Nextstrain