Mobile testing for COVID-19 and vaccines for tetanus, hepatitis A and hepatitis B will be available from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, September 5 at 113 W. McNeese Street in Lake Charles. This endeavor is in conjunction with the Louisiana National Guard (LANG).
Residents are encouraged to take care of their health during this time of recovery. COVID-19 continues to be active in Louisiana, and now is not the time to let down your guard. Continue to take precautions: practice social distancing, wear a mask and wash your hands. If you have been exposed or have symptoms of COVID-19, get tested.
Hazardous conditions during recovery make it necessary to ensure that individuals are up to date on tetanus vaccines. The CDC recommends that everyone receive a tetanus vaccine every 10 years with a booster at 5 or more years if an individual should receive a puncture or deep wound. Additionally, hepatitis A and hepatitis B vaccines will be offered to those at risk.
This mobile COVID-19 testing site will be using the laboratory eTrueNorth to conduct the tests and provide results. Pre-registration is NOT required but encouraged by going to www.DoINeedaCOVID19test.com.
People must provide a telephone number and email address to be tested. An ID is NOT required. With eTrueNorth laboratory processing the tests, it is taking about 3-5 days to get results.
Test results will be provided by email notification and on the eTrueNorth portal. If someone tests positive, they will also be contacted by phone. There is no phone number to call for results. Results will only be provided by email and in the portal.
Symptoms of COVID-19 include:
Test site details
Save the number 877-766-2130 in your phone
Anyone who receives a call from 877-766-2130 is urged to answer, as the call is from a contact tracer who will keep an individual's information private. Personal information is used to quickly identify anyone a COVID-positive individual may have been in close contact with to help contain the spread of the coronavirus. Everyone called by a contact tracer is advised to watch themselves for signs of illness for 14 days from when they first came in contact with the COVID-19 person.
If a resource need is identified through the contact tracing interview, the case is flagged for follow-up from a resource coordinator social worker who can connect individuals with resources including medication, masks, food assistance and even help locating alternative housing.
If someone calls from a number other than 877-766-2130, claims to be a contact tracer and asks for personal information, hang up immediately.
For information from the Louisiana Department of Health on COVID-19, click here.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) The Tennessee Department of Health reported 160,708 confirmed cases and 4,401 probable cases of COVID-19 in the state on Monday, an increase of 983 total cases since Sunday.
The health department also announced 1,818 confirmed deaths, 826 current hospitalizations, and 146,213 inactive or recovered cases. More than 2.3 million coronavirus tests have been administered.
On Sunday, TDH reported 159,795 confirmed cases and 1,814 confirmed deaths.
The total COVID-19 case count for Tennessee is 165,109 as of September 7, 2020 including 1,869 deaths, 826 current hospitalizations and 146,213 inactive/recovered. [Percent positive for today is 7.72%.] For additional data: https://t.co/Psc3HfgZ8j. pic.twitter.com/Dgd4OpQGiF
TDH reported 70 new cases in Northeast Tennessee: 25 in Washington County; 16 in Sullivan County; 11 in Greene County; five each in Hawkins, Johnson, and Unicoi counties; and three in Carter County.
No new deaths were reported in our area.
TDH also reported 72 new recoveries: 21 in Sullivan, 17 in Washington, 14 in Greene, 12 in Carter, five in Hawkins, two in Johnson, and one in Unicoi County.
There are currently 962 active cases in Northeast Tennessee, down from 964 active cases on Sunday.
Active cases fell by 2 today to 962 active COVID-19 cases in the region. Active cases rose over the weekend from 828 on Friday to 964 yesterday.
Carter: -9Greene: -3Hawkins: 0 Johnson: +3Sullivan: -5Unicoi: -5Washington: +8 pic.twitter.com/xtooOXTjR2
The following data was reported in local counties:
Carter CountyTotal cases: 995Inactive/recovered: 841Deaths: 24Active cases: 130
Greene CountyTotal cases: 937Inactive/recovered: 775Deaths: 19Active cases: 143
Hawkins CountyTotal cases: 703Inactive/recovered: 639Deaths: 13Active cases: 51
Johnson CountyTotal cases: 511Inactive/recovered: 403Deaths: 1Active cases: 107
Sullivan CountyTotal cases: 1,872Inactive/recovered: 1,592Deaths: 26Active cases: 254
Unicoi CountyTotal cases: 243Inactive/recovered: 214Deaths: 1 Active cases: 28
Washington CountyTotal cases: 1,862Inactive/recovered: 1,599Deaths: 14Active cases: 249
342 testing increase today, pretty small increase in tests today, especially compared to how testing numbers have been. If we ignore July 22 (when a technical issue prevented TDH from releasing most of their data that day), this is the smallest increase since July 4 (336). pic.twitter.com/aDMeuBYTLs
Continuing coverage of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Tests are free, open to anyone regardless of symptoms, and dont require an appointment or referral, although preregistering is recommended. Results in 72 hours.
COLUMBIA, S.C. South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) has released a list of free COVID-19 testing opportunities in the Midlands (Aiken, Barnwell, Edgefield, Chester, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lancaster, Lexington, Newberry, Saluda, Richland, and York counties) to include the sites below.
The information is subject to change, and current as of 10 a.m. Monday, Sept. 7. Visit scdhec.gov/covid19 testing for the most current information.
Mobile Testing EventsFree DHEC Mobile Testing Events. DHEC-sponsored events are always free of cost, open to anyone regardless of symptoms, and dont require an appointment or referral, although preregistering is recommended. Get your results within 72 hours. Visit scdhec.gov/gettested.
Partner Mobile Testing Events. Community partners play an essential role in our states COVID-19 testing. Some of these partner events may require a prescreening for symptoms, a referral, or an appointment. DHEC provides as much as this information as possible online at scdhec.gov/covid19testing.
Permanent Testing SitesThere are currently 222 permanent testing sites across the state, many open seven days a week. Find a permanent testing location near you at scdhec.gov/covid19testing.
Why Testing for COVID-19 is ImportantTesting for COVID-19 is essential because it helps identify people who are infected with the virus, whether or not they have symptoms, so they can isolate themselves and keep those around them from becoming infected, especially at-risk individuals who can develop life-threatening illness if they contract the virus. Identifying those with COVID-19 who have symptoms helps ensure they receive the medical treatment they need.
HONOLULU (KHON2) As the Coronavirus crisis continues, scammers are still using the pandemic to steal personal information from consumers.
[Hawaiis Breaking NewsDownload the FREE KHON2 app foriOSorAndroid]
The Better Business Bureau has a warning about a scam circulating on social media.
The BBB says scammers will send a message through Facebook or WhatsApp offering free COVID-19 money. However, the message seems to be from big name businesses like Whole Foods and Target to name a few.
Of course, you might think, well that makes sense that they would want to help out the consumer, but theyre not real, said Roseann Freitas, the Better Business Bureau Hawaii Marketplace Manager. All it is, is you click on the link, then they can download malware onto your computer. Then theyre going to want information, all of your personal data, your name and address.
The BBB says these messages can also come from your friends accounts when their profiles have been hacked.
Ask them, did you send me this link? You want to do two things, you want to ask them if they sent you the link and then if they didnt, you need to let them know their account has been hacked and that they need to change that password.
Consumers who received these types of messages should check the companys website to see if the offer is legitimate. Also, delete the message on the computer or device as soon as possible.
Go into your computer and just do a security scan. Make sure that theres no malware. A lot of times you have firewalls and that really does help protect you, but they also have the ability to scan. So go ahead and scan the device and make sure theres nothing wrong with it.
For more information on the free COVID-19 money scam and how to avoid falling victim to these schemes, click here.
Skepticism about getting a coronavirus vaccine has grown since earlier this summer, and most voters say if a vaccine were made available this year, their first thought would be that it was rushed through without enough testing.
Just 21% of voters nationwide now say they would get a vaccine as soon as possible if one became available at no cost, down from 32% in late July. Most would consider it but would wait to see what happens to others before getting one.
Two-thirds of voters think if a vaccine were announced as soon as this year, their initial thought would be that it was rushed through without enough testing, rather than a scientific achievement that happened quickly. Among those who feel it would have been rushed, just 13% say they would get a vaccine for the coronavirus as soon as possible if one were available.
As President Trump touts the possibility that a coronavirus vaccine may be available this fall, the number of Democrats who say they would get a vaccine right away has dropped sharply.
Most Democrats now say they would consider getting the vaccine but want to wait to see what happens to others. Republicans, who have been less concerned personally about the coronavirus, continue to take a wait and see approach, as they did in July.
Even Democrats who are "very concerned" about themselves or a family member contracting the coronavirus say they would not get a vaccine right away.
Among Democrats, we see some differences by race. White Democrats are more than twice as likely as Black Democrats to say they would get a vaccine for the virus as soon as it was available.
Three in four of Democrats say if a vaccine were to become available this year, their first thought would be that it was rushed without enough testing.They are joined by nearly half of Republicans who hold this view. Slightly more Republicans (52%) think if a vaccine is available this year, they would consider it a scientific achievement to find one that fast. These Republicans are more likely to say they would get a vaccine as soon as one was available, but a majority would still wait or never get one at all.
As the coronavirus outbreak continues, voters now have less trust in some key entities for information about the virus, with a notable drop in trust in the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Back in March, 86% of voters trusted the CDC for accurate information about the virus, but today just 54% do. Trust is down across all major demographics, including both Democrats and Republicans. Fewer also trust the media, their state's governor and President Trump for accurate information about the coronavirus, compared to the spring.
Regarding the presidential candidates, more voters trust Joe Biden than President Trump to make sure a safe coronavirus vaccine is available. We see the usual partisan differences here, with independents divided.
When a vaccine is developed, 75% of voters think the next president, whoever it is, should publicly take the vaccine to help show the public it is safe. Here we see agreement along partisan lines: Majorities of Republicans (65%), Democrats (84%) and independents (76%) all think the next president should do this.
This survey was conducted on behalf of CBS News by YouGov between September 2-4 2020. It is based on a representative sample of 2,493 registered voters nationwide. The margin of error is +/- 2.4 points.
Toplines
A scientist at work on a COVID-19 vaccine candidate at Bogazici University in Istanbul in August. Onur Coban/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images hide caption
A scientist at work on a COVID-19 vaccine candidate at Bogazici University in Istanbul in August.
Several vaccines are currently in large-scale studies to see if they can prevent COVID-19, and more are on the way.
President Trump has been hinting that a vaccine could be ready before the end of October, but Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific adviser to the administration's Operation Warp Speed, downplayed that possibility in an interview on NPR's All Things Considered.
"There is a very, very low chance that the trials that are running as we speak could read before the end of October," Slaoui said.
Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about the large-scale vaccine efficacy studies that Slaoui was discussing.
How big are these trials?
The intention is to enroll at least 30,000 volunteers per trial. Half will get an injection containing the vaccine candidate, and half will get an injection of an inert placebo. Neither the person giving the injection nor the person getting the shot knows which is being administered. This is so neither party has a predetermined idea of what the outcome might be. Studies like this are called double-blind, placebo-controlled trials, and they are generally considered the best design to get definitive answers.
Researchers chose enrolling 30,000 people as a target for pragmatic reasons. To test a vaccine, it needs to be given to enough people who will subsequently be exposed to the virus. But researchers didn't know for sure where the virus would be circulating when they were ready to test their vaccine.
So the researchers hedged their bets and chose a large number, "primarily due to the uncertainty as to where those infections ... will happen," says Holly Janes, a biostatistician at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.
What determines whether the trial is successful?
By conducting a large trial, researchers hope to learn whether the vaccine is safe and whether it prevents infection.
Initial safety studies were done by testing a small number of healthy volunteers. A large trial should reveal less common side effects.
To determine whether the vaccine is working, researchers will compare the number of infections in the people receiving the active vaccine with the number of infections in the people receiving the inert placebo.
The Food and Drug Administration is the federal agency that will decide whether to authorize the use of the vaccine. It has said a vaccine must reduce infections in the vaccinated group by at least 50% to be considered.
When will we know if the vaccine is working?
That's not clear.
These are what's called event-driven trials. "An event-driven trial means that the primary analysis of the trial happens when you get enough events," Janes says. "We don't know how long that's going to take."
By "events," Janes means laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 disease. Janes says the trial now underway aims to get at least 150 events among the trial participants.
To make sure the researchers are unaware of who's getting the vaccine and who's getting a placebo, an independent body will track the data as they're collected. That data safety monitoring board is made up of experts in all aspects of clinical trial design and implementation.
What's the drawback to putting out a vaccine too soon?
If the vaccine doesn't work well, people would continue to get sick and die. A vaccine that is only 50% effective would still mean people could get COVID-19, but even a partially effective vaccine would make the pandemic more manageable.
Releasing a vaccine with serious side effects, even rare ones, would mean perfectly healthy people would put their health at risk if they got the vaccine.
If the vaccine is perceived as a flop by the public, it will undermine confidence in the government.
What vaccines are being tested now, and how can I sign up?
All vaccines being tested in the U.S. can be found on the government website ClinicalTrials.gov. Moderna, Pfizer and AstraZeneca are conducting large studies now. Johnson & Johnson and Novavax should be starting their big tests in the next month or two.
You can contact NPR science correspondent Joe Palca at jpalca@npr.org.
Talk about a rebuke.
President Trump may want a Covid-19 vaccine to ship in time to boost his reelection chances, but the pharmaceutical industry doesnt appear ready to cooperate at least, not on his terms.
In a highly unusual turn of events, nine vaccine makers including some of the worlds biggest companies plan to issue their own public pledge not to seek government approval without extensive safety and effectiveness data on Tuesday. This follows a fairly similar open letter the BIO trade group released last week warning any vaccine or therapy should only become available with the same sort of rigorously considered data.
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These are only words, but right now, these are the words that Trump needs to hear.
After Trump has brazenly and transparently bullied members of his own team most notably, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn someone has to draw a line in the sand and push back against him.
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Theres good reason. As we move closer to Nov. 3, vaccine makers are still testing their shots. Yet at a Friday press conference, Trump said a vaccine might be ready maybe even before Nov. 1 or sometime in the month of October.
Wouldnt that be convenient?
The vaccine makers that are signing this pledge Pfizer, Merck, AstraZeneca, Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline, BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, and Novavax are rushing to complete clinical trials. But only Pfizer has indicated it may have late-stage results in October, and thats not a given.
Yet any move by the FDA to greenlight a Covid-19 vaccine without late-stage results will be interpreted as an effort to boost Trump and rightly so.
Consider Trumps erratic and selfish remarks. He recently accused the FDA of slowing the vaccine approval process and being part of a deep state. No wonder there is concern he may lean on Hahn to authorize emergency use prematurely. For his part, Hahn has insisted he wont buckle to political pressure, but he also said emergency use may be authorized based on preliminary data.
Its unprecedented in my experience that industry would do something like this, said Ira Loss of Washington Analysis, who tracks pharmaceutical regulatory and legislative matters for investors. But weve experienced unprecedented events since the beginning of Covid-19, starting with the FDA, where the commissioner has proven to be malleable, to be kind, at the foot of the president.
Remember, weve seen this movie before.
Amid criticism of his handling of the pandemic, Trump touted hydroxychloroquine, a decades-old malaria tablet, as a salve and the FDA authorized emergency use. Two weeks ago, he touted convalescent blood plasma as a medical breakthrough, but evidence of its effectiveness against the coronavirus is inconclusive. And Hahn initially overstated study results.
Most Americans seem to be catching on. A STAT-Harris poll released last week found that 78% of the public believes the vaccine approval process is driven by politics, not science. This goes for a majority of Democrats and Republicans.
The pharmaceutical industry has to be vocal, though.
Why? The FDA has long been seen as the global gold standard among regulators. No government agency is perfect, but Trump is sadly undermining its credibility. If he keeps this up, it will only make it harder for companies to later point to the FDA as validation for the safety and effectiveness of their products.
This explains why the biotech executives used such pointed phrases as FDA should maintain its historic independence and political considerations should be put aside. The vaccine makers, however, avoided using any language that might appear confrontational and further provoke Trump. Instead, they underscored a need to adhere to high scientific and ethical standards.
Lets be clear, though. These public pronunciations are not simply altruistic attempts to take the moral high ground. With each tweet and off-the-cuff remark about the vaccine timeline, Trump is eroding whatever confidence the public may have in vaccine makers, which is already questionable as far as some people are concerned.
The companies are aware that, on a good day, they have trouble selling vaccines to 25% of the country that is suspicious about safety. So the last thing they need is to have Trump pull a stunt and push through a vaccine ahead of its time, Loss said. In many ways, the industry is doing a defensive move to ensure theyre not going to have to defend any approval because the president is doing a dance.
The pharmaceutical industry is keenly aware that its reputation is also at stake as the pandemic becomes more and more politicized.
And simply put, thats not good for business.
Sanofi's experimental COVID-19 vaccine will cost less than 10 per shot, the pharma company's France chief said Saturday. Eric Piermont/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Sanofi SAN, +2.34% stock rose 2.4% on Monday, after a senior executive said the French pharmaceutical giants COVID-19 vaccine will cost less than 10 and revealed plans to list its drugs ingredients unit in the next few months.
Olivier Bogillot, Sanofis chief in France, told France Inter radio on Saturday that the companys coronavirus vaccine candidate, being developed in partnership with Britains GlaxoSmithKline GSK, -1.38%, was likely to be priced at less than 10 per shot but that a final price had not been set.
The potential vaccine, a slower effort than many of its peers, began human trials earlier this month, and it is hoped regulatory approval will be reached in the first half of next year.
Read: Sanofi looks to accelerate MS treatment with $3.68 billion Principia Biopharma acquisition
In the meantime, Sanofi is set to publicly list its active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) company, with an initial public offering planned in the coming months, Bogillot told France Inter radio. The idea is to create a champion of active ingredients at the European level, he said.The business could be valued at between 1 billion and 2 billion, sources told Reuters in July.
Sanofi announced plans in February to create a standalone company making API by combining its commercial and development activities with six of its production sites in Europe.
The French drugmaker said at the time it would decide whether to list the new company on Euronext Paris by 2022. It would be the worlds second largest API company, behind Switzerlands Lonza LONN, +2.70%, with approximately 1 billion in expected sales by 2022, Sanofi said earlier this year.
The company said the spin off would help balance the industrys heavy reliance on Asia for drug ingredients, which was highlighted through the disruption at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
Plata-Nino doesnt know what Trainor injected into her muscle. It might have been salt water.
Or it might have been a prospective vaccine against the coronavirus.
Plata-Nino, a staff attorney at the Central West Justice Center, a legal services organization, is among three leaders of the Worcester-area Latino community who went to UMass Friday to set an example and send a message: Latinos, who have been hard hit by COVID-19, need to be represented in clinical trials. And when a vaccine becomes available, Latinos need to take it.
The prospect of a coronavirus vaccine has stirred fevered discussion among experts and pundits: whether an effective vaccine can be identified before a second wave of illness hits; whether political pressure will lead to premature approval; whether the public will accept the vaccine.
But its easy to forget that, first, it comes down to whether people like Plata-Nino will roll up their sleeves and accept an experimental shot.
Three prospective coronavirus vaccines have entered the late-stage clinical trials in the United States, each enrolling 30,000 people. Earlier studies, involving much smaller numbers of people, found that the vaccines appeared safe and likely to work.
In the late-stage studies, half the participants get the vaccine and half get a placebo. Then they go about their daily lives, and researchers will see if those injected with the vaccine are significantly less likely to get infected than those who received a placebo. Crucially, theyre also watching for uncommon side effects that may emerge when a medication is given to a large number of people.
UMass Medical School is among 120 medical centers testing a vaccine made by Pfizer and the German company BioNTech. Boston Medical Center is also participating in the Pfizer trial.
Additionally, Cambridge-based Moderna has been testing its vaccine at about 90 centers nationwide, including Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston. And AstraZeneca has recently started enrolling participants in testing its vaccine, with Fenway Health in Boston participating.
Like the women at UMass, participants in the Pfizer trial at Boston Medical Center expressed altruistic motivations. Jay Eaves heard about the study from his mother, a nurse in the infectious diseases group at BMC. Eaves, 42, who works for a company that transports animals used in research, knows two people who got sick with COVID-19. I know this is something essential, he said.
Aria Pearlman Morales, a 24-year-old medical student who hopes to go into research, got her second shot at Boston Medical Center on Friday.
I wanted to do my part, be of service to the greater community, Pearlman Morales said. Hopefully, as a future clinical scientist I hope to one day enroll my own patients [in research]. I wanted to experience what it would be like from the other side.
For the Latina women in Worcester, the quick, anticlimactic injection followed a long morning of listening to a doctor describe the study, answering questions about their health, filling out forms, watching instructional videos, and having noses swabbed and blood drawn.
After 21 days, they will have to return for a second dose, and will come back for up to four additional clinic visits. For the next two years, they are asked to fill out a weekly diary of symptoms and report immediately if they have any symptoms resembling COVID-19. Participants also will receive stipends of $200 for each of the two injections and $150 for each follow-up visit.
Since the trial started at UMass two weeks ago, 58 people have received their first shot, and the researchers expect to enroll 120 by the end of this week.
I would not voluntarily sign up for this type of thing if it werent for the circumstances were in, said Plata-Nino, the Worcester attorney, who is in her mid-30s. Im not a fan of needles.
But she was persuaded by Dr. Robert W. Finberg, the leader of the UMass study, and Dr. Matilde Mattie Castiel, Worcesters commissioner of health and human services.
Both were concerned about the startling inequities revealed by the pandemic: Compared to whites, Latinos in Worcester are three times more likely to get COVID-19 and Blacks more than twice as likely, Castiel said. In March, UMass and the city created a health equity task force to research minority communities and teach them about COVID-19 and how to avoid it.
Finberg asked the group for help making sure that Latinos were represented in the study. And Castiel pushed its members to sign up.
Hilda Ramirez, 56, executive director of the Latino Education Institute at Worcester State University, was one of those pushed. She was reluctant.
Anything like this is a little scary, Ramirez said. Youre going to get a vaccine where its not quite known whats going to happen to your body.
But she, too, was sitting in an exam room at UMass Friday, grimacing as a nurse drew blood and swabbed her nose. Mattie just told us we have to come, she said. How did Castiel persuade her? By agreeing to do the same.
There are numerous people from communities of color who do not feel comfortable with vaccinations, Castiel said. And for good reason: Most are familiar with abuses of the past, from the notorious Tuskegee syphilis study, which documented the progress of syphilis in Black men without treating it, to the forced sterilization of Puerto Rican women.
Castiel, 65, said she wanted to be able to say, Im Latina. Hey, Im going to do the vaccination.
Now she can say that. Sort of.
Oh, that was the saline! Castiel said when Trainor gave her the injection. You gave me saline. It felt like there was nothing in there.
Trainor said many participants find the shot easy to take, and theres really no way for recipients to tell whether the injection is a placebo or a potential vaccine.
Castiel acknowledged the risks of taking an experimental medication, but considers them small and worth it. For the good of the community, she said, Im going to take it.
Felice J. Freyer can be reached at felice.freyer@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @felicejfreyer
BERLIN, Sept 4 (Reuters) - German biotechnology firm Curevac expects to be able to produce the COVID-19 vaccine it is developing at scale by the end of the year, investor Dietmar Hopp told the Handelsblatt business daily on Friday.
"We want to make 100 million doses available by the end of the year," said billionaire Hopp, one of the founders of software company SAP.
He said he expected regulatory approval in spring or summer of 2021, although limited clearance could come this year to vaccinate people doing jobs that put them at risk of catching COVID-19 or regions with high rates of infection.
Curevac is likely to be beaten to market by U.S. rival Moderna and Germany's Biontech.
"We can't win this race," Hopp said. "But we want to win the race to produce the best vaccine and here we have good chances."
The Tuebingen-based startup, valued at $10 billion after floating last month on Nasdaq, is one of a number of firms developing vaccines based on molecules carrying a genetic code called messenger RNA (mRNA) to treat diseases.
Hopp said Curevac may also expand its cooperation with Grohmann, a subsidiary of Elon Musk's electric car maker Tesla , in developing so-called RNA printers that would make it possible to decentralise vaccine production.
Musk was in Germany this week and visited Curevac, sparking speculation that he may invest in the company. Hopp earlier dismissed this as "pure fantasy". (Reporting by Douglas Busvine; editing by Jason Neely)
