INDIANAPOLIS — A drug company says partial results from a study testing an antibody drug give hints that it may…
INDIANAPOLIS — A drug company says partial results from a study testing an antibody drug give hints that it may help mild to moderately ill COVID-19 patients from needing to be hospitalized.
Eli Lilly announced the results Wednesday in a press release, but they have not been published or reviewed by independent scientists. The drug missed the study’s main goal of reducing the amount of virus patients had after 11 days, except at the middle of three doses being tested. However, most study participants had cleared the virus by then anyway.
Antibodies are proteins the body makes when an infection occurs; they attach to a virus and help it be eliminated. The blood of survivors is being tested as a treatment for COVID-19 patients because it contains such antibodies. But the strength and types of antibodies varies depending on each donor.
The drugs Lilly and other companies are testing involve concentrated versions of specific antibodies that worked best against the coronavirus in lab and animal tests, and can be made in large, standardized doses.
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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
— Madrid to impose lockdowns in some areas as virus cases spike
— Britain to ration coronavirus testing, give priority to health workers, nursing homes
— Pope Francis says our health depends on health of others, not exploiting
— India’s virus cases pass 5 million, challenging health care system. The world’s second-most populous country has added more than 1 million cases this month.
— Iowa governor won’t budge on mandating masks even as virus deaths rise. Gov. Kim Reynolds refuses to let city officials enforce local mandates, even as state maintains one of the highest coronavirus positivity rates.
— Doubts persist as NYC’s hybrid school year is set to start. It begins remotely Wednesday in a soft opening for more than 1 million kids and prologue to return for some to physical classrooms next week.
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Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
PHILADELPHIA — President Donald Trump is denying he played down the threat of the coronavirus earlier this year, although there is an audio recording of him stating that.
The president participated in a televised town hall Tuesday with uncommitted voters, hosted by ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos. In an exchange with one voter, Trump said he actually “up-played” the virus threat.
Trump also cast doubt on the widely accepted scientific conclusions of his own administration, which strongly recommends the use of face coverings.
Trump says, “There are people that don’t think masks are good.” However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strongly urges their use.
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LISBON, Portugal — Portuguese officials say nursing and care homes have had difficulty in recruiting staff during the coronavirus pandemic.
Health Minister Marta Temido told a parliamentary committee Wednesday “the stigma attached to this illness is still very great.”
Specialist teams have visited about half of the country’s 2,628 licensed homes for the elderly to check whether proper procedures are in place.
Labor Minister Ana Mendes Godinho says in the past three years, authorities have shut down 407 clandestine homes, which have long been a problem in Portugal.
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ATHENS, Greece — Greek health authorities are increasing the number of intensive care unit beds set aside for patients with COVID-19 in and around the Greek capital.
That comes amid what officials have called a worrying increase in coronavirus cases and people severely ill with the virus.
The greatest increase in cases has been in the wider Athens region, Greece’s most populous, where intensive care units are starting to come under pressure.
Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias said Wednesday that 40 more ICU beds would be set aside for COVID-19 patients in the Athens region within the next seven days.
On Tuesday, 310 new coronavirus cases were announced nationwide. Greece has a total of 13,730 confirmed cases and 313 deaths.
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NEW DELHI — An Indian pharmaceutical company and Russia’s sovereign wealth fund have agreed to distribute 100 million doses of the Russia’s experimental Sputnik V vaccine in India.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) says it had paired with Indian company Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. The pharmaceutical company will be conducting phase three trials in India to meet the country’s regulatory requirements.
Press secretary Arseniy Palagin confirmed the 100 million doses of the experimental vaccine were meant for “population wide use” as long as they met regulatory requirements and clinical trials were successful.
Palagin confirmed RDIF was in talks with several Indian companies for manufacturing…
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