WASHINGTON — The first COVID-19 test that can be performed entirely from home was cleared by U.S. regulators on Tuesday, and it can be acquired without a prescription.
While availability initially will be limited, the new test and others in development could make virus screenings as accessible as over-the-counter pregnancy tests in the U.S. for the first time. The advance follows months of criticism that the Food and Drug Administration has been too slow to give its approval to this type of virus screening.
Manufactured by East Brisbane, Australia-based Ellume, the self-administered, single-use nasal-swab test is small enough to fit in the palm of a person’s hand. The test detects proteins on the virus’s surface in 15 minutes and delivers results to a smartphone app.
The test will cost about $30. Ellume plans to manufacture 100,000 tests a day starting in January, Chief Executive Officer Sean Parsons said in an interview prior to the FDA authorization. The company, which received about $30 million from a National Institutes of Health program to scale up manufacturing, could be making a million tests a day by mid-2021, Parsons said.
—Bloomberg News
NEW YORK — New York City’s government agencies — already hamstrung by the pandemic — will be put to the test on Wednesday as the five boroughs are expected to be blanketed with 8 to 12 inches of snow on Wednesday and Thursday.
A nor’easter with the phonetically appropriate name Winter Storm Gail is on pace to hit the city around 2 p.m. Wednesday, with wind gusts of up to 50 mph and heavy, wet snowfall.
Gail won’t stop storming in the region until around 1 p.m. Thursday, said National Weather Service meteorologist James Connolly.
The worst of the snow is expected between 6 p.m. Wednesday and 8 a.m. Thursday. Portions of southern Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens could see a mix of rain that may tamp down snow accumulations, Connolly said.
It could be the nastiest snowstorm to hit the city in at least three years. Officials said they’ve been preparing for the worst for several days.
“You need to be ready for a disruptive storm and start to make adjustments right now in what you’ll be doing on Wednesday and Thursday in light of this storm,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday. “People need to take it seriously.”
—New York Daily News
WASHINGTON — At least 330 million people lived in the United States as of April, according to a Census Bureau estimate released Tuesday that will serve as one of the first accuracy checks for forthcoming decennial census results.
The agency produces the estimate, referred to as demographic analysis, in parallel to the count each decade. This year, outside experts are watching closely to see how much the decennial census will reflect, or miss, the total population in the United States.
Ron Jarmin, the agency’s deputy director for operations, acknowledged the “extraordinary challenges” the census faced this cycle, primarily due to the coronavirus pandemic.
With the stakes so high for census results — they determine distribution of House seats and guide more than $1.5 trillion in federal spending annually — the agency releases several measures of how accurately it counted the country.
—CQ-Roll Call
Ghislaine Maxwell was at risk of dying just like Princess Diana due to relentless press interest, a security expert for the accused Jeffrey Epstein madam wrote in a new court filing.
The unexpected comparison between the beloved British royal who died in a car crash and the socialite charged with grooming underage girls in an international sex trafficking ring came in Maxwell’s $28.5 bail proposal filed Monday.
Maxwell’s security consultant since July 2019 wrote in a Manhattan Federal Court filing that she faced constant death threats and “aggressive behavior” from the press.
“This kind of behavior is not only harassing, but can be life threatening. A good example is the case of Princess Diana, who unfortunately lost her life due to press intrusion into her personal space. My consultants conduct meticulous planning and preparation to avoid such instances,” the security consultant, whose name was redacted, said in the filing.
Maxwell’s security specialist — a former member of the United Kingdom Special Forces — wrote his company could ensure she followed the terms of her proposed bail. The expert went so far as to post a $1 million bond as part of her application.
—New York Daily News
