For the latest daily updates on the coronavirus pandemic, click here.

An AI robot is being used in South Korea to serve customers and has the capability to serve up to four customers' at once in multiple languages. Named "Aglio Kim", the robot can deliver food to customers' tables safety without fear of spreading diseases. Kim is also able to take payment from customers and speak in both Korean and English. Watch the robot in action here.

Six months after the coronavirus pandemic began, a lot of new information has surfaced about how the coronavirus spreads and what causes it to spread. As part of a special weeklong series by Medium, Dana Smith looked at the most likely ways one can be infected with COVID-19. One recent finding was that surfaces don't seem to be considered as much of a threat for spread of the virus as experts had originally thought. During the start of the pandemic, there was deep concern about surfaces being a conduit for spread of the virus due to most respiratory diseases spreading in that way. Professor of microbiology and biochemistry at Rutgers University, Emmanuel Goldman said the early experiments supporting surface spreading were based on the wrong experiments because they were not representative of how people come into contact with the coronavirus in the real world.  

The new leading theory for how the coronavirus spreads has now shifted to close range droplets. Being in close contact with someone raises the risk of being exposed to small droplets that could contain the virus and many scientists now think that's how people become infected with the virus. And another mode of transmission has been gaining credence among the health community as an explanation of how the virus spreads, the Elemental report revealed. The report also delves into what scientists and health experts agree on as the best ways to protect yourself.

With just 27 deaths among 57,000 infections, Singapore has the lowest coronavirus fatality rate in the world. While the global death rate for the virus is around 3%, Singapore’s is well below, at 0.05%, according to Reuters. One of the factors that could have contributed to the low death rate is the demographics of the cases, as 95% of the infections are among migrant workers, who are mostly in their 20s and 30s. Another factor that could have contributed to the low rate is the country’s extensive contact tracing and testing. Nearly 900,000 people, which is more than 15% of the country’s 5.7 million population, have been tested for the virus. “The more we diagnose, then the lower the mortality rate is,” Hsu Li Yang at Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health at National University of Singapore, told Reuters. Additionally, health officials say other factors may have contributed to the country's low death rate.

Hawaii’s new pre-travel testing program could give travelers the option to avoid a 14-day quarantine upon arrival, according to an announcement made by Gov. David Ige on Wednesday.The pre-travel testing program, which is set to begin on Oct. 15, is one of the measures being adopted by the state to control the spread of COVID-19 while still allowing tourism. Although the program was scheduled to begin back in August, it was pushed back as coronavirus cases spiked. “As an alternative to quarantine a traveler must produce evidence of a negative COVID-19 test no earlier than 72-hours prior to their flight arrival in Hawaii,” the statement said, according to Reuters.

The Air Force Research Laboratory has started testing how heat could be used to sterilize an aircraft amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Protection Systems Team Leader, Dr. Doug Lewis, said they know heat has an effect on the virus and that they are doing other studies to verify temperatures. An aircraft sitting in the sun can reach temperatures of 120 to 130F. Different locations are being tested in the aircraft to monitor for any cold spots that the virus may be able to survive. Researchers hope that the ease of parking the carrier in the sun could help decrease the spread of the coronavirus. Watch more in the video below.   

Six months after the coronavirus pandemic began, a lot of new information has surfaced about how the coronavirus spreads and what causes it to spread. As part of a special weeklong series by Medium, Dana Smith looked at the most likely ways one can be infected with COVID-19. One recent finding was that surfaces don't seem to be considered as much of a threat for spread of the virus as experts had originally thought. During the start of the pandemic, there was deep concern about surfaces being a conduit for spread of the virus due to most respiratory diseases spreading in that way. Professor of microbiology and biochemistry at Rutgers University, Emmanuel Goldman said the early experiments supporting surface spreading were based on the wrong experiments because they were not representative of how people come into contact with the coronavirus in the real world.   The new leading theory for how the coronavirus spreads has now shifted to close range droplets. Being in close contact with someone raises the risk of being exposed to small droplets that could contain the virus and many scientists now think that's how people become infected with the virus. And another mode of transmission has been gaining credence among the health community as an explanation of how the virus spreads, the Elemental report revealed. The report also delves into what scientists and health experts agree on as the best ways to protect yourself.

The Aruba Tourism Authority launched a new “One Happy Workation” program this week, which will allow Americans to relocate to the island for three months without a visa. The program is open to any Americans with a valid passport and provides discounted rates from “some of Aruba’s finest hotels and resorts” for a minimum of a one week stay, a spokesperson told FOX Business. While the program is geared toward those working from home, working is not mandatory on the trip, and the program offers unique opportunities for guests to live like the locals of Aruba. “We recently conducted a survey that showed 61% of Americans said travel restrictions due to COVID-19 have made them feel even more ‘trapped at home.’ We recognize the desire to travel safely and have noticed a rising trend of visitors in Aruba extending their stays, so we knew the appetite for longer trips was growing,” Sanju Luidens, CMO of Aruba Tourism Authority, said. “With many Americans working remotely, we curated the best workation experiences and deals to make it easier to not only work from paradise, but also experience living like a local.”

FILE - In this April 2008 file photo, crystal clear water meets the shore in Aruba. Aruba offers a sun-drenched Caribbean escape outside the hurricane belt, making this island retreat an irresistible option for late-summer travelers. (AP Photo/Shoun A. Hill, File)

The Maui Invitational, an annual early-season college basketball tournament on Thanksgiving Weekend typically in Lahaina, Hawaii, on the island of Maui, is moving to North Carolina, the tournament announced on Friday. It will be held at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, North Carolina, and go from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2, sources told ESPN. The relocation of the tournament comes as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and it was rescheduled with the NCAA’s decision to start the season on Nov. 25. “We’re a tourism-based community, we fit that vibe of what an early-season tournament would look like,” Harrah Cherokee Center General Manager Chris Carl told ESPN. “Our goal is to bring business to town. As long as we can cover costs, we’ll do whatever it takes.”

Protective measures and lockdowns amid the coronavirus pandemic have played a role in driving interseasonal influenza infections to a record low, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study published Friday. Confirmed Influenza cases in the U.S. have decreased since mid- to late February, and while the study acknowledges this is in part from a decrease in accessibility to routine healthcare, it found that there was also a large decrease in influenza activity. Data from clinical laboratories in the U.S. indicated a 61% decrease in the number of species submitted, and a 98% decrease in influenza activity through submitted specimens that tested positive. “If extensive community mitigation measures continue throughout the fall, influenza activity in the United States might remain low and the season might be blunted or delayed,” the researchers wrote. 

However, experts are still warning the public to prepare for both the flu and COVID-19 this season. “Actions to stop the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19,… could reduce the impact of flu this fall and winter in the United States if widely practiced,” Sonja Olsen, an epidemiologist at the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases and one of the authors of the study, told Yahoo!News, commenting on the study. “However, it is impossible to say with certainty what will happen during the upcoming flu season, making it important to prepare for both flu and COVID-19. Getting a flu vaccine offers the best protection against flu during any flu season, and it is more important than ever during 2020-2021 because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.”

There is no question about it — the pandemic has taken its toll on the world physically, mentally and emotionally. The weariness from dealing with the virus, referred to as “pandemic fatigue,” has set in across multiple areas of the world. However, the World Health Organization believes that fatigue is causing a spike in cases in a handful of European nations, including France, Spain, Georgia, Montenegro and the Ukraine,according to CNBC.

“We have a very serious situation unfolding before us,” WHO’s regional director for Europe, Dr. Hans Kluge, said Thursday. “More than half of European countries have reported a greater-than-10% increase in cases in the past two weeks. Of those countries, seven have seen newly reported cases increase more than twofold in the same period.” Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit added that worrying trends had started to surface, including not just increases in case numbers, but increases in hospitalizations and in ICUs. The increases come on the cusp of flu season, and as states in the U.S. also report rises in cases, officials fear the health system could be overwhelmed.

On Friday,The World Health Organization warned that the coronavirus is “not going away” anytime soon and is still killing about 50,000 people each week. "That is not where we want to be," Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO's emergencies program, said. "It's not where the Northern Hemisphere wants to be going into the winter season. It's not where developing countries want to be with their health services under nine months of pressure.” Ryan also said the virus is not "burning out” or going away just yet. In addition, he stated as the weather cools down in many countries and people begin to spend more time indoors transmission is at risk for rising again. “There's a lot of work to do in order to avoid amplification events, drive down transmission of this epidemic, protect the opening of schools and protect the most vulnerable in our society from severe disease and death,” he said, according to CNBC.

A new lockdown and new social gathering restrictions were imposed in Israel on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, traditionally a time of family gatherings and celebrations. During the new three-day lockdown, Israelis would be required to stay within 1 kilometer, or .6 miles distance of their home, though with some exceptions, and the number of people allowed in synagogues has been reduced, according to BBC. The new measures are highly unpopular and protests took place before they came into force, according to local media. Israel has seen over 179,000 confirmed cases and recorded 1,196 confirmed COVID-19-related deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, and BBC reported that the nation has seen new cases reach daily highs of more than 6,000. “This is not the kind of holiday we are used to. And we certainly won’t be able to celebrate with our extended families,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. 

The new measures include:

• No more than 10 people can meet indoors, though groups of up to 20 people can meet outdoors.

• Schools and shopping centers must close.

• Israelis must stay within 1 kilometer of their homes with exceptions including traveling to work or to buy essential items.

• Non-governmental offices and businesses will be allowed to remain open but can’t offer in-person services. 

• Supermarkets and pharmacies will be allowed to remain open to the public.

Irish rocker Van Morrison, the voice behind classic hits like "Brown-Eyed Girl" and "Moondance" is releasing three scathing songs in protest of the ways in which governments around the world have responded to the coronavirus pandemic. Lockdown measures that have been enacted to various degrees over the last six months seem to have most irked the 75-year-old rocker. In the song "No More Lockdown," Morrison rails against the isolation restrictions and sings that they "enslave" people, The Associated Press reported. He also lambastes British government officials as "fascist bullies" and lashes out at celebrities who have taken up the PSA cause for "telling us what we are supposed to feel." He also accused scientists of “making up crooked facts.” 

North Ireland's health minister, Robin Swann, criticized Morrison and said the songs were "dangerous" and questioned where the rock legend "gets his facts." Swann, in an interview with the BBC, added, "If Van wanted to sing a song about saving lives, then that would be more in keeping with where we are at the minute." Morrison, however, is sticking by his guns. “I’m not telling people what to do or think. The government is doing a great job of that already,” Morrison said. “It’s about freedom of choice, I believe people should have the right to think for themselves," the AP reported. Listen to Swann's remarks on Morrison's songs below.

Most NFL games during the season's opening weekend of action had no fans in the stands at all, but a few games allowed a smattering of fans, all socially-distanced and seated at various parts of stadiums. A fan who attended the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans, the league's season opener last Thursday night in Kansas City, tested positive for COVID-19, CNN reported. The fan was watching the game from a luxury box in a lower level part of the stadium, the Kansas City Department of Health said. After contact tracing was done, another 10 people were put in quarantine as a precaution. Per NFL policy, fans and stadium personnel, along with teams' coaching and staff personnel on the sidelines, are required to wear face coverings. In fact, teams that violated the face-covering policy were issued a stern warning by league officials earlier this week. Dr. Rex Archer, Kansas City health director, urged residents to remain cautious about the spread of COVID-19. "I want to remind everyone that COVID-19 is anywhere and everywhere. While we're all tired of it, frustrated and even angry at how it has altered and stricken our lives and livelihoods, we must continue to think of those who have not and will not survive it," he said. Meanwhile, CNN reported, the Chiefs have not addressed whether fans will be allowed to attend the team's next home game, which takes place on Oct. 4.

England has seen a sharp increase in new COVID-19 cases as the number of daily new cases nearly double in just a week. Official estimates show that around 6,000 new cases are being reported per day in the week up until Sept. 10, according to Reuters. The model is based on samples of the population and compares to the 3,200 new daily cases seen last week, as reported by the Office for National Statistics. The country health minister had previously said the virus is accelerating across the region and hospitals are becoming strained with admissions doubling every eight days. It is feared that 1 in 900 people in England had COVID-19 during the week to Sept. 10. The number was just 1 in 1,400 for the week prior. Amid the resurgence of cases, the country's top health official on Friday said the government is prepared to impose a second lockdown "if we need to," according to The Scotsman.

Restaurants in the Boston area were given a boost earlier this week when Mayor Marty Walsh announced an extension for outdoor dining. However, diners will certainly want to dress warmly if they are planning to head out to eat as the outdoor dining season will now go until Dec. 1. Previously, it was set to end on Oct 31, The Associated Press reports. “Restaurants have faced incredible challenges during this ongoing public health crisis, and the City of Boston is committed to helping them survive and succeed, including by giving restaurants more flexibility around outdoor dining,” Walsh said in a statement, according to The AP. The city also said it will waive application fees for outdoor propane heaters that restaurants utilize to help keep diners warm.   

In November, the historical average high for Boston on Nov. 1 is around 56, but by the end of the month, that average high drops to 47. Folks in Beantown who are looking to enjoy a nice outdoor meal this weekend can expect chillier weather. Highs this weekend will range from the low 60s to upper 50s during the day, with evening temperatures dropping into the low 50s and AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures in the mid-40s. 

The AccuWeather weekend forecast for Boston shows a pleasant but cooler stretch of weather is ahead.

AccuWeather

Doctors in Madrid say “it’s like March in slow motion” as intensive care units are filled with COVID-19 patients once again. Although a second wave of the virus was predicted to arrive in Europe, it came sooner than anticipated, causing doctors and nurses to struggle as they scramble to help everyone. “In a way, it’s like the situation in March but in slow motion,” Dr. Carlos Velayos, who works as an intensive care unit physician at the public hospital in Fuenlabrada, told The Associated Press. He then added that the hospital is expanding its ICU capacity from 12 to 24 beds by the end of September, as all of them are currently filled by COVID-19 patients. Currently, Spain has roughly about 1,281 patients in ICUs, and 359 of them are in the Madrid region, where one-third of the 8,200 new infections were reported within the past week. “In March, it was like a nuclear bomb that brought the health system as a whole to a collapse in a matter of weeks,” Velayos said, in reference to the increase in hospitalizations. “We might not be there yet, but that’s not a reason not to be worried. We have allowed the outbreaks to reach a level of being uncontrollable.”

People wearing face masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus queue to buy lottery tickets in downtown Madrid, Spain, Friday, Sept. 18, 2020. With more than 11,000 new daily coronavirus cases, the attention in Spain is focusing on its capital, where officials are mulling localized lockdowns and other measures to bring down the curve of contagion. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Here are the latest COVID-19 numbers, provided by researchers at Johns Hopkins University:

• Confirmed cases: 30,205,226

• Fatalities: 946,673

• Recoveries: 20,548,561

The world topped the 30 million total case mark on Thursday night, less than 10 months after COVID-19 began spreading. The most recorded cases and deaths have both come from the United States, with India having the second-most in each category. The world total has seen its three highest single-day case increases all within the past seven days.

Stocks took a tumble globally on Thursday after the head of the US Federal Reserve warned about an uncertain outlook for the US economy. Many countries across the world have been upgrading economic forecasts despite central banks warning that a quick recovery is far from assured, according to AFP. The European Central Bank announced additional temporary relief options to banks to assist those cope with financial impact. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both stayed solidly in the red as stocks opened on Thursday. Paris saw a 0.7 percent fall while London fell 0.5 percent.

France has reported over 10,000 new cases of the coronavirus over the past 24 hours which has set a new daily record for most cases daily cases. On Thursday, the health ministry reported 10,593 new confirmed cases which breaks the old daily cases record of 10,561 set on Sept. 12. The sharp increase in new cases comes as a higher infection rate and an increase in testing. The France government has made testing for the coronavirus free which has caused long lines to form. Fifty new deaths were also reported for the day which is the second-most in two months.

After testing positive for the coronavirus, a high school student in Massachusetts attended class on the first day of school anyway. As a result, 30 people at Attleboro High School who came in contact with the student are now under a 14-day quarantine. According to Attleboro Mayor Paul Heroux, the student was tested on Sept. 9, received his positive result on Sept. 11 and then attended in-person class on Sept. 14, just days later. A public health nurse for the city confirmed that the parents were aware of the positive test results but chose to send their son to school anyway, according to NBC News. "There's no question about whether or not the parent knew," Heroux said. Principal Bill Runey said the administration had anticipated for positive cases to pop up, but did not expect to see them so soon. "I was pleased that our contact-tracing protocols we put in place helped us pretty quickly ID and narrow down close contacts," Runey said, "Thirty is still a lot, but if we didn't have greater degree of certainty with seating charts and things like that, we would have had to err on the side of caution for a lot more kids."

After being shut down due to a positive coronavirus case earlier in the month, the U.K. production of “The Batman” is set to resume. The movie was scheduled to hit theaters in June 2021, but due to the quarantine precautions the release date is being pushed back to October 2021. The film stars Robert Pattinson and is directed by Matt Reeves. According to The Associated Press, the filming was halted for nearly six months before it was allowed to resume, and was postponed again just three days after they had resumed the production due to the positive case. Warner Bros. has not announced who contracted the virus.

While Clorox wipes are still in short supply as people scramble to clean their homes during the coronavirus pandemic, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved of another cleaner to be used to kill COVID-19. In a press release, the Clorox Company announced that Pine Sol received EPA approval "for kill claims against SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, on hard non-porous surfaces,” ABC News reported. Third-party testing of Pine Sol reportedly proved that it was effective against the coronavirus so long as there is a 10-minute contact time and the surface is hard and non-porous. Chris Hyder, vice president and general manager of the cleaning division at The Clorox Company, said he hopes the new approval of Pine Sol will "increase access to disinfectants that can help prevent the spread of COVID-19."

The NCAA Division I Council announced that the 2020-21 men's and women's college basketball season can start as soon as Nov. 25, according to ESPN. Following a vote conducted by the council, no scrimmages or games are allowed before the date given. NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt said the new start date will provide "the optimal opportunity to successfully launch the basketball season." Gavitt went on to say that by Thanksgiving week, 76% of all Division I schools will have finished their fall semester or sent the student body home for remote learning. The maximum amount of games a team can play this year was reduced to 24 or 25 games which is four lower than previous years. Preseason practices are allowed to begin Oct. 14. The news comes a day after the Big Ten football conference reversed course and announced it will begin playing games on Oct. 24.

France reported over 10,000 new cases of the coronavirus over the past 24 hours, which set a new daily record in the country for most daily cases. On Thursday, the health ministry reported 10,593 new confirmed cases which breaks the old daily record of 10,561 set on Sept. 12. The sharp increase in new cases comes as a result of a higher infection rate and an increase in testing. The French government has made testing for the coronavirus free which has caused long lines to form. Fifty new deaths were also reported for the day which is the second-highest amount in two months.

The World Health Organization's Europe Region Director, Hans Kluge, gave a stern warning about alarming rates of COVID-19 transmission across Europe. Kluge said in a Thursday press conference that the strict lockdown measures in the early summer paid off and resulted in June having record lows of new cases. However, Kluge went on to express great concern over September numbers and the intense increase in new transmissions which could be a result of countries easing restrictions and mandates in recent months. Watch the video below to see the directors full remarks.

A commuter in the U.K. was seen on a bus wearing a live snake as a face mask while en route to Manchester. Passengers who witnessed the unusual sight said at first it looked like a funky mask and one passenger said she didn't spot it was alive until it started to slither over hand rails, according to the BBC. Greater Manchester transport bosses said a snake was not a valid face covering and that an approved one must be worn on public transport. A spokesperson for the Transport for Greater Manchester said the man was not following guidelines and that while there is some interpretation of the mandate, it does not extend to use of snakeskin "especially when still attached to the snake."

On Thursday, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said that by November the company should have enough data to determine whether its coronavirus works. “If the infection rate in the country were to slow down in the next couple of weeks, it could potentially be pushed out in a worst-case scenario in December,” Bancel told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” Moderna is one of three manufacturers backed by the U.S. government in late stages of testing for a potential vaccine, along with Pfizer and AstraZeneca. Pfizer's vaccine could also be ready soon, as CEO Albert Bourla told CBS that he expects to have data from the vaccine’s late-stage trials by the end of October. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump said that the U.S. government could start distributing the coronavirus vaccine as early as October. “We’re very close to that vaccine as you know and I think much closer than I think most people want to say,” Trump said. Watch a portion of Bancel's remarks on CNBC below.

The rescheduled 2020 U.S. Open begins on Thursday after previously being postponed due to the coronavirus. The event is scheduled to take place at the Winged Foot Golf Club which is one of the most historic in the world. Only one golfer has finished a week of play at Winged Foot under par, according to CBS Sports. The course, which is located in Mamaroneck, NY, is expected to tee-off to warm temperatures in the mid-70s. Friday through the rest of the weekend is going to cool off quite a bit with temperatures only reaching the mid-60s through Monday. Some rain is possible on Friday morning but overall, mostly clear and breezy conditions are expected through the weekend. Keep an eye on the weather at Winged Foot Golf Club by clicking here.

The economic toll the coronavirus pandemic has taken on the country continued to deepen with the latest statistics released by the U.S. Labor Department. Some 860,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, The Associated Press reported, marking the 26th consecutive week the nation has seen at least 700,000 unemployment claims. Even during the Great Recession, according to the AP, the country did not register as many as 700,000 unemployment claims in a single week. There are now 12.6 million Americans receiving unemployment benefits, up from just 1.7 million at this time last year, a sign of how dramatic a toll the pandemic has taken on the American economy. However, the Labor Department said last week’s numbers were down a bit from the previous week’s report.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock adjusts his spectacles after putting on his face mask after a news conference on Tuesday, May 5, 2020, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

A study published by JAMA Ophthalmology on Wednesday shows that eyeglass-wearers are less likely to be infected with COVID-19. In the study, 276 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Suizhou were monitored from Jan. 27 and March 13. Researchers found that only 16 of the 276 patients, or 5.8%, were daily wearers of glasses. The proportion is significantly low, considering that 31.5% of the local population wears glasses on a daily basis. Since the eye is considered an important route of infection, wearing glasses can “prevent or discourage wearers from touching their eyes, thus avoiding transferring the virus from the hands to the eyes,” Dr. Yiping Wei, of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, said. However, experts said that conclusions shouldn't be drawn as of yet, as this was "a single-center study with a small sample size," and more research to determine whether wearing glass can have an effect on the spread of the virus. Watch the video below for more. 

Here are the latest COVID-19 numbers, provided by researchers at Johns Hopkins University:

• Confirmed cases: 29,893,298

• Fatalities: 941,345

• Recoveries: 20,335,410

One day after not recording any cases, India reported 173,932 new cases on Wednesday. Although the total is likely accounting for more than just new cases in a 24-hour window, the reported single-day total shatters the previous one-day record of 97,570 cases, set by India last week. With the number spike, India crossed the 5 million case threshold, becoming just the second country to do so. The United States is the only country to have seen more COVID-19 cases, as the nation currently sits at 6,631,561 total infections since the beginning of the pandemic.

The popular retail chain Kohl’s this week announced that its downsized the company’s workforce by 15% due to economic hardships brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported. The downturn has hit Kohl’s department stores hard and the company’s leaders are attempting to cut costs by $100 million in response. The move to downsize the workforce is meant to reduce costs by $65 million. The pandemic has been particularly hard on the retail sector, with the iconic Lord & Taylor department store announcing late last month that it is going out of business after 200 years.

According to an Economic Impact Report released by Yelp on Wednesday, 60% of businesses that closed down during the pandemic won’t be reopening.  As of Aug. 31, 163,735 businesses have indicated on Yelp that they have closed. Out of those, 97,966 have stated that their closure is permanent. “Overall, Yelp’s data shows that business closures have continued to rise with a 34% increase in permanent closures since our last report in mid-July,” Justin Norman, vice president of data science at Yelp, told CNBC. Restaurants, bars and nightlife have been hit the hardest by the restrictions imposed due to the pandemic, as 32,109 restaurants have closed down as of Aug. 31, according to Yelp. Additionally, the number of restaurants forced to close permanently is slightly above Yelp’s total average, at 61%. The retail sector is another one that has been highly affected, as the number of permanent closures increased from 10% in July to 58% by the end of August.

“While it’s hard to say when we can expect business closures to stabilize, we’ve continued to see businesses successfully adapt to these uncertain times over the last six months thanks to their own hard work, innovation and local policy changes,” Norman said. Some of the businesses that have endured the economic challenges created by the pandemic are auto repair shops and restaurants that introduced takeout options, such as pizza places and coffee shops.

The National Institutes of Health has awarded seven contracts to companies and academic institutions with the goal of developing digital health solutions to help with the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a press release. The NIH hopes that the funding could be used to the development of user-friendly tools, such as smartphone apps, wearable devices and software that could help with contact tracing. “The tools these organizations plan to develop could allow us to use containment efforts, like COVID-19 testing, social distancing, and quarantine, precisely when and where they’re needed. That might let more people return to less restricted living and reduce the risk of devastating local outbreaks,” said Norman E. Sharpless, director of the National Cancer Institute. “We are looking as quickly as possible to help businesses and universities develop innovative tools to achieve this goal.” The seven digital health solutions that received the funding are Evidation Health, IBM, iCrypto, physIQ, Shee Atiká Enterprises, University of California, San Francisco and Vibrant Health.

On Wednesday, the U.S. government outlined a plan to make COVID-19 vaccines available for free to all Americans, assuming that an effective and safe-to-use vaccine is developed. Federal health agencies and the Defense Department detailed the plan in a report addressed to Congress, along with a “playbook” written by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for states and localities. In the playbook, the CDC specified that the vaccination campaign is “much larger om scope and complexity than seasonal influenza or other previous outbreak-related vaccination responses.” Some of the highlights of the vaccination plan outlined by the government include offering two doses of the vaccine to each recipient free of charge. In addition, the plan mentions that the vaccination process of the U.S. population won’t be a sprint but a marathon. “Early in the COVID-19 vaccination program there may be limited supply of vaccine and vaccine efforts may focus on those critical to the response, providing direct care and maintaining societal functions, as well as those at highest risk for developing severe illness,” Dr. Robert Redfield said, according to The Associated Press.

The NFL released its report on COVID-19 testing conducted during the previous week and it showed that two players have tested positive for the coronavirus. NFL Network reporter Ian Rapaport posted the news on Twitter. According to the report, some 2,511 players were tested during the week ending Sept. 12. Of those, two came back positive. Another 4,926 NFL non-player personnel were tested and five new cases were discovered. According to ESPN reporter Kevin Seifert, a total of seven NFL players have now tested positive since Aug. 12. The names of the players who tested positive weren’t immediately available.

As travel restrictions continue to be imposed amid the coronavirus pandemic, a coffee shop in Thailand is offering a unique experience for travel-lovers. In a video shared by AFP, customers can be seen boarding a plane, where they can sip their coffee and pretend they are in the sky. “It’s like being on a trip with my family, my boyfriend, and relatives. It’s like you’re flying to another place,” one customer at the cafe told AFP. Watch the video below.

CDC director Robert Redfield told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Wednesday that masking up may be more effective than vaxxing up – once a vaccine has been approved. “These face masks are the most important, powerful public health tool we have,” Redfield said, according to Axios. “And I will continue to appeal for all Americans, all individuals in our country, to embrace these face coverings. I've said if we did it for six, eight, 10, 12 weeks, we'd bring this pandemic under control," he continued, adding, "I might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against COVID than when I take a COVID vaccine. Because the immunogenicity may be 70%, and if I don't get an immune response, the vaccine's not going to protect me. This face mask will." As for when a vaccine, once approved by the FDA, would be available to the general public, Redfield said we still have a ways to go. He said there might be some small supply of vaccine available by November or December of this year, but cautioned, “We're probably looking at late second quarter, third quarter of 2021" before the supply will be great enough for widespread distribution. Watch a portion of his remarks below.

Eli Lilly, an Indiana-based pharmaceutical company, announced what it described as proof of concept data from a Phase II clinical trial on Wednesday showing that an experimental drug may be beneficial for patients suffering from mild to moderately severe cases of COVID-19. A single dose of the drug, monoclonal antibody, was said to have helped infected patients recover more quickly from COVID-19 and avoid hospitalization. According to The New York Times, more than 450 patients took part in the study and they were given either the experimental drug or a placebo. Six percent of patients who received the placebo ended up being hospitalized while only 1.7 % of those who were given the experimental drug required hospitalization. The results of the trial have yet to be peer-reviewed or even published in a medical journal. "These interim data from the BLAZE-1 trial suggest that LY-CoV555, an antibody specifically directed against SARS-CoV-2, has a direct antiviral effect and may reduce COVID-related hospitalizations," Dr. Daniel Skovronsky, Eli Lilly's chief scientific officer, said in a statement. "The results reinforce our conviction that neutralizing antibodies can help in the fight against COVID-19."

This is the first treatment so far meant to help patients with less-than-severe coronavirus infections. Dr. Myron Cohen, director of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told the Times the results of the trial were impressive. Cohen, who was not involved in the study, described the findings as “exciting” and “really compelling.” He added that the results are “the opening of a door” for other scientists working on similar antibody therapies.  

Good news for college football fans emerged on Wednesday when the Big Ten football conference announced that it will begin its football season on Oct. 24, ESPN reported. The conference is planning to play an eight-game schedule over an eight-week period, leaving the conference very little margin for any disruptions as the conference championship is scheduled for Dec. 19 – just a day prior to the selection for the college football playoff series. The conference had yet to release a revised schedule of games. As of Wednesday, fans are not expected to be in the stands at games, which will be played in campus stadiums. Back on Aug. 11, the Big Ten leadership voted 11-3 to postpone the season. The vote to reverse and start the season was unanimous, ESPN reported.

Coronavirus cases zoomed past the 5 million mark in India on Wednesday with the country recording more than 1 million of those new cases in September alone, according to The Associated Press. The country has recorded the second-most cases in the world, behind only the U.S. More than 82,000 have died from COVID-19 in India, third-most globally. News of the grim milestone comes days after at least 25 members of Parliament tested positive earlier this week as the legislative body was going back into session, NDTV reported. Despite the surged in cases and fatalities, the AP reported, government officials have no plans to institute another lockdown. Previously this year, India’s government implemented what was described as the world’s biggest lockdown.

Health authorities in Maine now say at least seven people have died as a result COVID-19 contracted after attending an August wedding that was deemed a coronavirus super spreader event, according to The Associated Press reported. More than 175 cases of COVID-19 were tied to a wedding reception held at the Big Moose Inn in Millinocket, a town with a population of about 4,500 located around 180 miles north of Portland. The wedding was in violation of the state guidelines on public gatherings, which were capped at 50. The AP reported that the outbreak at the wedding has been tied to several other outbreaks across the state, hampering efforts to control the spread. Nirav Shah, director of Maine's CDC, told the AP, "COVID-19, right now, is not on the other side of the fence. It is in our yards. The gains that Maine has made against COVID-19 are ones that could, and unfortunately can, be washed away.”

Last week saw an increase in deaths from the coronavirus compared to the week before, new data from the World Health Organization showed on Monday. For the week ending Sept. 13, the amount of deaths from the virus rose by 8% with over 40,600 new deaths reported. Despite the increase in deaths, overall new cases of COVID-19 have fallen last week by 3%. The Americas, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and parts of South America, saw a slight decline in new cases. Nearly 25,000 new deaths were reported in the region last week which brought the total to 508,705. Southeast Asia was the second-highest region for new cases with 687,119. There have been 28.9 million total cases of the coronavirus according to WHO.

Amid a year of coronavirus fears and setbacks, new projections released by consulting firm Deloitte forecast the holiday shopping season will be less robust than in recent years. Economists are now calling for what is known as a "K-shaped recovery" which is when a rebound is unevenly split between income groups. Since COVID-19 started spreading across the United States, many industries continue to get by relying on work-from-home employees. Meanwhile, other companies have seen sales tank as consumers continue to avoid eating out and taking vacations. Deloitte predicts that holiday sales will rise between 1% and 1.5% between November and January which is down from 4.1% growth in 2019. The growth could remain low if lower-income individuals remain cautious and nervous during the later parts of the year. Alternatively, the growth could grow to 2.5% or even 3.5% if higher income consumers gain more confidence during late 2020.

International tourism nosedived by 65% in the first half of 2020 compared to 2019, equating to an estimated $460 billion loss in export revenues. The data from the World Tourism Organization was released Tuesday, revealing the toll the pandemic had taken on international travel as the world begins easing travel restrictions. “Safe and responsible international travel is now possible in many parts of the world, and it is imperative that governments work closely with the private sector to get global tourism moving again,” UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said. According to the UN’s tourism body, it could take between two to four years for tourism to recover to their 2019 levels. Of the total 440 million international arrivals lost between the months of January and June of 2020, Asia and the Pacific were the hardest-hit of the regions, according to Reuters. Here’s a look at the percentage of drop in arrivals in each region.

• Asia and the Pacific: 72% 

• Europe: 66% 

• Africa and the Middle East: 57% 

• The Americas: 55%

Louisiana State University head football coach Ed Orgeron said Tuesday that most of his team has contracted COVID-19, according to ESPN. "Not all of our players, but most of our players have caught it," Orgeron said.  "I think that hopefully they won't catch it again, and hopefully they're not out for games." According to ESPN, Orgeron was asked to clarify the percentage of players who had tested positive but he couldn't provide an exact percentage. The Tigers, the defending national champions, are scheduled to begin the 2020 season Saturday, Sept. 26, against Mississippi State

A United Arab Emirates top crisis authority announced that the country has approved use of a Chinese coronavirus vaccine for emergency use on frontline health workers. The UAE's National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) said 31,000 volunteers already participated in a clinical trial of the vaccine including 1,000 with chronic diseases, according to CNBC. Phase three is still ongoing, but the agency assured no unexpected side effects have been detected yet. The COVID-19 vaccine was developed by Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical company Sinopham. The vaccine was approved by NCEMA for emergency use after a set of standards were met and the clinical trials were complete. Mild side effects were found in volunteers such as a sore throat, but the agency assured a lack of serious side effects with the vaccine.

Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci met with officials from Vermont to applaud the state’s efforts and comment on the possibility of a nationwide mask mandate. The idea, which has been floated by many, including presidential candidate Joe Biden, has gotten plenty of pushback and enough so that Fauci said it may not be worth it, according to WCAX. According to Fauci, the mandate “probably would not work” unless “the citizens of a particular state, a city, a county or what have you, are really in lockstep with the authority.” Fauci added that the main issue that would have to be addressed would be regarding enforcement of the mandate.

Approximately 422,200 students from the nation’s largest public school district in New York City have opted to go with remote learning, according to NBC New York. The city’s Department of Education announced that the 42% of students choosing remote was an uptick of 15% from two weeks ago. On Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said that a total of 55 school-based employees have tested positive for COVID-19, 45 of which are teachers. Nearly 17,000 employees were tested. "Some people will test positive. And those folks will immediately get support. After two weeks, those professionals will come back to work -- and they'll complete the entire school year," de Blasio said. "The same will happen with students. We have to remember that for the very small percentage of people who test positive for the coronavirus, it is a very temporary reality."

South Korea plans to spend $146 million to procure a coronavirus vaccine, in hopes supplying 60% of its population with the vaccine. The 30 million people that make up 60% of the countries population is much higher than the World Health Organizations target population of 20% for the most vulnerable people, according to Reuters. The European Union nations also agreed to a much lower amount of 40% of their populations. Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said in a cabinet meeting that while the goal is to get the entire population a vaccine, there is too much uncertainty currently. South Korea plans to buy 20 million doses of the COVAX vaccine which is expected to be enough for 10 million people. The country also plans to buy 40 million doses from private drug-makers.

Bill Gates doesn’t think any of the coronavirus vaccines that are being developed in the United States could be approved before the end of October, despite President Trump’s hints that a viable vaccine could be ready before the Nov. 3 election. Gates told CNN that he is hopeful that a breakthrough on the vaccine development could happen early next year. “I do think once you get into, say, December or January, the chances are that at least two or three will – if the effectiveness is there,” he said. He also added that the only vaccine that “might seek the emergency use of license by the end of October, would be Pfizer.” On Monday, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told CNBC that its coronavirus vaccine could be distributed to Americans before the end of the year if Phase 3 trials are successful. “We do see good antibody levels both in the phase one and the phase two, so we’re pretty hopeful,” Gates said of Pfizer’s trials. If approved by the Food and Drug Administration, Pfizer is ready to distribute “hundreds of thousands of doses,” Bourla said.

After a six-month break due to the coronavirus pandemic, hundreds of Bedouins gathered in Egypt’s Sinai Desert to race their camels, according to AFP. Camel racing is a popular traditional sport in many Arab countries, specifically in the Gulf region. Unfortunately, races had to be suspended since March due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in the area. Last weekend, all races were allowed to resume, and more than 500 camels ran around a 1.2-mile track in the Tih plateau, as they competed in preparation for the international race, which should take place on October in Sharm el-Sheikh. “When I heard they were organizing the race again, I told my friends how crazy, how wonderful it is… We had to come,” Mostapha Abu al-Fadlt, a geologist from Cairo who was among the audience, told AFP. To the Bedouins, camel racing is a way to keep their tradition alive. “There was camel racing in the past, but we revived it,” Sheik Hassan, of the Alegat tribe, said. “Camels will not disappear for us. We can use them for centuries. If the camel goes away, the Bedouins will also go away.”

While the timeline over a COVID-19 vaccine may be vague, scientists urge that another way we can overcome the pandemic is with the flu shot. As officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warn of a possible “worst fall” in public health history, doctors are saying this year’s flu shot could be that nightmare’s best defense. According to Good Morning America, there were an estimated 500,000 hospitalizations from the flu last year, however if just 5% more people were to receive their flu shot, the CDC estimates that nearly 483,000 infections could be avoided. Those avoided hospitalizations would save crucial hospital beds and much-needed resources for a possible resurgence of COVID-19 cases.

A sign advertising flu shots is displayed on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020, in Ogden, Utah. The annual flu season is gearing up alongside the coronavirus pandemic, and Utah health officials are encouraging people to get their flu shots. (Tim Vandenack/Standard-Examiner via AP)

A human-like robot named Pepper is your latest reminder to wear your mask properly. The robot, engineered by the company SoftBank Robotics, scans individual faces to detect whether people are wearing masks properly. If they are not, the robot politely asks them to put one on correctly. According to Reuters, the robot is already in function at some shops and public exhibitions. “We’re all human. Sometimes I take off my mask when I get off the bus and I forget to put it back on when I arrive at the office,” Jonathan Boiria, head of sales in Europe for the company, told Reuters. “The robot provides a reminder. We can all get it wrong or forget.”

China could have a coronavirus vaccine ready for use by the general public as early as November, according to an official with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Currently, China has four COVID-19 vaccines in the third and final stage of clinical trials. Based on the success of the trials, CDC chief biosafety expert Guizhen Wu said that one of the vaccines could be ready for the general public in November or December. Chinese pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm is developing three of the vaccines and said that a potential vaccine could be ready for the public after the conclusion of Phase 3 trials, which are currently underway, according to Reuters.

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh made an antibody discovery that could potentially treat and even prevent COVID-19. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a team of researchers at Pitt School of Medicine found the smallest biological molecule to date that “completely and specifically” neutralizes the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The antibody, which is 10 times smaller than a full-sized antibody, can be used to create a drug called AB8, which was found to be “highly effective” at preventing the coronavirus in mice and hamsters, according to a report published on Monday in the journal cell. “Ab8 not only has potential as therapy for COVID-19, but it also could be sued to keep people from getting SARS-CoV-2 infections,” Dr. Mellors, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at UPMC and Pitt, said. “Antibodies of larger size have worked against other infectious diseases and have been well tolerated, giving us hope that it could be an effective treatment for patients with COVID-19 and for protection of those who have never had the infection and are not immune.”

Here are the latest COVID-19 numbers, provided by researchers at Johns Hopkins University:

• Confirmed cases: 29,303,757

• Fatalities: 928,963

• Recoveries: 19,880,425

Spain recorded 27,404 new cases on Monday, marking its most severe one-day increase since the beginning of the pandemic. The nation has seen the ninth-most cases in the world and the most of any western European country.

A ‘hug curtain’ is allowing residents at a nursing home in San Salvador, El Salvador, to hug their loved ones. The pandemic has forced many elderly people around the world into isolation as nursing homes in particular have become hotspots for disease transmission. According to geriatrician Luis Bermudes, anxiety levels and the amount of medication used have both decreased “when there is physical contact between a family member and the resident,” according to AFP. Thus far, El Salvador has recorded over 27,000 cases of nearly 800 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

As a second wave of coronavirus infections threatens Europe, six countries have started testing technology to link national virus-tracing apps across the continent. According to AFP, the European Commission said that the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Latvia have started testing links between their tracking app servers. The new system “will ensure that apps will work seamlessly also across borders,” the EU executive said. “Users will only need to install one app and will still be able to report a positive infection test or receive an alert, even if they travel abroad,” the commission said. Currently, Brussels is seeking to coordinate between the 27 EU capitals, so that all countries can build compatible apps, which will help improve contact tracing and control new outbreaks. Many member states, including France and Hungary, have already built contact-tracing apps that are not compatible with the EU system. However, apps used in 18 EU members, including Germany, Poland and Italy can be involved. “Travel and personal exchange are the core of the European project and the single market,” said Thierry Breton, the EU’s Industry Commissioner. “The gateway will facilitate this in these times of pandemic and will save lives." 

An analysis published by JAMA Pediatrics on Monday suggests that adults are nearly 10 times more likely to be asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19 than children. According to the study, only around 1% of children who had no symptoms tested positive for the virus after they were admitted to a hospital in Milan. The percentage is low when compared to more than 9% of asymptomatic adults who tested positive for COVID-19. “The data do not support that children may be asymptomatic carriers more than adults,” study co-author Dr. Carlo Agostoni, a pediatrician at the University of Milan, told UPI. Over the past months, researchers have estimated that between 50% and 80% of individuals infected with the virus are asymptomatic, while symptomatic children may be up to 15% of those carrying COVID-19. 

There have been at least 6,545,948 cases of coronavirus in the U.S., and at least 194,367 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases in the United States. The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases. 

France adds new limits on public activities cases rise

Marseille and Boudreaux are tightening restrictions on public activities as COVID-19 infection rates continue to increase, according to The Associated Press. The stricter restrictions announced on Monday are a response to France’s prime minister, who urged the cities to take additional steps to control the spread of the virus. In Boudreaux, the top government official for the region announced a ban on gatherings of more than 10 people at the city’s public parks, as well as at the river and beaches. In addition, the city’s cafes and restaurants will not serve clients who are standing up. Dancing and alcohol consumption are now also forbidden at public venues. In Marseille, the regional government also announced similar restrictions, along with the cancellation of an 11-day international festival.

South Carolina’s lieutenant governor tests positive for COVID-19

South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday, officials said. According to The Associated Press, Evette was tested on Thursday, as she was experiencing a sore throat and a headache. Since then, she has stayed at home with her family and is now recovering, according to Brian Symmes, the spokesman for Gov. Henry McMaster. “She is feeling better now,” Symmes said. He then added that Evette plans to remain in isolation for the next two weeks. On Monday, Evette shared her experience on social media and urged those who are experiencing symptoms to take the necessary precautions. “If you’re showing any symptoms at all, the best thing to do is to get tested right away! There are testing sites readily available all across the state,” Evette wrote on Twitter. 

At 1,401 feet tall, One Vanderbilt is now the second-tallest office tower in New York City after the skyscraper opened Monday in midtown Manhattan. Only One World Trade Center, in lower Manhattan, is taller. But the prospects surrounding tenants for the new tower, located right next to Grand Central Terminal, are less certain due to the coronavirus pandemic. Many office workers are still working remotely and, according to Reuters, the tenants that have already signed on to lease office space in One Vanderbilt won't be able to actually move in until later this year. Reuters reported that 67% of the building's office space has been leased at a price of $100 per square foot. But the overall real estate market in the Big Apple is on shaky ground as the city was the epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S. during the early stages of the pandemic. Unemployment in the city shot up to 20%. According to Reuters, the fallout from that has meant that more than 70% of leases are sublets and short-term leases. The building opened Monday and, in a sign of the times, was welcomed with a socially-distant ribbon cutting. The weather couldn't have been any more pleasant in midtown, with a high in the mid-70s, but, judging by pictures from the event, the ribbon-cutting didn't look quite as socially-distant as it was billed.

The pandemic has disrupted nearly everything to some degree this year, and that is now true for a beloved annual Thanksgiving Day event that takes place in New York City. "For the first time in its more than 90-year history, the annual Macy’s Parade will be modified to safely bring the magic to more than 50 million viewers nationwide on Thanksgiving Day, while maintaining all of the spectacle and wonder of this cherished holiday tradition," Macy's said in a statement on Monday. "This year the celebration will shift to a television-only special presentation." This year's edition of the parade will be the 94th and parade organizers said the health and safety of participants and spectators is the top priority. According to the statement, some of the changes parade organizers are making this year include:   

• Reducing the overall number of participants by approximately 75%, and splitting the remaining participants over two days

• All participants will be appropriately socially distanced during performances and be required to wear face coverings and additional personal protective equipment depending on their role

• No participant in the parade will be under 18 years of age• Macy’s signature giant character balloons will be flown without the traditional 80-100 handlers and instead employ an innovative, specially rigged anchor vehicle framework of five specialty vehicles tested and approved by the NYCDOT and NYPD

Mask up! That was the message from the league to coaches and sideline staff after the NFL's first slate of Sunday games played during the coronavirus pandemic was in the books. Numerous sideline staff and coaches were seen Sunday not wearing face coverings, in violation of league policy. Sean McVay, head coach of the Los Angeles Rams, was seen not wearing a mask during a game broadcast Sunday night in prime time on national TV. There were others as well. "We must remain vigilant and disciplined in following the processes and protocols put in place by not only the league, union and clubs, but also by state and local governments," Troy Vincent, a former player who now heads up the NFL's football operations, said in a memo to teams on Monday, The Associated Press reported. “Failure to adhere to this requirement will result in accountability measures being imposed against offending individuals and/or clubs,” Vincent said in the memo, according to the AP. “The face covering must be worn as designed so that it securely fits across the wearer’s nose and mouth to prevent the transmission of the virus.”

Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay yells out instructions during the first half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong )

(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong )

According to a report by Bloomberg, a new study claims emerging coronavirus hotspots could be predicted by analyzing Google search keywords related to digestive problems. Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital analyzed data from Google Trends covering a period from Jan. 20 to April 20 and looked at the number of searches for various symptoms that are often reported by people who test positive for COVID-19, including diarrhea and loss of taste and appetite. According to their findings, published in the Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the highest number of searches for those symptoms corresponded to a rise in cases over the next three to four weeks in five states: New York, New Jersey, California, Massachusetts, and Illinois. New Jersey and New York were two of the hardest-hit states in the earliest stages of the pandemic. "Our results suggest that increased search volume for common GI symptoms may predict COVID-19 case volume, with 4 weeks as the optimal gap between increase in search volume and increased case load," the researchers said in the study. They added that more research is need before a predictive model could be created based on this concept.

As the race for a coronavirus vaccine heats up, one big pharma CEO said his company is now only weeks away from knowing whether its developmental drug will be effective or not. Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, appeared on CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday for a wide-ranging discussion with Margaret Brennan about the pharmaceutical company's development of a COVID-19 vaccine. Bourla said the company has a better than 60% chance "that we will know if the product works or not by the end of October. But of course," he cautioned, "that doesn't mean that it works. It means that we will know if it works." Bourla also revealed the drugmaker is planning to widen the scope of the types of patients it's testing the developmental vaccine on and raise the total number of those tested to 44,000. "Right now, the study recruits from 18 to 85. Now we will go to 16 years old," the CEO said. "Also, we will go to people with special conditions, chronic conditions like HIV patients, but also we will try to use it to increase the diversity of the population." Watch a clip from the appearance below. 

The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board issued a scathing report criticizing world leaders for inadequate action prior to the coronavirus pandemic that has left all of humanity "paying the price." The group, a panel that oversees global preparedness and accountability for health crises, issued the report, titled "A World in Disorder," in recent days. “It is not as if the world has lacked the opportunity to take these steps,” the report said. “There have been numerous calls for action ... over the last decade, yet none has generated the changes needed.” One of those warnings came from the GPMB itself last year, months before the coronavirus outbreak occurred in China. The panel's 2019 report warned of "a rapidly-spreading pandemic due to a lethal respiratory pathogen." The report went on to predict that millions could die and the global economy would be thrown into turmoil. Moreover, the panel said the coronavirus pandemic has cost the world $11 trillion and will cause another $10 trillion in economic damage before it's all over. "Pathogens thrive in disruption and disorder. COVID-19 has proven the point," the report said. The panel also offered some lessons learned and five calls to action that politicians around the world must take to mitigate any further damage. Read the full report here.

A top official at the WHO said the death toll in Europe is expected to spike again in October and November. Hans Kluge, the top official at the organization's European branch, told AFP that the current rise in cases will be one factor that leads to more fatalities along with uncertainty about how effective a vaccine will be. "It's a moment where countries don't want to hear this bad news, and I understand," Kluge said in the AFP interview. "I hear the whole time: 'The vaccine is going to be the end of the pandemic'. Of course not!," he continued, adding, "We don't even know if the vaccine is going to help all population groups. We are getting some signs now that it will help for one group and not for the other." Several European countries are reporting new cases at a higher clip than at the worst point in April, but the death toll has not been sharply rising in recent weeks. Kluge cautioned that will change. "It's going to get tougher. In October, November, we are going to see more mortality," he said.

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