# Covid-19 Thread: 2023 Breaking News
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-thread-2023-breaking-news/977610
**Category:** The Quarantine Zone
**Tags:** covid-quarantine
**Created:** [January 3, 2023, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-thread-2023-breaking-news/977610 "2023-01-03T23:12:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2023, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-thread-2023-breaking-news/977610/41 "2023-02-25T19:31:28Z")
> **[FDA authorizes combination flu-COVID test for home use](https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/fda-authorizes-combination-flu-covid-test-for-home-use/ar-AA17UBvU)**
>
> WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the first combination test for flu and C OVID-19 that can be used at home, giving consumers an easy way to determine if a runny nose is caused by either disease. The Lucira...
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### Author:  [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2023, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-thread-2023-breaking-news/977610/42 "2023-02-25T19:48:59Z")
It seems like a nice idea. Responsible people will be testing for COVID for a long time, but would probably not otherwise routinely test for flu. With no extra effort involved this could protect vulnerable people from flu.
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### Author:  [@Tfletch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tfletch1)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2023, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-thread-2023-breaking-news/977610/43 "2023-02-25T22:53:51Z")
Love this!
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### Author:  [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2023, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-thread-2023-breaking-news/977610/44 "2023-02-25T22:58:43Z")
That’s awesome! I was afraid we’d go back to medical gatekeeping after the emergency use authorization expired, and I’d have to pay a nurse practitioner to get a covid test. And I’m delighted to get the flu test. Flu can be treated with pills if you catch it early, and if it’s just a cheap swab test, it’s worth testing anything nasty for possible flu.
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### Author:  [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2023, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-thread-2023-breaking-news/977610/45 "2023-03-03T04:46:39Z")
If the testing mechanism remains the same as it is for covid tests, that’ll be nice update. I don’t know how many of you have had a flu test, but when I had one it wasn’t collected with a cotton swab. Instead it was a plastic thing that had a flat paddle very reminiscent of 80s McDonald’s coffee stirrer, about the width of my pinky nail, and while it didn’t hurt it was deeply uncomfortable.
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### Author:  [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2023, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-thread-2023-breaking-news/977610/46 "2023-03-03T05:00:32Z")
On a recent trip to my doctor’s office, I mentioned I was recovering from a cold. She promptly politely insisted on checking me for Covid/flu/RSV. Super-long swab that probably came close to poking my brain, and somewhat painful despite her best efforts to be as gentle as possible.
All three tests were negative. I _told_ her it was just a cold. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2023, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-thread-2023-breaking-news/977610/47 "2023-03-03T05:22:16Z")
> [@elfkin477](#):
>
> If the testing mechanism remains the same as it is for covid tests
It’s a home test, exactly the same as the home COVID test. So it’s going to be ELISA, a quick google tells me that flu testing is similar to COVID - the gold standard is RT-PCR. But in most cases with flu people wouldn’t be getting tested at all, so this will save lives.
> The Lucira COVID-19 & Flu Home test, which can be purchased without a prescription, uses self-collected nasal swab samples and delivers results in about 30 minutes, the agency said.
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### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2023, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-thread-2023-breaking-news/977610/48 "2023-03-24T12:55:35Z")
> **[White House to disband Covid-19 response team in May | CNN Politics](https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/22/politics/white-house-covid-19-response-team/index.html)**
>
> The White House will disband its coronavirus response team after the Covid-19 public health emergency ends in May, a current and former official said.
> **[COVID-19 Deaths in U.S. Drop to Near Pandemic Low](https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2023-03-20/covid-19-deaths-in-u-s-drop-to-near-pandemic-low)**
>
> Additionally, global COVID-19 deaths reported in the past month were lower than when WHO first called COVID-19 a pandemic three years ago.
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### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2023, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-thread-2023-breaking-news/977610/49 "2023-04-04T16:07:28Z")
> **[Report: Spring COVID booster to be authorized for high-risk people in US](https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/04/report-spring-covid-booster-to-be-authorized-for-high-risk-people-in-us/)**
>
> The move will put US in line with Canada, the UK, and WHO recommendations.
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### Author:  [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2023, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-thread-2023-breaking-news/977610/50 "2023-04-04T17:54:38Z")
Well, I and Mr. brown are over 65, so I suppose we’ll be getting another bivalent booster soon. I thought that this fall was when we’d do the next one, but this news will bump it up a bit. It’s free, it’s recommended for folks our age, so it’s off to CVS again.
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### Author:  [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2023, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-thread-2023-breaking-news/977610/51 "2023-04-04T17:57:02Z")
If you plan to travel this summer, you might delay it until a few weeks prior to that.
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### Author:  [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2023, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-thread-2023-breaking-news/977610/52 "2023-04-04T17:58:13Z")
Good point.
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### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2023, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-thread-2023-breaking-news/977610/53 "2023-04-18T16:54:43Z")
> **[FDA clears the way for additional bivalent boosters for certain vulnerable...](https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/18/health/fda-bivalent-booster-additional-doses/index.html)**
>
> The U.S. Food and Drug Administration amended the terms of its emergency use authorizations for the Pfizer and Moderna bivalent vaccines on Tuesday, allowing people ages 65 and older and certain people with weakened immunity to get additional doses...
Ages 65 and older and certain people with weakened immunity.
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### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [April 25, 2023, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-thread-2023-breaking-news/977610/54 "2023-04-25T13:37:12Z")
> **[Dr. Fauci Looks Back: ‘Something Clearly Went Wrong’](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/04/24/magazine/dr-fauci-pandemic.html)**
>
> In his most extensive interview yet, Anthony Fauci wrestles with the hard lessons of the pandemic — and the decisions that will define his legacy.
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### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [April 25, 2023, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-thread-2023-breaking-news/977610/55 "2023-04-25T15:30:59Z")
Florida man is still making bad choices.
> **[Florida surgeon general altered key findings in study on Covid-19 vaccine safety](https://www.yahoo.com/news/florida-surgeon-general-altered-key-175951425.html)**
>
> Joseph Ladapo defended the move, saying revisions are a normal part of assessing such analysis.
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### Author:  [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)
#### Post date: [May 4, 2023, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-thread-2023-breaking-news/977610/56 "2023-05-04T17:51:44Z")
Being able to combat the fatigue symptoms common to long COVID would make a life-changing difference for many thousands:
> This is one of the first randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trials of a potential long COVID treatment - AXA1125. Randomized control trials are considered to be gold standard for testing potential treatments for an illness.
>
> People living with long COVID in the trial who received AXA1125 had a significant improvement in fatigue compared to those who received a placebo (material matched in appearance and taste to the investigational treatment). The study was double-blind, that is, neither the patients nor the researchers working with the patients knew which patients had the treatment and which patients had a placebo.
> **[Researchers report positive results from Phase 2 clinical trial of...](https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230503/Researchers-report-positive-results-from-Phase-2-clinical-trial-of-investigational-treatment-against-long-COVID-fatigue.aspx)**
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> Researchers from the University of Oxford have reported findings from a Phase 2 clinical trial investigating the efficacy of an investigational treatment against long COVID fatigue.
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### Author:  [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2023, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-thread-2023-breaking-news/977610/57 "2023-05-05T14:15:24Z")
WHO ends global health emergency declaration for COVID-19 : Goats and Soda
> **[WHO ends global health emergency declaration for COVID-19](https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/05/05/1174269442/who-ends-global-health-emergency-declaration-for-covid-19)**
>
> The World Health Organization today lifted its Public Health Emergency of International Concern for COVID-19. That declaration went into effect three years ago on January 30th, 2020.
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### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [May 8, 2023, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-thread-2023-breaking-news/977610/58 "2023-05-08T20:19:15Z")
We discussed the previous study linking the origin of the outbreak to racoon dogs in the Wuhan wet market. Now here’s a new study refuting that claim, but not offering an new origin theory. In fact, it makes some mention that we may never know.
> **[Raccoon dogs did not start COVID-19, new study says](https://www.yahoo.com/news/raccoon-dogs-did-not-start-covid-19-new-study-says-165128681.html)**
>
> Skeptics have maintained that there were scant grounds for the assertion that raccoon dogs were the pandemic’s intermediate species, if the only evidence for that claim was the presence of viral and animal DNA in the same market stall in a crowded...
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### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2023, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-thread-2023-breaking-news/977610/59 "2023-05-26T20:14:42Z")
> **[Study narrows long COVID’s 200+ symptoms to core list of 12](https://arstechnica.com/health/2023/05/long-covid-is-still-a-puzzle-but-scientists-identify-12-core-symptoms/)**
>
> Loss of taste/smell and post-exertional malaise were the top two symptoms.
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### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2023, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-thread-2023-breaking-news/977610/60 "2023-05-30T20:08:41Z")
> **[COVID outbreak at CDC gathering infects 181 disease detectives](https://arstechnica.com/health/2023/05/covid-outbreak-at-cdc-gathering-infects-181-disease-detectives/)**
>
> Nearly all of the attendees were vaccinated, but 70% said they didn't mask.
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