Antibody tests aren't working well . . . In recent weeks, the United States has seen the first rollout of blood tests for coronavirus antibodies, widely heralded as crucial tools to assess the reach of the pandemic in the United States, restart the economy and reintegrate society. But for all their promise, the tests — intended to signal whether people may have built immunity to the virus — are already raising alarms. The Food and Drug Administration has allowed about 90 companies, many based in China, to sell tests that have not gotten government vetting, saying the pandemic warrants an urgent response. But the agency has since warned that some of those businesses are making false claims about their products; health officials, like their counterparts overseas, have found others deeply flawed. New York Times

 

Virus may not fade during the summer . . . Speculation has swirled throughout the coronavirus pandemic that when summer comes, the virus will fade away, much like the seasonal flu. But little evidence has surfaced to support that assumption, and now yet another study – though not yet peer-reviewed – adds to the indications that heat does not kill this thing. Researchers at University of Aix-Marseille in France found that Sars-COV-2, the clinical name for the novel coronavirus that has infected 2.4 million around the world and killed more than 165,000 (40,000 of those in the United States), does not die unless you roast it for 15 minutes at 197 degrees Fahrenheit. NY Daily News

 

Scientists already worried about second wave . . . Even before the first horrific phase of the COVID-19 pandemic has run its course, scientists are worried about the second wave of the disease. It could crash worse than the first, killing tens of thousands of people who did such a good job of sheltering in place they remain virgin ground for the virus. Or it could be a mere swell, with so many people having been infected without symptoms that levels of immunity are higher than realized. USA Today

 

Health care workers clash with proteestors . . . Healthcare workers clashed with anti lockdown protesters in Colorado on Sunday, defiantly standing in front of the cars of demonstrators who flocked to the state Capitol in their hundreds to urge Gov. Jared Polis to lift COVID-19-induced stay-at-home orders. Protests against state lockdowns implemented to combat the novel coronavirus outbreak continued nationwide this afternoon, as a fervent disdain for the restrictions that have shut down much of the country's economy continues to slowly spread across the US. Daily Mail

 

 

Doctors research "Covid toes" . . . Doctors treating coronavirus patients have reported cases of unusual skin issues that they said resembles frostbite. One coronavirus patient in Los Angeles, identified by ABC 7 as Jessica, said she initially had a cough and fever. But she noticed something else that was troubling: her feet were irritated and she was in pain. “I looked down, I was getting in the shower, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, my toe is turning blue,” she said. “I felt like I had really bad blisters on it.” Fox News

 

Sisters die 102 years apart in separate pandemics . . . 

A pair of sisters have died from two separate global pandemics, over a century apart. Selma Esther Ryan died Tuesday from the coronavirus at an assisted living facility in Austin, Texas, three days after celebrating her 96th birthday. Her death comes after her older sister, Esther – whom she never met – died at the age of 5 during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. Fox News

 

Trump defends excluding Romney from call . . . 

President Trump on Sunday said he had no use for Sen. Mitt Romney but insisted he wasn’t holding a grudge against him for being the only Republican to vote for his impeachment. The White House last week excluded Mr. Romney from a coronavirus task force conference call attended by every other GOP senator. “No. I’m not a fan of Mitt Romney,” Mr. Trump said when a reporter at the daily White House briefing asked if he was holding a grudge. Mr. Trump said that having a call with 52 of the chambers 53 Republican senators was sufficient. “I don’t really want his advice,” said the president. Washington Times

 

Today's Trump schedule

 

Trump says governors have gone too far with restrictions . . . President Trump on Sunday responded to questions about protests against coronavirus restrictions by saying he believes some governors have gone too far with the measures. “You are allowed to protest,” the president said during a White House briefing on the pandemic. “Some have gone too far, some governors have gone too far. Some of the things that happened are maybe not so appropriate,” Trump continued. “And I think in the end it’s not going to matter because we’re starting to open up our states, and I think they’re going to open up very well.” “As far as protesters, you know, I see protesters for all sorts of things,” he added. “And I’m with everybody. I’m with everybody.” New York Post

 

Trump hints at pardons for Manafort, Roger Stone

 

Already, protests spurred by the collapse of economic activity have erupted in scattered locations around the world. Tens of thousands of migrant laborers stranded without work or a way home staged demonstrations last week in the Indian city of Mumbai, crowding together in defiance of social distancing rules. Washington Post

Sweden claims success after not locking down, pointing to herd immunity . . . Criticized for refusing to lock down, Sweden’s top health official says herd immunity is inevitable and took credit for the slowing of coronavirus numbers. “According to our modelers, we are starting to see so many immune people in the population in Stockholm that it is starting to have an effect on the spread of the infection,” Anders Tegnell, who led the charge to keep Sweden open, told local media. “Our models point to some time in May.” Despite social distancing guidelines from the World Health Organization, Sweden has resisted lockdowns, instead keeping open schools, gyms, bars and restaurants and relying on citizens to caution themselves. NY Daily News

 

Coronavirsus could wipe out 50,000 of Italy's restaurants and bars . . . Italy could lose one-sixth of its beloved bars and restaurants to the coronavirus crisis — with a staggering 50,000 predicted to have to close for good, according to reports. The startling economic toll is being projected by Fipe, an Italian lobbying group for bar and restaurants in Italy — the first European nation to be completely overwhelmed by the pandemic. New York Post

 

Thailand has record number of sea turtle nests . . . Thailand has found the largest number of nests of rare leatherback sea turtles in two decades on beaches bereft of tourists because of the coronavirus pandemic, environmentalists say. From wild boars patrolling the Israeli city of Haifa to deer venturing into London suburbs, virus closures are drawing wildlife into the abandoned streets of many cities. In Thailand, with 2,765 infections and 47 deaths, travel curbs ranging from a ban on international flights to an appeal to citizens to stay home have brought a collapse in tourist numbers, but freed up the beaches for wildlife. Reuters

 

Walmart to hire 50K in addition to 150K jobs already filled . . . Walmart plans to hire 50,000 more employees to keep up with consumer demand during the coronavirus pandemic, the company announced Friday. “Walmart is committed to helping our fellow Americans seeking work, while serving our customers during this unprecedented time,” the company’s Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer Donna Morris said. Even though the hires will primarily be temporary associates, the company wanted to offer employment opportunities to those struggling during the health crisis. Breitbart

 

Trump and Matt Drudge go to war . . . In a rare statement, Matt Drudge, the prominent conservative news mogul, refuted President Trump's Saturday claim that traffic to his website has plummeted as its coverage has grown more critical of him. "The past 30 days has been the most eyeballs in Drudge Report's 26 year-history," Drudge said in an email to CNN. "Heartbreaking that it has been under such tragic circumstances." Drudge supported Trump during the 2016 presidential election and in the early days of the Trump presidency was even a frequent visitor to the White House. But since the summer of 2019, the Drudge Report has spotlighted a significant amount of negative news about the Trump. It's unclear what precisely caused the shift in the Drudge Report's coverage. A person close to Drudge himself told CNN in October 2019 that he had grown exasperated with the President. CNN

Bulls were a "traveling cocaine circus before Michael Jordan . . . When the Bulls drafted Jordan out of the University of North Carolina in 1984, Chicago had missed the playoffs in seven of the previous nine seasons. “I think we were in Peoria, it was in a hotel, and I was trying to find my teammates,” Jordan says. “I start knocking on doors, I get to this one door, and I could hear someone say, shhh, someone’s outside. This deep voice says, ‘who is it?’ I say, it’s MJ, and they say, ah, f–k, he’s just a rookie. Don’t worry about it. So they open up the door. I walk in, and practically the whole team is in there. It was things I had never seen in my life as a young kid. You got your lines over here, you got your weed smokers over here, you got your women over here. The first thing I said is, I’m out. Because all I can think about is if they come raid this place right now, I am just as guilty as everyone else in this room. From that point on, I was more or less on my own.” New York Post