As the U.S. hit a milestone of over 2 million coronavirus infections nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released a detailed demographic breakdown of the impact of Covid-19.
The data, gathered from January 22 to May 30 from local, state and federal sources, confirms that older people, minorities and those with preexisting health conditions are at the highest risk of death. Hospitalizations are six times higher and deaths are 12 times higher among those with underlying health conditions. The top three underlying conditions were cardiovascular disease, diabetes and chronic lung disease, respectively.
Among cases with known race and ethnicity, 33% were Hispanic, 22% were black, and 1.3% were American Indian or Alaska Native.
The report also found that men and women were infected at about the same rate, but men were hospitalized, admitted into ICU, and died at higher rates than women.
MORE ON THE PANDEMIC
At least four members of Congress have benefitted from the half-trillion-dollar small-business Payroll Protection Program they helped create. And aides and lawmakers say there are almost certainly more.
The group of Republican and Democratic lawmakers who have admitted close ties to companies that have received loans from the program — businesses that are either run by their families or employ their spouse as a senior executive.
Republicans on the list include Rep. Roger Williams of Texas, a wealthy businessman who owns auto dealerships, body shops and car washes, and Rep. Vicky Hartzler of Missouri, whose family owns multiple farms and equipment suppliers across the Midwest. The Democrats count Rep. Susie Lee of Nevada, whose husband is CEO of a regional casino developer, and Rep. Debbie Mucarsel Powell of Florida, whose husband is an executive at a restaurant chain that has since returned the loan.
Only the Small Business Administration, the Treasury Department and the Trump administration have complete details about who else reaped the benefits of the loans but have yet to comply with requests for oversight by members of the House.
Dexamethasone is the first drug known to reduce risk of death in coronavirus patients, British researchers announced Tuesday.
The medicine cut deaths by up to a third in coronavirus patients on ventilators and cut deaths by one-fifth in patients on oxygen. Dexamethasone is sold by a range of generic drug companies for as low as $8 for 30 tablets in the U.S.
Hotel chain Hilton will be cutting 2,100 corporate employees and extending furloughs, reduced hours and corporate pay cuts for up to an additional three months. The hospitality industry struggles to navigate the challenges created by the pandemic.
Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci is encouraging protesters to wear masks consistently. The doctor expressed his understanding of the purpose of the protests.
“That is really an important issue — namely the social injustices that we’re seeing towards minorities, particularly African Americans, including the violence against them,” he said.
Fauci added that demonstrations themselves put protesters and others at risk of contracting Covid-19.
According to a study in the journal Nature Medicine, people under 20 years old are estimated to be about half as susceptible to the Covid-19 infection as those age 20 or over. In addition, countries with lower average population age could have fewer cases of Covid-19 per capita.
A team at Yangzhou University in China has used computer modeling to show how water from a flushed toilet can spray into the air and possibly spread coronavirus. Scientists have found that Covid-19 can live and replicate in the digestive system and traces of the virus have been detected in the fecal matter of recovering patients. Doctors suggest that people close the toilet lid before flushing to reduce possible spread.
