Coronavirus News Update – Nov. 18: Sweden Clamps Down, FDA Approves Rapid Home Test
Stockholm, the capital of Sweden and most populous area of Scandinavia
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave an emergency green light to the first rapid coronavirus test that can be administered and provide results at home. The news came as the country hit the 250,000 mark in coronavirus deaths. The test, developed by Lucira Health, requires a prescription and the use of a simple nasal swab. It provides test results within 30 minutes, the company said, and should cost $50 or less. It is intended for people above the age of 14, although parents or clinicians could administer the test on those under 14.
Meanwhile, on the heels of Moderna’s announcement that early data showed that its vaccine is 94.5% effective, Pfizer said its coronavirus vaccine is 95% effective in final data and that it will seek authorization to distribute it in the next few days, allowing it to become available before the end of the year if health regulators permit.
Days after Congressman Don Young of Alaska, who is 87 years old, said he had tested positive for Covid-19, Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, who is also 87, became the latest member of Congress to be affected by the pandemic. He and Senator Rick Scott of Florida are now both in quarantine, as is Congressman Young. More than 80 members of Congress have either tested positive or been forced to quarantine as a result of contact with someone who had, since the start of the pandemic.
Synagogues and churches from New York to Nevada are ask Supreme Court to end coronavirus worship limit. In New York City, two Orthodox synaoguges and the Catholic Dioceses of Brooklyn are asking the court to suspend Governor Andrew Cuomo’s order limiting attendance at religious services to ten people, and a church in rural Nevada wants the court to strike down Governor Steve Sisolak’s order limiting attendance there to 50.
Meanwhile, France became the first country in Europe to cross the two million mark in coronavirus cases this week, although officials there expressed optimism that the weeks of restrictions in the country were beginning to have a positive effect. “Our collective efforts are starting to bear fruit,” said Jérôme Salomon, a senior health ministry official, at a news conference on Tuesday.
Officials in Sweden, which had opted for less stringent measures to fight the pandemic, are clamping down amidst a rise in the number of infections. King Carl XVI Gustaf told his fellow countrymen to “Hold on tight!” in a statement on Instagram. In addition to a curfew on serving alcohol at 10 p.m., the country will ask people to limit all gatherings to no more than eight people and to avoid using public transportation.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
