Second wave of relief fund applications 'to be advertised' - Deputy Minister Nocawe Mafu

The department of Sports, Arts and Culture has set aside R77 million for the second phase of their Covid-19 relief fund for artists and athletes. Of that amount, R11 million is being ring-fenced for contribution towards the partnership with the Department of Small Business Development.

The time frame for applications is yet to be established, said deputy minister Nocawe Mafu.

"The second wave of applications for [the] relief fund will be advertised. Practitioners will be given two weeks from date of advertisement to apply as communicated," she said during a media briefing in Pretoria on Monday.

To date, R61 million has been disbursed to beneficiaries. The department received 5 322 applications in the categories of sport, digital, as well as arts, culture and heritage.

Through the adjudication and appeals processes 4 602 applications were recommended.

The partnership with the Department of Small Business Development to jointly set aside R22 million was explained by Minister Nathi Mthethwa as "a response to a plea from the Cultural & Creative Industries Federation of South Africa (CCIFSA) for the Craft, Design and Visual Arts sectors towards relief amid the Covid-19 pandemic."

A Memorandum of Agreement will be entered into on how the funds will be administered, he said.

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Coronavirus: All the latest news about COVID-19 in South ...

The West Virginia Department of Health andHuman Resources (DHHR)reports as of 5:00 p.m., on July 31, 2020, there have been 283,848 totalconfirmatory laboratory results receivedfor COVID-19, with 6,642 total cases and 116 deaths.

Inalignment with updated definitions from the Centers for Disease Control andPrevention, the dashboard includes probable cases which are individuals that havesymptoms and either serologic (antibody) or epidemiologic (e.g., a link to aconfirmed case) evidence of disease, but no confirmatory test.

CASESPER COUNTY (Case confirmed by lab test/Probable case):Barbour (29/0), Berkeley (623/22), Boone (76/0), Braxton (8/0), Brooke(59/1), Cabell (306/9), Calhoun (6/0), Clay (17/0), Doddridge (4/0), Fayette(126/0), Gilmer (16/0), Grant (67/1), Greenbrier (85/0), Hampshire (73/0),Hancock (93/4), Hardy (53/1), Harrison (182/1), Jackson (157/0), Jefferson(283/5), Kanawha (785/13), Lewis (25/1), Lincoln (61/0), Logan (133/0), Marion(166/4), Marshall (122/2), Mason (45/0), McDowell (25/1), Mercer (138/0),Mineral (107/2), Mingo (119/2), Monongalia (880/16), Monroe (18/1), Morgan(25/1), Nicholas (30/1), Ohio (248/0), Pendleton (36/1), Pleasants (7/1),Pocahontas (40/1), Preston (99/23), Putnam (158/1), Raleigh (166/6), Randolph(204/3), Ritchie (3/0), Roane (14/0), Summers (6/0), Taylor (51/1), Tucker(9/0), Tyler (12/0), Upshur (36/2), Wayne (180/2), Webster (3/0), Wetzel(40/0), Wirt (6/0), Wood (222/11), Wyoming (20/0).

Ascase surveillance continues at the local health department level, it may revealthat those tested in a certain county may not be a resident of that county, oreven the state as an individual in question may have crossed the state borderto be tested. Suchis the case of Nicholas,Preston, Summers, and Wyoming counties in this report.

Please note that delays may be experiencedwith the reporting of information from the local health department to DHHR.

Please visit the dashboard at http://www.coronavirus.wv.gov for more detailed information.

Additionalreport:

Toincrease COVID-19 testing opportunities, the Governor's Office, the HerbertHenderson Office of Minority Affairs, WV Department of Health and HumanResources, WV National Guard, local health departments, and community partnerstoday provided free COVID-19 testing for residents in counties with highminority populations and evidence of COVID-19 transmission.

The testing resulted in 195 individuals tested in Gilmer County (first day oftwo-day testing event). Please note these are considered preliminary numbers.

Testing will be held tomorrow in Gilmer andMarion counties in these locations.

Read more from the original source:

COVID-19 Daily Update 7-31-2020 - 5 PM - West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources

This story is part of an NPR nationwide analysis of states' revenue and budgets during the pandemic.

In Missouri, declining revenues prompted Republican Gov. Mike Parson to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars from the 2021 fiscal year budget which began on July 1. That included substantial cuts to universities and colleges, as well as reductions to state money that went to K-12 schools.

"COVID-19 is unlike anything we have ever experienced before," Parson said in a statement. "As difficult as these decisions are, we are experiencing an unprecedented economic downturn, which meant we are having to make unprecedented adjustments in our budget."

Parson also had to withhold money from the 2020 budget, which stretched from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020, because Missouri, like most states, must have a balanced budget every year. And voters in Missouri do not have an appetite for tax increases.

Some Democratic lawmakers pointed out that this all came several years after the GOP-controlled Legislature cut taxes which they warned at the time could lead to longer-term consequences.

"Every time Republicans chipped away at Missouri's revenue base, Democrats warned these short-sighted decisions would pay a terrible dividend when the next economic downturn hit, and there always is a next one," said House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, a Democrat from Springfield.

Jason Rosenbaum is a politics correspondent for St. Louis Public Radio.

Read more:

Here's What Missouri's Revenue And Budget Look Like Amid COVID-19 - NPR

If you're like many Americans, the Covid-19 pandemic has prompted a financial reality check: You haven't saved enough.

A recent Bankrate survey found that 55% of Americans have regrets over their emergency savings, or lack thereof.

Experts agree that having an emergency fund can help you whether you face a job loss or other unexpected event.

Yet you may not know how or where to start, particularly now that the Federal Reserve has kept interest rates near zero, which means you will make less interest on your money.

These tips can help you get started.

If you do not make saving a habit, you likely won't be able to successfully build an emergency fund.

The best way to make sure you get it done: Set up a direct deposit from your paycheck into a dedicated savings account, said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.

"That way, the savings happens even before you roll out of bed on payday morning," McBride said.

If instead you wait to put the funds in the account after you're paid, you run the risk that you won't have the money or will make deposits inconsistently, he said.

The best place to keep your emergency fund is often an online savings account, experts say.

"Online savings accounts have the best returns, so you can preserve the buying power of that money," McBride said.

Having that stash of extra cash means you'll be ready when an unexpected expense or an unforeseen opportunity arises.

"You want emergency savings that is going to be like your spouse," McBride said. "It is going to be your partner for life."

Experts generally recommend having at least six months' worth of living expenses on hand. If you're a business owner or sole breadwinner, nine to 12 months is more ideal, McBride said.

Having insurance from the the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on the money you've put into savings is key. That way, up to $250,000 of your deposit is typically covered per bank.

You can verify your bank is covered by going to the FDIC website, McBride said. Often, you financial institution will include the name under which they are listed with the FDIC at the bottom of their website.

It's also important to pay attention to what kind of account you have.

More from Your Money Your Future:Here are the hidden benefits of a Roth IRA conversionHow to pay off student loans while saving for retirementDon't miss the tax advantages of this savings account

Money market funds are generally considered safe, McBride said. But during the 2008-09 Financial Crisis, one large fund broke the buck, meaning its net asset value fell below $1.

Consequently, you might want to think twice before putting your emergency cash in one of those funds.

"It's a great parking place in your brokerage account if you're looking to buy stocks that have been hit," McBride said of money market funds. "But if you're looking to pay the rent, and you're not sure you're going to have a paycheck to do it, make sure it's in a federally insured savings account."

More here:

Covid-19 is making Americans wish they had more cash set aside. Taking these steps can help you save - CNBC

The tests will be rolled out in hospitals, care homes and labs across the UK from next week.

"We're using the most innovative technologies available to tackle coronavirus. Millions of new rapid coronavirus tests will provide on-the-spot results in under 90 minutes, helping us to break chains of transmission quickly," Health Secretary Matt Hancock said in a statement.

Pandemic experts have said it would be useful to be able to differentiate among the various flu-like illnesses that circulate in winter months, and quick detection of any of them can help get patients isolated and onto whatever treatment is available.

The department has said that the tests "will hugely increase testing capacity ahead of winter, delivering fast results that will help to break chains of transmission quickly."

One test -- carried out by "Nudgebox" machines, supplied by DnaNudge -- will analyze DNA in nose swabs, and provide a positive or negative result for Covid-19 in 90 minutes, the department of health said.

The other -- called the LamPORE test -- will process swab and saliva samples to detect the presence of Covid-19 in 60 to 90 minutes. The government has not published full details on the accuracy of the tests, but has said the LamPORE test has the "same sensitivity as the widely used PCR swab test."

In recent months, the global medical community has been looking to get quicker results to stem the tide of the outbreak.

Read this article:

90-minute tests that detect Covid-19 and other viruses to be rolled out in UK - CNN

This story is part of an NPR nationwide analysis of states' revenue and budgets during the pandemic.

In Michigan, the epidemic has caused revenue from sales and personal income taxes the state's main sources of revenue to plummet. After weeks of hand-wringing, state lawmakers passed a bipartisan plan to plug this year's dizzying $2.2 billion budget hole.

The Democratic governor and her Republican counterparts in the state legislature announced they would use a patchwork of funds to stay afloat, including the majority of the $3 billion in coronavirus relief funding from the CARES Act and $350 million from the state's $1.2 billion rainy day fund.

The lion's share of the state's cuts is coming from widespread hiring freezes and temporary layoffs in the state's workforce that have been ongoing since April, affecting an array of workers, from those in the state's groundwater and discharge permit program to those in food safety and quality assurance.

But those cuts won't solve the more than $3 billion projected shortfall for the next fiscal year, beginning Oct. 1.

"Department budgets are already skinny, and there's simply no way to cut our way out of this just by looking at state budgets," said the state's budget director, Chris Kolb, in May. Michigan's leaders, like those in many other states, are looking to Congress for further relief.

Abigail Censky is the politics and government reporter for WKAR in Lansing, Mich.

Go here to read the rest:

Here's What Michigan's Revenue And Budget Look Like Amid COVID-19 - NPR

The state should take these numbers as evidence that its time to roll back reopening, said Samuel Scarpino, a Northeastern University epidemiologist.

Were not seeing a major surge in cases. What were seeing are the indicators that a surge is coming, Scarpino said. Given how challenging it can be to intervene and slow the spread of COVID-19, the actions we take now are whats going to determine whether were risking a situation like heading back to April or a situation thats far more manageable.

Scarpino advocated for returning to at least the second stage of Phase 2 of the states reopening plan, which would mean once again shuttering a number of entertainment venues including gyms, casinos, and movie theaters. Phase 2 occurred in two steps. The earlier step, initiated on June 8, reopened outdoor dining and some retail, as well as child care and day camps. On June 22, indoor dining and close-contact, personal services, including nail salons and tattoo parlors, were added to the list. Phase 3, which began on July 6 in most of the state, allowed for more indoor entertainment.

The head of the Massachusetts Medical Society said last week that the state should seriously reconsider allowing gyms, indoor dining, and casinos to remain open if the state wants to keep infection rates low as it reopens schools in the fall.

I would rather act too early than act too late, Dr. David Rosman, the societys president and associate chair of radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital, told the Globe last week. Our priority should be kids, school, and health. Thats where we should be focusing.

For weeks, Massachusetts progressed through Governor Charlie Bakers reopening plan without experiencing the spikes in infection that many other states have seen. But now, with new cases on the rise and the states seven-day average test positivity rate exceeding 2 percent for the first time since June, disease experts and residents alike are looking for answers.

I am not ready to say that theres a distinct trend that things are getting out of control, said Dr. Barry Bloom, a professor and former dean of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. But Bloom said the state should consider reversing course on reopening if the positivity rate continues to climb higher.

What we want to be is around 1 [percent]. Were now at 2.2. I would say the absolute limit which means we really have lost the ability to track things would be 5 percent, and I would start shutting things down at 2.5 or 3, Bloom said. Its much easier to shut things down when the numbers are low.

Bloom added that new lockdowns could be more targeted if the state fine-tunes its testing and contact tracing data to find patterns in outbreaks. Scarpino agreed. I would encourage the governor to be more specific around where cases are coming from and be more specific about the indicators theyre tracking, he said. Are [new cases] coming from the house parties were reading about, or are they coming from the casino floors, the gyms, indoor dining?

At the time that the state released its reopening plan in May, some epidemiologists voiced concern that it did not include specific standards for what increase in cases, positivity rate, or other metric would trigger new lockdowns.

As for the cause behind increasing cases, Baker said in multiple press conferences last week that large gatherings were to blame for several clustered outbreaks throughout the state and called parties without enforced social distancing a recipe for disaster. However, the state has not specified what number of new cases have been traced back to gatherings or listed other explanations for the increasing number of cases.

The Department of Public Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Dasia Moore can be reached at dasia.moore@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @daijmoore Kay Lazar can be reached at kay.lazar@globe.com Follow her on Twitter @GlobeKayLazar.

More:

Amid rise in COVID-19 cases, experts urge rollback of reopening in Mass. - The Boston Globe

Covering COVID-19 is a daily Poynter briefing of story ideas about the coronavirus and other timely topics for journalists, written by senior faculty Al Tompkins. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.

You may think of this incident as a coalmine canary this week. The very day, in fact only hours after Greenfield Central Junior High School in Indiana opened, it found its first COVID-19 case. An infected student unknowingly walked the halls and sat in classrooms before the school enacted its Positive COVID-19 Test Protocol, which isolated the student and started contact tracing among teachers, staff and classmates.

The New York Times calculated the likelihood that an infected student could arrive at any given county school in the country. The static screenshots I am including below do not do justice to this brilliant work. These maps are interactive, so go to the Times page and look at counties in your area.

The first chart is the likelihood of an infected person showing up at a school of 500 people (including students and staff).

(The New York Times)

The darker the color, the more likely it is that those schools could expect to have at least one infected person walk through the door. Now, keep in mind, the Times said these are rough estimates because they have to be based on assumptions that researchers have to make about how young people transmit the virus, an area that is still full of unknowns.

This second graphic shows what happens when schools with 1,000 students and staff show up.

(The New York Times)

These estimates approximate the proportion of the population that is infectious based on the number who were infected during the preceding seven days, from data ending July 28. The calculations assume that students and teachers come in to school at least once a week and wont come in if they are symptomatic.

The calculations show that in eight states, even a school of less than 100 students and staff would expect at least one person to test positive for COVID-19 (Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Nevada, Tennessee, Arizona and Georgia).

The Times reported:

The estimates, from researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, range from sobering to surprisingly reassuring, depending on the area and the size of the school.

Based on current infection rates, more than 80% of Americans live in a county where at least one infected person would be expected to show up to a school of 500 students and staff in the first week, if school started today.

In the highest-risk areas including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Nashville and Las Vegas at least five students or staff would be expected to show up infected with the virus at a school of 500 people.

The estimates are stunning. A school with 500 people in Miami could expect around 19 people to show up infected with COVID-19. In Houston, a school with 1,000 people in it would expect to see 10 COVID-19 cases. But, the report said, if students met in pods of 10, you could reasonably expect a low exposure risk almost anywhere in the country.

The hundreds of reader comments about the story reflect the publics concerns over the weeks ahead. One person wrote:

I am a high school teacher in a school with 1,700 students. We report to work next week, and the students come in person on the 17th. How ironic that it is apparently just fine for teachers to be exposed to 150 students per week, but in our teacher training sessions next week, we can only meet in groups of 10 in accordance with state guidelines.

I get a lot of story ideas by reading reader reactions. Sure, there are some lunatic comments, but there are also genuine concerns that deserve answers, like the teachers comment above.

By the way, I bet you will find similar plans in your community where teachers will be under more stringent rules with each other than they will a week later when students arrive.

Over the weekend you may have heard about a study just out that focused on a Georgia youth camp where 258 staff members and trainees (mostly teens) and 363 campers gathered in June. Campers did not wear masks, but staff did. Within weeks, 76% of the campers tested positive for COVID-19.

And, look at this: 344 of the 597 people at the camp were tested. Of those tested, 44% tested positive. 51% of campers under age 10 tested positive. 44% of campers 11 to 17 tested positive. And 33% of campers ages 18 to 21 had positive tests.

This data is likely to send shockwaves through discussions about opening schools since, until now, we have not had as much data about how quickly the virus spreads among kids. Until now, the data has focused on how kids spread the coronavirus to adults.

The study is careful to point out that researchers do not know how many of the campers may have had the virus when they arrived at camp and how many of the cases spread from kid to kid, from adults to kids and kids to adults. The study also cautions that the outbreak happened at a camp where kids slept in cabins together. We do not know if that is wildly different from sitting in a classroom with others for hours at a time.

In schools that have school nurses, the nurses say they will have more responsibility this fall than ever. And, keep in mind, about a fourth of all schools have no school nurses at all. Schools that want to hire school nurses find they cant compete with hospitals when it comes to pay.

NPR spoke with several school nurses who say they are deeply concerned about whether their schools are prepared to reopen.

Nurses say there will be endless reminders for students to bring their own water bottles and not drink from water fountains and to set up one-way traffic in hallways to say nothing of controlling the everyday issues school nurses already attend to, from colds, flu, dental pain, lice outbreaks and checking inoculation records. The NPR story included other issues you might not think of, but school nurses do:

In a district outside Columbia, South Carolina, health services coordinator Dawn MacAdams is thinking about kids with asthma. We are going to ask that our parents work with their physicians to only bring in an inhaler, not a nebulizer, she says. Thats because nebulizers generate aerosol, and theres a chance that tiny virus particles in that aerosol could spread COVID-19.

The National Association of School Nurses provided this data:

(The National Association of School Nurses)

(The National Association of School Nurses)

In the majority of schools without school nurses, who will be the frontline workers who will deal with kids with symptoms? Will schools have quarantine rooms? Ask questions about how schools are stockpiling masks, gloves, sanitizer, paper towels and soap with schools attempting to open in weeks.

In a normal year, teachers sent home requests with our kids asking for sanitizer, soap and tissues that the school did not provide. Can you imagine the need this year?

I picked up this question in the reader comments section of The New York Times. A reader wondered if students would be able to understand their teachers of the teachers mouth is covered by a mask. Voices will be muffled in even the best circumstances. There are also students who have trouble hearing and could benefit from seeing the teachers face.

For teachers who lead virtual classes, I hope somebody will spend some time talking to them about the importance of close-up and clear audio and clear and well-lit video.

My friend Jill Geisler drew on her decades of TV and teaching experience to put together a wonderful video called Dont be a Vampire in the Video Conference.

If teachers are simultaneously teaching kids in class while also teaching students at home, they are going to have to wear a microphone. It will be a real production trick to demonstrate examples in front of a live class as well as online.

As with just about everything else having to do with COVID-19, instead of having a national response to high school sports, we have 50 responses.

U.S. News and World Report pointed out:

Whether prep sports happen this fall may also hinge on schools being physically open.

In most cases, schools are going to have to be operating in order for education-based athletic programs to begin, Michael L. Blackburn, executive director of the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association says. Some states require that students be in school face to face; some will accept their online time as attendance. It really does vary.

(Ryan Escobar/MaxPreps)

This story is very much in play this week as some states that would have started pre-season practice this week now, mostly, havent. There is also a concern that for the places that do hold games, there might be a shortage of game officials.

I saw one story of a Chicago teen who hoped to get a college football scholarship but Illinois pushed the football season to the spring. This student is moving to Iowa so he will be seen by recruiters in the fall. College recruiters are going to be watching a lot of online video and scanning social media sites to find the next class of recruits. The U.S. News and World Report added:

Outright cancellation of some high school sports this fall will mean the loss of a year of playing time, which will also mean less game film for potential recruits and fewer opportunities to impress college coaches and set themselves apart in a competitive marketplace of talented athletes.

But there are still ways to get noticed, Dan Doyle, a recruiting coach manager for Next College Student Athlete says: The electronic communication part of recruiting is so, so vital right now.

He encourages students to organize their game film, transcripts and test scores in one place for coaches to see, whether thats through the platform he works for or another portal. For example, he encourages students to make use of social media to connect with coaches.

High school student-athletes need to be more proactive, Doyle says. Coaches are still on the recruiting trail, albeit from home. In the absence of game film, he says, students should put together skills videos that highlight their workouts or abilities in their chosen sport.

It is now becoming clear that the usual fall fundraising events charity balls, fundraising walks and awards dinners wont happen this year.

Some of the hardest-hit nonprofits are medical-related charities, such as the 50-year-old Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, which announced its second-quarter income fell 40%. It will cut staff by 40% and hope for more volunteer help. The American Cancer Society laid off a thousand workers in a 30% budget cut.

StatNews drilled down on the issue:

Nonprofits focused on patient support and medical research are being hurt by the same forces that are devastating the nonprofit sector at large. The cancellation of in-person events seems to be largely to blame, though there are other factors at play: Some wealthy donors are diverting their charitable contributions to the COVID-19 response and writing fewer big checks to the medical charities they usually support. And donations have dried up from small donors who may have lost their jobs because of the pandemic or are just being more careful with money during an uncertain time.

The Harvard Business Review said charities are in a particular bind. They have not needed donations more than right now, at the same time that donors are holding on to their money, not knowing what the future holds. The key question is, When is the right time to ask for money?

Amid the debris, nonprofits are quietly hoping their donors will ride to the rescue. But heres the challenge: Yes, every charitable organization wants to receive contributions right now. But very few have the temerity to ask their donors for a gift. They know that people feel fragile and are worried. They know its going to get worse before it gets better. Nonprofit leaders dont want to come across as selfish jerks, asking for money from people who may be fighting illness or losing their jobs or worrying about their kids or mourning a family member or simply freaking out, hunkering down, and waiting for the next bit of dire news. Nonprofits are reading the room, and the message theyre getting is: Dont ask for money now. Just dont.

Of course, old habits die hard.

Theres an apocryphal story already circulating among fundraisers about an unnamed university that forgot to cancel its scheduled late-March planned-giving mailing to alumni. As a result, a letter went out declaring, in the midst of the pandemic, Theres no better time than now to revisit your estate planning!

(Screenshot, Facebook)

Well be back tomorrow with a new edition of Covering COVID-19. Sign up hereto get it delivered right to your inbox.

Al Tompkins is senior faculty at Poynter. He can be reached at atompkins@poynter.org or on Twitter, @atompkins.

Clarification: This article was updated to note that the percentages of campers who tested positive were not percentages of the total, but rather percentages of the number who had been tested.

Read more from the original source:

What are the chances of getting infected with COVID-19 at a school? - Poynter

Eli Lilly has started a phase 3 trial to evaluate whether its antibody LY-CoV555 stops the residents of nursing homes from developing COVID-19. Lilly has created customized mobile research units to run the clinical trial at nursing homes as the long-term care facilities lack experience running studies.

More than 40% of all U.S. deaths from COVID-19 involve nursing home residents and staff, according to a New York Times analysis, despite just 8% of cases occurring in such facilities. In 20 states, nursing homes account for more than half of all COVID-19 deaths. Eighty-two percent of COVID-19 deaths in New Hampshire involve nursing homes.

The disproportionate burden borne by nursing homes suggests immunizing residents and workers at long-term care facilities against the pandemic SARS-CoV-2 virus could significantly reduce the death toll. However, the limited response of seniors to vaccines may make it hard to provide protection.

Antibodies provide an alternative, and in seniors potentially more effective way, to protect people against the coronavirus. Infusing anti-SARS-CoV-2 into people at risk of exposure to the virus could provide temporary protection against the pandemic pathogen.

Lilly is putting that idea to the test. Having started the first clinical trial of a potential COVID-19 antibody two months ago, Lilly has now initiated a phase 3 trial to assess the prophylactic potential of LY-CoV555.

The trial will enroll up to 2,400 residents and staff at nursing homes that have recently had a case of COVID-19. By targeting facilities with confirmed cases of COVID-19, Lilly stands to accelerate the task of showing whether LY-CoV555 protects against the virus. Lilly will assess the effect of a single dose of LY-CoV555 on the rate of infection and complications of COVID-19 for four weeks and eight weeks, respectively.

Lilly, working with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the COVID-19 Prevention Network and nursing home networks, has sought to counter the challenges of running clinical trials in long-term care facilities. Specifically, Lilly has customized recreational vehicles to support mobile labs and the preparation of clinical trial materials. A trailer truck will deliver the clinical trial supplies required to set up on-site infusion clinics. Lilly will use the fleet to address outbreaks across the U.S.

The mobile research units are needed as long-term care facilities rarely run clinical trials and, as such, lack the infrastructure and expertise to execute the study. Under normal circumstances, participants may travel to clinical trial sites for treatment and monitoring, but that is potentially unsafe today.

Other companies are assessing anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in more conventional clinical trials. Last month, Regeneron began a phase 3 trial to test the prophylactic power of its REGN-COV2 antibody cocktail in uninfected people who have recently been exposed to COVID-19 patients. The protocol of that trial, which is enrolling at 100 U.S. study centers, specifically excludes nursing home residents.

In finding a way to evaluate LY-CoV555 at nursing homes, Lilly has positioned itself to carve out a niche in the busy anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody space by serving a population that particularly needs the protection it may be able to provide.

Read more:

Lilly starts phase 3 test of COVID-19 antibody in nursing homes - FierceBiotech

Now, as coronavirus cases exceed 18 million worldwide, many people are concerned about catching the virus, whether from someone else in the elevator or via the buttons.

Ahir lives on the 12th floor of a 13-floor apartment block in the western state of Gujarat. The tower block is home to hundreds of people who take the elevator multiple times each day.

"There is always fear to touch the buttons, so I decided to do some developments from that side," says Ahir, the founder of Indian electronics company, TechMax Solution.

Unable to leave his apartment, he set to work in his spare room, creating prototypes for a product now known as "Sparshless" (sparsh means touch in Sanskrit).

The system consists of a panel that is fitted alongside existing elevator buttons. It allows users to select a floor by pointing their finger at each button from a distance of 10 to 15 millimeters (0.4 to 0.6 inches), triggering an infrared signal which tells the elevators where they want to go.

Sparshless units are also mounted at elevator entrances on each floor, says Ahir. Users place their hands under the arrows on the unit to indicate whether they want to travel up or down.

It's a completely contactless system designed for a world where people have become cautious about everything they touch.

Dirtier than a toilet seat

In India, Ahir sought more sophisticated technology.

Making the product

Ahir usually works from his company's office in the city of Surat, where he employs 12 permanent staff. The 31-year-old entrepreneur started his business, TechMax Solution, in 2009, straight after graduating from college. The company's key products are security devices, but during India's four-month lockdown, work dried up. During that time "we didn't raise even one rupee," he says.

Ahir responded to the crisis by developing the Sparshless system, testing the first prototypes on his neighbors. Early models were adjusted when he discovered that daylight triggered false readings. The system also needed to be installed in such a way that it didn't affect the elevators' normal workings or warranty.

With those problems solved, the next step was finding customers. That hasn't been easy during a nationwide lockdown, says Ahir, but so far, the units have been fitted in 15 buildings in India.

Sumit and Sushila Katariya live in one of those buildings. Sumit is an elevator consultant, and Sushila is a doctor at Medanta Hospital, southwest of Delhi, who has treated hundreds of coronavirus patients since March.

Sumit Katariya had the touchless buttons installed in the personal elevator at his two-story housing complex to reduce the risk of this wife infecting the family and their visitors, if she caught the virus. He says the panel has been working "perfectly fine" since they had it installed about one month ago.

Ahir says he has received inquiries from Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Brazil about the panels. He hopes to sell up to 1,500 units by the end of the year, an ambitious target for a small company with one manufacturing facility in the country with the world's third highest number of coronavirus cases.

It's a "tough situation" he says, but "I always think positive."

Read the original here:

Covid-19 is taking elevator anxiety to the next level. This Indian tech company has a solution - CNN

People gather for a caravan on Highway 395 in Reno, known as the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Highway of Hope, on Aug. 1, 2020. Reno Gazette Journal

This is a breaking news story and will be updated throughout the day Monday, August 3.This story is part of the Reno Gazette Journals essential COVID-19 coverage and is being provided for free.Pleaseconsidersubscribing to the RGJ to support our work.

Washoe County reported one more death from COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the total number of deaths from the virus to 115.

The latest victim was a man in his 60s who had underlying health conditions.

Education: Despite many unanswered questions, WCSD superintendent says 'We will be ready' on Aug. 17

The Regional Information Center also reported 50 more new confirmed cases for COVID-19. As of Aug. 1, there have been 5,343 total cases confirmed in Washoe since the pandemic started.

The county also reported 73 more people recovering from the virus.

Here are the rest of the latest COVID-19 numbers for Washoe County:

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Nevada topped 50,000 confirmed cases for COVID-19 to date as the state reported more than a thousand daily cases on Sunday.

The Nevada Health Response dashboard reported 1,131 more cases for COVID-19, bringing the states cumulative total to 50,205 as of Aug. 1. The total death toll remained at 832 since the start of the pandemic, with the state reporting no new deaths.

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Clark County continued to account for 86% of all cases in the state more than 43,000 as well as the highest incidence rate, with about 1,861 cases per 100,000 people. Washoe County was second with nearly 5,300 cases and an incidence rate of 1,107 per 100,000 people. Carson City was at 313 total cases to date.

The daily testing positivity rate was at 13.7% while the seven-day moving average inched up to 17.5%. The World Health Organization recommends a testing positivity rate of at least 5% for 14 straight days prior to reopening.

Here are the rest of the latest Nevada numbers.

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