In sickest COVID-19 patients, underlying conditions are common, large study finds
People with obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure are at greater risk for complications from the coronavirus, according to a large study of patients hospitalized with the illness it causes.
The findings, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, confirm what physicians nationwide have noted anecdotally.
No money, but rent is due: In Colorado, few eviction protections as coronavirus spreads
Unlike more than 30 other states, Colorado does not have a statewide moratorium on evictions during the coronavirus outbreak. That's left many tenants fearing they could soon be without homes.
Kendra Tallant, 41, was furloughed from her job at a resort where she took reservations, and now she's struggling to pay rent on the Colorado Springs apartment she shares with her fiancé and 23-year-old son, who are also out of work. She tried to negotiate with her landlord, but the company hit her with nearly $300 in late fees and began taking steps toward eviction.
“I was just flabbergasted,” Tallant said. “We were forced to not work by no fault of our own. These places are just not working with us, and we’re having to choose between whether we can eat or pay rent.”
Ohio man who disparaged lockdown measures on Facebook dies of coronavirus
Social media posts of an Ohio man who disparaged coronavirus lockdown measures are now circulating online after he died of COVID-19, the disease associated with coronavirus.
Screenshots of Facebook posts have surfaced online just days after John W. McDaniel, 60, died of coronavirus on April 15. One screenshot of a post dated March 13 included an accusation that the virus was a "political ploy."
"If you're paranoid about getting sick, just don't go out," another post allegedly said. "It shouldn't keep those of us from Living Our Lives. The Madness has to stop."
A wedding in the age of social distancing
Clerk Recorder Erika Patronas officiates Natasha and Michael Davis' wedding ceremony at the Honda Center parking lot on April 21, 2020 in Anaheim, California. The County of Orange Clerk Recorder employees implemented a variety of social distancing techniques to safely issue licenses and marry couples during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Former pharmacy worker accused of stealing malaria drug
A former Los Angeles-area pharmacy technician was expected Wednesday to face allegations in court that he stole drugs previously touted by President Donald Trump as possibly effective in treating COVID-19.
Christopher Mencias Agustin was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in Los Angeles state court based on a case filed Monday. He has not been jailed, according to local sheriff's records.
Prosecutors' criminal complaint alleges that between March 31 and April 9, Mencias concealed or withhold stolen property that included hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug, and azithromycin, an antibiotic. The combination of the two has previously been promoted by the president as a possible coronavirus treatment.
He's been charged with two felony counts of second-degree burglary "during an emergency" and one felony county of concealing or withholding stolen property exceeding $950, the office of the Los Angeles County District Attorney said in a statement.
Other drugs were taken, too, the District Attorney's office alleged, and the total value of the thefts was estimated to be $6,700. NBC News reached out to a possible attorney for the defendant but did not get an immediate response.
New Jersey Gov. Murphy: McConnell ‘utterly irresponsible’ to suggest states go bankrupt
New Jersey Gov. Murphy called Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., "utterly irresponsible" for saying that states should declare bankruptcy instead of waiting for a federal bailout. Murphy said the coronavirus pandemic "is no time for bankruptcy," and McConnell is "dead wrong."
AC/DC is helping to keep these animals calm during coronavirus lockdown
A small animal enclosure in Bavaria, Germany is playing music to "entertain" its inhabitants during quiet lockdown times.
“We play anything from hard rock, to pop, to classical music to country tunes,” the owner of animal park Mehlmeisel, Eckard Mickisch, told NBC News.
The park uses the individually selected playlists to maintain a noise backdrop that is usually generated by the visitors to the small zoo, which houses between 60 and 100 domestic animals. “We want to make sure that all sound frequencies are played and therefore have songs like ‘Highway to Hell’ from AC/DC on our lists, as well as high pitch classical compositions,” Mickisch said.
The park owner believes that the animals need to be “desensitized” before the visitors return. “The animals get too easily scared, if it is too quiet for a longer period of time,” Mr. Mickisch explained, which could lead to flight behavior, especially among the deer population and other herd animals.
“Our employees get to choose the playlist, as they are the ones who have to listen to this all day as well,” says Mickisch.
'A race against time': Results expected soon on experimental coronavirus drug
The results of a highly anticipated study on an experimental coronavirus treatment for the sickest patients are expected any day.
Physicians leading the clinical trial for the drug, called remdesivir, say the fast-moving pandemic has compelled them to work with haste, all without compromising the scientific rigor necessary to prove whether the drug really works.
'This virus will be with us for a long time,' WHO director-general says
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organization's director-general, on Wednesday said COVID-19 "will be with us for a long time."
It is indisputable that stay-at-home orders and other physical distancing measures have successfully suppressed transmission in many countries, he said at a media briefing, but the virus remains extremely dangerous.
"Make no mistake: We have a long way to go. This virus will be with us for a long time," he said.
He noted that the organization is seeing different trends in different regions, and even within regions.
"Most of the epidemics in Western Europe appear to be stable or declining," he said. "Although numbers are low, we see worrying upward trends in Africa, Central and South America, and Eastern Europe."
California Gov. lays out plans to expand testing in under-served communities
California Gov. Gavin Newsom laid out more detailed plans Wednesday to ramp up COVID-19 testing across the state, with a goal of vastly expanding its number of daily tests while also reaching into so-called "testing deserts" in rural and under-served urban communities.
With a population of nearly 40 million people, California went from testing 2,000 people a day on average at the beginning of the pandemic to about 15,000 a day. The state's eventual goal is to administer 60,000 tests daily, with the help from the Trump administration, which is helping secure tens of thousands of testing swabs.
With approximately 250 core testing sites out of a total of 600, Newsom said the state is adding 86 testing sites to better track the virus in rural areas and urban centers, specifically to get a better read on the pandemic's impact on communities of color.