C0VID -19 pill: Merck says experimental drug molnupiravir cuts worst effects of COVID-19

Merck & Co. said Friday that its experimental COVID-19 pill reduced hospitalizations and deaths by half in people recently infected with the coronavirus and that it would soon ask health officials in the U.S. and around the world to authorize its use.

If cleared, Merck's drug would be the first pill shown to treat COVID-19, a potentially major advance in efforts to fight the pandemic. All COVID-19 therapies now authorized in the U.S. require an IV or injection.

Read more at: Merck says experimental drug molnupiravir cuts worst effects of COVID-19 | CBC News

The Covid-19 Vaccine development pains: COVID-19 vaccine setback weighs on Wall Street

News of a setback on a coronavirus vaccine candidate and reports of the first COVID-19 reinfection in the United States are sapping investor sentiment, while the official start of earnings season, the unofficial start of the US holiday shopping season, and Apple’s iPhone launch event are all moving markets.

Shares of Johnson & Johnson were down more than two percent minutes into the trading session after the pharmaceutical giant said it had paused clinical trials of its coronavirus vaccine candidate due to an “unexplained illness” in a study participant.

Last month, AstraZeneca halted a late-stage trial of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate after a participant fell ill.

The news follows in the wake of more documented evidence that sheds doubt on whether herd immunity to COVID-19 is possible.

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COVID-19 vaccine setback weighs on Wall Street | US & Canada News | Al Jazeera

Coronavirus: Humidity key to minimize virus transmission — study

Relative humidity "strongly influences" the spread of viruses among people indoors, especially in dry rooms. That's the conclusion reached by an Indian-German research team which evaluated 10 mostly recent international studies.

"The role of humidity seems to be extremely important to the airborne spreadof COVID-19 in indoor environments," according to the report, which was also based on findings derived from past tests with similar viruses, H1N1 for influenza and MERS-CoV.

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Coronavirus: Humidity key to minimize virus transmission — study | News | DW | 20.08.2020

US Economy: Morgue Testing the US Economy - by J. Bradford DeLong

US national income and output in the first quarter of 2020 was 1.25% below what it had been in the fourth quarter of 2019, but still 9.5% above what it would be by the second quarter of this year. Now that US national income has plunged 12% below what it was at the start of the year, what should we expect for the third quarter?

America could always turn out to be lucky; but betting on that would not be prudent. According to Austan Goolsbee and Chad Syverson of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, it was voluntary self-protection, rather than legislated restrictions on activity, that drove most of the decline in consumer spending this spring. Moreover, they warn that, “If repealing lockdowns leads to a fast enough increase in COVID infections and deaths and a concomitant withdrawal of consumers from the marketplace,” doing so “might ultimately end up harming business activity.”

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Morgue Testing the US Economy by J. Bradford DeLong - Project Syndicate