COVID-19 Update: Convalescent Plasma

Guillermo Legaria/Getty Images

On Sunday, August 23, the US Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for convalescent plasma as a treatment for hospitalized COVID-19 patients citing “known and potential benefits of the product outweigh the known and potential risks of the product.” The EUA would effectively enable physicians to treat COVID-19 patients… Continue reading COVID-19 Update: Convalescent Plasma

COVID-19 Update: The Race for a Vaccine

Vaccine development for COVID-19 is topic number one, and our collective hope for going back to “normal” dangle on that needle. The global race to market includes pharma’s heavy hitters like Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, and Moderna, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company that displayed hopeful results in Phase-1 trials and just this week received another… Continue reading COVID-19 Update: The Race for a Vaccine

COVID-19 Update: The Disparity Between the US and the EU COVID-19 Experience

As the US topped a whopping 2.8 million cases and a death count of 130,000 last week, cities and towns across the nation canceled July 4th firework displays and large public gatherings in an effort to prevent further spread of COVID-19. The fervor for holiday travel was scaled down this past weekend compared to prior… Continue reading COVID-19 Update: The Disparity Between the US and the EU COVID-19 Experience

COVID-19 Update: What is the New Normal for Businesses?

Young people with face masks back at work in office after coronavirus quarantine and lockdown.

Once the epicenter of the virus outbreak, the densely populated city of New York endured months of significantly high rates of confirmed infections and reported deaths. As cases began to steadily decrease in the month of May, Governor Cuomo’s daily televised briefs became cautiously more hopeful. As we march towards the official start of summer… Continue reading COVID-19 Update: What is the New Normal for Businesses?

COVID-19 FACT SHEET WITH PHYSICIAN-RECOMMENDED PREVENTATIVE MEASURES

This page was last updated on May 5, 2020. Overview: The United States is experiencing sustained human-to-human transmission of the novel COVID-19 virus, first discovered in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Since then, every state in the US has confirmed cases, and new cases are emerging every day. Susceptibility to the virus sub-type may also… Continue reading COVID-19 FACT SHEET WITH PHYSICIAN-RECOMMENDED PREVENTATIVE MEASURES

Coronavirus Update: Serological Testing

The 20-minute coronavirus test was brought from China and created in cooperation with the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). (Omar Marques/Getty Images)

Serological testing, also known as antibody testing, is a critical element of discussion when determining how and when the country will reopen. The process requires a blood sample to detect the presence of neutralizing antibodies (IgM, IgG) against a microorganism. Serological antibody tests are unlike polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnostic tests as the latter specifically… Continue reading Coronavirus Update: Serological Testing

Coronavirus Update: Reopening the Country

Reopening the Country Just 6 weeks ago, the US had 100 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 6 deaths – all in Washington state. Today, the country is a vastly different place. There are 560,433+ confirmed cases in all 50 states and in all US-held territories, and 22,115+ COVID-19 related deaths and the US leads the… Continue reading Coronavirus Update: Reopening the Country

Coronavirus Update: COVID-19 Modeling & General-Use Face Masks

Julia Greenwood, RD, LDN, Clinical Nutrition Manager, Vidant Duplin Hospital dons a surgical mask. Although there is a shortage of PPE supplies at healthcare systems across the US, experts are advocating faces masks to be worn for essential employees.

COVID-19 Modeling & Projections One of the only constants of the COVID-19 pandemic is how often data and projections are changing. This is frustrating for our society, as there is a collective overwhelming desire to know when the US will hit its peak of cases, and when life can resume normalcy, and those timelines seem… Continue reading Coronavirus Update: COVID-19 Modeling & General-Use Face Masks

Coronavirus Update: COVID-19 Testing in the United States

On February 29, less than one month ago, the US reported 16 cases of COVID-19. Today, the US has the third-highest number of cases in the world (behind China and Italy) topping 46,548 cases and at least 600 deaths, reflecting mass community spread and an uptick in testing capacities across the states. As daunting as… Continue reading Coronavirus Update: COVID-19 Testing in the United States

Coronavirus Update: Trump: Americans Should Work from Home/Case Fatality Rates, Flu vs COVID-19

American life as we know it has changed drastically over the past week, and today President Trump asked all Americans to work from home if they can and to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people. The NBA, NHL and PGA, college basketball and other US sports have all suspended play. Nearly 20 states have… Continue reading Coronavirus Update: Trump: Americans Should Work from Home/Case Fatality Rates, Flu vs COVID-19

Coronavirus Update: WHO Declares COVID-19 a Pandemic

Today the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a worldwide pandemic. The novel virus which was discovered just three short months ago has taken over 4,300 lives and infected upwards of 120,000 people in 114 countries around the world. The exact definition of a pandemic is the “global spread of disease” (and not the severity) but… Continue reading Coronavirus Update: WHO Declares COVID-19 a Pandemic

Coronavirus Update: Sixth Death Confirmed Today in Washington State as Local Communities and Corporations Prepare for More Outbreaks in the US

Health care workers transfer a patient to an ambulance at the Life Care Center of Kirkland, Wash., the long-term care facility where the two people who had posthumous diagnoses of COVID-19 were residents.

The total number of global cases of COVID-19 are inching towards 90,000 with a death count of 3,000, as the cases domestically rise to 100 and 6 deaths – all fatalities from Washington state. Genetic analysis of two cases tested weeks apart in Washington state confirm that the illness was silently spreading for as long… Continue reading Coronavirus Update: Sixth Death Confirmed Today in Washington State as Local Communities and Corporations Prepare for More Outbreaks in the US