As the daily U.S. coronavirus death toll averaged more than 1,000 for the ninth straight day on Tuesday, governors from seven states banded together to shorten turnaround time for COVID-19 test results. Three Republican governors and three Democratic governors signed an interstate testing agreement on Tuesday, The New York Times reported. Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio and Virginia will work with the Rockefeller Foundation and two U.S. manufacturers of rapid tests to buy 3 million tests, the newspaper said. A seventh state, North Carolina, later joined the pact, CNN reported. The bipartisan plan illustrates just how bad testing delays are across the country. The United States is testing about 755,000 people a day, up from about 640,000 per day a month ago, the Times reported. But with testing chemicals and other equipment in short supply, and a surge in coronavirus cases nationwide, many Americans are still having to wait many days for results, the Post reported. Most people who are tested do not receive results within the 24 to 48 hours recommended by public health experts to slow the virus’s spread and quickly conduct contact tracing, according to a new survey by researchers from Harvard University, Northeastern University, Northwestern University and Rutgers University, the Times reported. People who had been tested for the virus in July reported an average wait time of about four days,…  read on >

Older Americans are feeling stressed by COVID-19 and prolonged social isolation, but they’re also showing their resiliency, a new study finds. Most of these adults have turned to a range of tools to stay in touch, researchers report. “Many of the social venues that help older adults stay engaged are effectively cut off now with social distancing. While the internet can help with some connections, it is hard to replace human contact,” said researcher Kerstin Emerson, a clinical associate professor of gerontology at the University of Georgia’s Institute of Gerontology. “And for some, these remote connections aren’t possible due to no reliable internet.” For the study, Emerson surveyed more than 800 adults aged 60 and older between March 30 and April 12, when they had been in lockdown for 17 days. “Part of the reason I did that was because I wanted to see if there was a difference by age groups, among the ‘younger old’ and ‘older old,’ who may have different work responsibilities and living situations,” she said in a university news release. Emerson found that about 40% of 60- to 70-year-olds felt moderately or very stressed and out of control of their lives. Among this group, more drinking and eating was seen. Also, some exercised more and some less than usual. Those aged 71 and older seemed to cope with stress better…  read on >

Midwestern states are starting to see surges in coronavirus cases, just as Southern and Western states are scrambling to contain their own outbreaks of COVID-19. Missouri, Montana and Oklahoma are among those witnessing the largest percentage surge of infections over the past week, the Washington Post reported. At the same time, the number of new cases in Florida, Mississippi and Alabama still outpaced all other states. Experts also see worrying trends in major East Coast and Midwest cities, the Post reported, and they anticipate major outbreaks in college towns when classes resume in August. Still, President Trump continued his push to fully reopen schools on Monday. “Ideally, we want to open those schools. We want to open them,” Trump said during a White House coronavirus task force briefing. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, on Monday agreed with that sentiment, telling CNN that schools and college campuses across the country should be able to reopen, but officials need to make safety a priority. The default position with kindergartens, grade schools and high schools should be to reopen them, Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN. On college campuses, Fauci said plans should include testing people before they arrive on campus, when they arrive and quarantining them for 14 days. “If done properly, it would not be…  read on >

High blood pressure is often seen as a condition of old age, but a new study finds that it’s common among young Americans — especially young Black adults. The study, of 18- to 44-year-olds in the United States, found that high blood pressure was prevalent across all racial groups: Among both white and Mexican American participants, 22% had the condition. But young Black adults were hardest-hit, with nearly one-third showing elevated blood pressure. Compounding the problem, only a minority of young people were getting treatment. And few — no more than 15% — had the condition under “optimal control.” “People often associate high blood pressure with older people — with their grandparents,” said Dr. Nieca Goldberg, a volunteer expert with the American Heart Association. “But younger people are not immune.” In fact, there are many reasons they can be vulnerable to high blood pressure, according to Goldberg. “These findings are not unexpected, given the rising rates of obesity in the U.S.,” she said. “Younger people also tend to eat a lot of fast food, which is high in sodium. And many aren’t getting enough exercise.” As for the racial disparities, they mirror what past studies have found among middle-aged and older Americans. “This shows us that racial differences are manifesting early in life,” said study leader Dr. Vibhu Parcha, a clinical research fellow at the…  read on >

The White House coronavirus task force coordinator warned Americans on Sunday that the pandemic has entered a new stage where infections are far more widespread and face masks are crucial to curbing new COVID-19 cases. “What we are seeing today is different from March and April. It is extraordinarily widespread,” Birx told CNN. “So everybody who lives in a rural area, you are not immune.” She went so far as to advise people living in the growing number of places where cases are increasing to wear a face mask at home if they are living with someone who is vulnerable to severe COVID-19. “If you have an outbreak in your rural area or in your city, you need to really consider wearing a mask at home, assuming that you’re positive if you have individuals in your household with co-morbidities,” Birx told CNN. So far, July has been the worst month, with more than 1.9 million new coronavirus cases recorded. That is nearly 42 percent of the more than 4.6 million reported nationwide since the pandemic began and more than double the number recorded in any other month, data compiled by The New York Times shows. The previous monthly high came in April, when more than 880,000 new cases were recorded. Coronavirus deaths remain high — over 1,000 for six days in a row, the Times…  read on >

As Hurricane Isaias moved toward the east coast of Florida on Friday, one expert warns that the coronavirus pandemic could make preparing for an active hurricane season even more challenging. The average hurricane season has about 12 named storms, but up to 20 storms are being predicted this season, according to Marshall Shepherd, director of the Atmospheric Sciences Program at the University of Georgia. “There’s a double whammy here in terms of the most vulnerable regions to both COVID and hurricanes,” Shepherd said in a university news release. “I think it’s probably more important than ever that people are thinking about the duality of the threat here.” He said that “the most useful aspect of these seasonal predictions is to really start to get people to think about what they would actually have to do if they needed to evacuate and perhaps go to a shelter and have to deal with COVID. I think that there is an extra layer of concern and an extra layer of forethought needed in how people prepare.” For one, it’s a good idea to add masks, hand sanitizer and disinfectant products to your emergency supply kit. Those items will be important if you have to evacuate to a shelter. Find out if your usual evacuation area is in a COVID-19 hotspot and, if it is, check for alternative locations,…  read on >

As the number of U.S. coronavirus cases passed 4.5 million on Thursday, some of America’s top public health officials will return to Congress for another round of questioning on the federal government’s handling of the pandemic. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, will testify Friday in front of the House’s special select committee investigating the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic, The New York Times reported. Joining him will be Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Adm. Brett Giroir, the administration’s point person on coronavirus testing. The hearing will focus on testing, vaccines and school reopenings. On Thursday, President Donald Trump again stressed his desire for students to return to the classroom, the Times reported. Fauci is expected to offer reassurances that the federal government is moving quickly but safely, while Redfield will almost certainly be questioned about the CDC’s recent shift toward favoring reopening schools. The questions for Giroir will likely center on long delays in test results across the South, the Times reported. On the vaccine front, the final phases of testing for two potential COVID-19 vaccines were launched this week. In one trial, the first of 30,000 volunteers will be given either a vaccine developed by Moderna Inc. and the U.S. National Institutes of Health or a placebo shot, the…  read on >