COVID-19 news: Vaccine shows promise; Trump administration continues to spin its wheels

Today saw the emergence of just a little potential good news, which has been a rare thing in our daily pandemic reports. South Korean research indicates patients who recover from the virus but test positive again at a later date do not appear to be contagious, but are testing positive due to the presence of dead virus—meaning the patients had developed an at least temporary immunity to re-infection. That may boost the chances that a true vaccine for the virus could indeed prove effective.

On that vaccine front, there is both good news and bad news. A radically new vaccine approach is showing early (but fragile) signs of success, while an Oxford vaccine test that showed similar early progress is now hitting some snags.

In other pandemic news:

• Despite record unemployment and no indication the pandemic is easing, Trump administration officials are signaling little interest in additional pandemic relief funding.

• The Trump administration appears to be intentionally blocking National Guard members called up for emergency pandemic service from retirement benefits and significant education support granted for deployments of 90 days or longer by putting a "hard stop" on deployments at ... 89 days.

• Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren made clear during Senate questioning of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin (who remains implicated in Trump's efforts to extort campaign help from the Ukrainian government) that she expects executives to be held "personally liable" and "subject to criminal penalties" if they misuse bailout funds provided with the expectation they will be used to keep workers on their payroll. Mnuchin's testimony was frequently combative, but yielded little actual detail.

• Donald Trump threatened to cut off World Health Organization funding "permanently," again putting forward a conspiracy theory that the organization was somehow working with China to cover up the pandemic "probably for political reasons." All evidence suggests the sitting president is delusional.

• The Trump administration is preparing to potentially extend a Stephen Miller-pushed "public health order" used to deport hundreds of refugee children in apparent violation of U.S. asylum laws.

• A leaked Defense Department memo warns that the military can expect to see continued pandemic infections through at least 2021, with a possible stronger second pandemic wave this fall. This is consistent with the warnings of nearly all other pandemic experts.

• Kroger is receiving new public condemnation after demanding supermarket employees pay back "overpaid" emergency pay granted during the pandemic. The company previously came under fire for summarily ending a $2 per hour hazard pay policy; the CEO of the company was paid $21.1 million last year, while most employees made less than $27,000.

• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reacted to Trump's claim yesterday that he was taking the immunosuppressive drug hydroxychloroquine, which Trump has repeatedly championed as a supposed miracle treatment for COVID-19, with concern for Trump's health, noting the risks of the unproven drug for someone "in his age group" who is "morbidly obese."

• A Northern California pastor who livestreamed a small Mother's Day service that featured singing—despite a public health warning that singing could increase the spread of the virus via airborne droplets—has tested positive for the virus along with at least two others. Officials are asking any people who had contact with church members or who have recently visited the church to come forward for testing.

• A New York ICU physician who put off his scheduled retirement to instead assist in fighting the pandemic has now died after contracting the disease himself.

• Walt Disney World in Florida is reopening some third-party shops and restaurants—but with a warning to park visitors that the company is not responsible for COVID-19 risks while visiting the park. That certainly dims the Disney magic a wee bit.

• Asian American and Pacific Islander communities are fighting the pandemic's sharp surge of racism with mutual aid and coalition-building.

from Daily Kos https://ift.tt/2LEArD0