Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on November 10 announced that Medicare will cover out-of-pocket costs for monoclonal antibody drugs for COVID-19 during the public health emergency. The agency’s coverage includes Eli Lilly’s bamlanivimab, which recently received an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug…

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Editor's Note This study from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, finds that the social isolation brought on by stay-at-home orders (SAHO) issued during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an increase in intentional penetrating injuries, especially from firearms, and the injuries remain at high levels today. As of October 19, Philadelphia…

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Editor's Note A new analysis by ECRI shows that 52% of the disposable isolation gowns it tested failed to meet standard levels of protection, putting healthcare workers at risk of exposure to bloodborne or other pathogens as well as COVID-19. ECRI announced November 10 that it has issued a high-priority…

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Editor's Note Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that can detect COVID-19 by listening to patients’ coughs, regardless if they are symptomatic or not. To build the tool, the researchers solicited audio recordings of patients coughing and accompanying information about their…

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Editor's Note Every year, AORN chooses a week to focus attention on the work of more than 160,000 nurses who advocate for surgical patients. This year the week is celebrated November 8 to 14. During the week, perioperative nurses are honored by colleagues and communities to highlight the ways nurses…

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Editor's Note Pfizer and BioNTech announced November 9 that their COVID-19 vaccine is more than 90% effective 7 days after the second dose in preventing COVID-19 infection in participants without evidence of prior infection. This means that protection is achieved 28 days after initiation of the vaccination, which consists of…

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Editor's Note The November 5 final report on data from this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study of intravenous remdesivir in adults hospitalized with COVID-19 and lower respiratory tract infection shows that remdesivir was superior to placebo in shortening the time to recovery. A total of 1,062 patients were randomized to remdesivir…

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Editor's Note In this analysis of COVID-19 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the proportion of preterm live births in women with COVID-19 infection during pregnancy was higher than that in the general population in 2019, suggesting that pregnant women with COVID-19 infection might be at risk…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on November 3 issued a letter alerting clinical laboratory staff and healthcare providers that false positive results can occur with antigen tests, including when users do not follow instructions for use of antigen tests for the rapid detection of COVID-19. Among the…

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Editor's Note Healthcare-associated pathogens rapidly accumulate on the floors of patient rooms and can be transferred to patients’ socks, bedding, and high-touch surfaces, finds this study published November 2 as part of the proceedings from Decennial 2020: The Sixth International Conference on Healthcare-Associated Infections. Researchers from the Northeast Ohio VA…

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