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For Louisiana and Texas hit by the hurricane, a confluence of disasters. And while the remote education industry is booming, considerations about some corporations are moving to fill the void.
Right now
As the beginning of the school year approaches in Maryland, the governor announced that all districts had met the protection criteria for a form of face-to-face teaching. The announcement came after all districts decided to reopen with a distance education.
The White House announced Thursday the acquisition of 150 million immediate coronavirus controls from Abbott Laboratories, which a day earlier had received emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration for a new $5 check that can be done in 15 minutes.
The $750 million deal with Abbott came just days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, under pressure from senior Trump management officials, made the decision to discourage testing for others who do not have Covid-19 symptoms, even though they were recently exposed to the virus. Many public fitness experts denounced the decision and said it would be more difficult to track and fight the virus.
On Thursday, even as his own aides were forced to protect the previous decision, President Trump hoped to take drastic action on the new agreement with Abbott in his speech at the Republican National Convention.
News of the president’s plan to announce the agreement on the verification kits on the last night of the conference was first reported through Politico on Thursday morning.
Described as “fast, reliable, highly portable and affordable” at a launch Wednesday, Abbott’s new device, called BinaxNOW Covid-19 Ag Card, is a bit like a pregnancy test. It is intended to stumble upon chunks of coronavirus protein on a credit card-sized device that does not require laboratory equipment.
“This is an elementary progression that will help save more lives through America’s maximum vulnerable additional protection and allow our country to remain open, bring Americans back to painting, and bring young people back to school,” White House officials wrote to the media.
Abbott is about to send tens of millions of tests in September, places where they can be administered through doctors, nurses, school nurses, pharmacists and more “with minimal education and prescription,” according to the statement.
Although they are faster and less expensive than other types of coronavirus tests, antigenic tests like Abbott’s are less accurate. Abbott’s is designed to be used within the first seven days of the onset of symptoms.
Wear a mask, unordered interior spaces, and wash your hands frequently.
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