Virus review: Panel warns of fraud in Paycheck Protection Program
Congressional investigators say they have identified lapses pointing to possible fraud and abuse in the Trump administration’s coronavirus relief program, including more than $1 billion awarded to small businesses that received multiple loans.
As Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testified before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, a report issued Tuesday says a lack of government oversight and accountability for the $600 billion-plus Paycheck Protection Program “may have led to billions of dollars being diverted to fraud, waste and abuse, rather than reaching small businesses truly in need.” Read the full story here:
Meanwhile, antibodies that people make to fight the new coronavirus last for at least four months after diagnosis and do not fade quickly, as some earlier reports suggested, scientists have found.
Tuesday’s report, from tests on more than 30,000 people in Iceland, is the most extensive work yet on the immune system’s response to the virus and is good news for efforts to develop vaccines. Read the full story here:
Here’s an update on more developments. Scroll or swipe further for in-depth coverage.
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A handful of the dozens of experimental COVID-19 vaccines in human testing have reached the last and biggest hurdle — looking for the needed proof that they really work. Amid fears that the coronavirus outbreak could heat up again after Labor Day, National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins tweeted that his agency “is supporting several vaccine trials since more than one may be needed. We have all hands on deck.”
- FEMA has told states that beginning Sept. 15 it will no longer pay for masks and PPE in most non-emergency settings — including schools, public housing and courthouses.
- Federal officials will begin shipping tens of millions of rapid coronavirus tests to state governors this month for use in reopening schools and to assisted living facilities. The Trump administration’s top testing official, Admiral Brett Giroir, laid out plans Tuesday to distribute some of the 150 million tests ordered from test maker Abbott Laboratories.
- A group of medical experts advising the National Institutes of Health says there is not enough evidence to recommend for or against the use of plasma therapy for patients hospitalized with COVID-19. The non-endorsement by government advisers comes a week after the Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorization to the treatment.
- The torrid coronavirus summer across the Sun Belt is easing after two disastrous months that brought more than 35,000 deaths. Seven of the nine states along the nation’s Southern and Western rim are seeing drops in new deaths, new cases and the percentage of tests coming back positive for the virus. It is an encouraging sign for the U.S., but it’s one that’s been seen before: After a deadly spring in New York and the Northeast, the crisis ebbed somewhat before flaring up across the Sun Belt over the summer.
- New York City delayed the start of its school year by several days to give teachers more time to prepare for having students back in classrooms amid the coronavirus pandemic, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday.
- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that he will lift the state’s ban on visiting nursing homes that has cut off vulnerable seniors from family since mid-March.
- Public tours of the White House, halted nearly six months ago due to the coronavirus outbreak, are set to resume later this month with new health and safety policies in place. Tours will resume Sept. 12, for two days a week instead of five, and for just a few hours a day.
For more summaries and full reports, please select from the articles below. Scroll further for answers to important questions and the latest virus numbers.
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Virus basics: 10 COVID-19 questions answered
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