A few snippets from The Washington Post
The Post looked into the rush to develop a coronavirus treatment - or pull one out of history's recycling bin. “The roster of potential therapies includes new antivirals, older antivirals designed to fight HIV, anti-inflammatory drugs used for rheumatoid arthritis, stem cell therapies that could harness the immune system, antiparasitic drugs that treat malaria and head lice, and even treatments for erectile dysfunction,” we wrote. So far, none of them has lived up to the hype.
Lobbyists are furiously working to influence which businesses are deemed “essential” in each state, resulting in a scattershot list of what gets to stay open in which cities. “Florida made an exception for professional wrestling. South Carolina cut a break to sex shops, before it didn’t. And across the country, golf courses are more likely to be open than not,” according to our report, which you can read here.
Good news from overseas: Infection rates are slowing or receding in Britain and across the European Union, which account for almost 2 in 3 coronavirus deaths worldwide. We wrote that “quarantines across the continent more widespread and draconian than those seen during the plague in the Middle Ages” appear to have prevented the virus from overwhelming hospitals in many countries, even though Europe's daily death toll remains astoundingly high and the risk of a continental relapse remains.
As Europe takes cautious baby steps toward normality, covid-19 cases are beginning to spike in Africa, where many countries lack the equipment and medical staff to cope.