Virus review: Trail of bubbles leads scientists to new coronavirus clue. Here’s the latest.
A doctor checking comatose COVID-19 patients for signs of a stroke instead stumbled onto a new clue about how the virus may harm the lungs — thanks to a test that used tiny air bubbles and a robot.
Dr. Alexandra Reynolds, a neurologist at New York’s Mount Sinai Health System, initially was baffled as she tracked “the cacophony of sound” made by those harmless bubbles passing through the bloodstream of patient after patient.
Yet the weird finding excited lung specialists who now are studying if it helps explain why often, the sickest coronavirus patients don’t get enough oxygen despite being on ventilators.
The tale illustrates how months into the pandemic, scientists still are struggling to unravel the myriad ways the coronavirus attacks — and finding hints in surprising places.
In other developments:
- The Postal Service faced more questions and a federal lawsuit Wednesday over mail disruptions, despite assurances by President Donald Trump’s postmaster general of no more service changes until after the November election — a pledge made only after a public outcry.
- The pandemic shuffled the deck for the so-called gig economy as fear of contracting the coronavirus led many who once traveled in shared vehicles to stay home, and grocery delivery services struggled to keep up with demand from people who didn’t want to risk stepping into a store, according to a new survey from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
- An aggressive push by Iowa’s governor to reopen schools amid a worsening coronavirus outbreak has descended into chaos, with some districts and teachers rebelling and experts calling the scientific benchmarks used by the state arbitrary and unsafe.
- Governments around the world are taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to justify crackdowns on press freedom.
- U.S. consumers lifted their spending in May and June but businesses remained cautious because of the tremendous uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook.
- Pharmacists in all 50 states are now allowed to give childhood vaccinations under a new directive aimed at preventing future outbreaks of measles and other preventable diseases. The move is designed to help prevent vaccination rates from falling during the pandemic.
- There’s a disconnect between coronavirus health guidelines and the scene at recent Trump and Pence campaign events. Hundreds of supporters of President Donald Trump stood and sat shoulder to shoulder in Yuma, Arizona, this week, against the advice of Trump’s own health experts.
- The number of people in Florida confirmed to have died from the new coronavirus surpassed 10,000, as teachers and state officials argued in court over whether brick-and-mortar schools should be forced to reopen this month.
- The NFL will consult an advisory committee made up of former coaches, general managers and players on such issues as postponing, moving or even canceling games this season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
- After being closed for months due to the pandemic, malls are bringing all types of drive-in entertainment to their massive parking lots, hoping to lure people back to their properties.
- A new four-part miniseries tackles relationship struggles during the COVID-19 pandemic. Leslie Odom Jr. and Nicolette Robinson, who are married in real life, co-star and executive produce “Love in the Time of Corona.”
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