As investors carefully scan an uncertain horizon, one thing is clear: The backdrop for markets will look very different in three months time.
In a note to clients this week, Goldman Sachs strategists including Kamakshya Trivedi predicted a substantially different landscape by December.
They pointed to three potential developments:
On reopening schools, Goldman Sachs expects a bumpy process characterized by some false starts, especially in the United States. That could hang over markets, particularly in September.
The evidence so far suggests that there is a path to reopening schools without prompting a sharp increase in virus spread, the investment bank said. But those examples have generally been in places where transmission has been very low and where strict protocols have been followed.
The passage of the US election will also provide investors with greater clarity, particularly regarding the relationship with China. Goldman Sachs thinks that decoupling between the worlds two biggest economies is poised to continue no matter who wins, though Joe Biden would be less likely to employ tariffs.
Most importantly, Goldman Sachs thinks theres a good chance that at least one vaccine will be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration by the end of November, allowing it to be broadly distributed by mid-2021.
This kind of timeline could see a substantial boost to GDP relative to a no-vaccine case, particularly for the US, which is likely to lead the vaccine race and is likely to experience worse outcomes than in Europe without a vaccine, the banks strategists said.
They predict the S&P 500 will end the year around current levels, but see the potential for the index to shoot up another 11% if a viable vaccine comes into play.
What it means: The picture for investors is murky this summer, with little transparency on the path of the virus or upcoming rounds of stimulus spending. But Wall Street thinks some clouds could clear before year-end.
Were at a crossroads, Thomas Lee, cofounder of Fundstrat Global Advisors told my CNN Business colleague Alison Kosik on Wednesday.
If it becomes evident that the virus has peaked in the United States and the surge of cases in the Sun Belt has been brought under control, investors should go on the offensive, he said.
Of course, nothing is a given. In three months, the situation also could look materially worse, with cases rising in new parts of the United States. There are also growing concerns about a second wave hitting Europe and Asia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is shown in a file photo. (Photo by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)
MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia on Tuesday became the first country to clear a coronavirus vaccine and declare it ready for use, despite international skepticism. President Vladimir Putin said that one of his daughters has already been inoculated.
Putin emphasized that the vaccine underwent the necessary tests and has proven efficient, offering a lasting immunity from the coronavirus. However, scientists at home and abroad have been sounding the alarm that the rush to start using the vaccine before Phase 3 trials -- which normally last for months and involve thousands of people -- could backfire.
Speaking at a government meeting Tuesday, Putin said that the vaccine has undergone proper testing and is safe.
"I know it has proven efficient and forms a stable immunity, and I would like to repeat that it has passed all the necessary tests," he said. "We must be grateful to those who made that first step very important for our country and the entire world."
The Russian leader added that one of his two adult daughters has received two shots of the vaccine. "She has taken part in the experiment," Putin said.
Putin said that his daughter had a temperature of 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 Fahrenheit) on the day of the first vaccine injection, and then it dropped to just over 37 degrees (98.6 Fahrenheit) on the following day. After the second shot she again had a slight increase in temperature, but then it was all over.
"She's feeling well and has high number of antibodies," Putin added. He didn't specify which of his two daughters -- Maria or Katerina -- received the vaccine.
The Health Ministry said in Tuesday's statement that the vaccine is expected to provide immunity from the coronavirus for up to two years.
Putin emphasized that vaccination will be voluntary.
Russian authorities have said that medical workers, teachers and other risk groups will be the first to be inoculated. Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said that the vaccination of doctors could start as early as this month.
Professor Alexander Gintsburg, head of the Gamaleya Institute that developed the vaccine, said that vaccination will start while the Phase 3 trials continue. He said that initially there will be only enough doses to conduct vaccination in 10-15 of Russia's 85 regions, according to the Interfax news agency.
Russian officials have said that large-scale production of the vaccine will start in September, and mass vaccination may begin as early as October.
Russia has registered 897,599 coronavirus cases, including 15,131 deaths.
When the pandemic struck Russia, Putin ordered state officials to shorten the time of clinical trials for potential coronavirus vaccines.
Becoming the first country in the world to develop a vaccine was a matter of national prestige for the Kremlin as it tries to assert the image of Russia as a global power. State television stations and other media have praised scientists working on it and presented the work as the envy of other nations.
Gintsburg raised eyebrows in May when he said that he and other researchers tried the vaccine on themselves.
Human studies started June 17 among 76 volunteers. Half were injected with a vaccine in liquid form and the other half with a vaccine that came as soluble powder. Some in the first half were recruited from the military, which raised concerns that servicemen may have been pressured to participate.
Amid Russia's rush to become the first to create a vaccine, the U.S., Britain and Canada last month accused Russia of using hackers to steal vaccine research from Western labs.
As the trials were declared completed, questions arose about the vaccine's safety and effectiveness. Some experts scoffed at Russian authorities' assurances that the vaccine drug produced the desired immune response and caused no significant side effects, pointing out that such claims need to be backed by published scientific data.
The World Health Organization said all vaccine candidates should go through full stages of testing before being rolled out. Experts have warned that vaccines that are not properly tested can cause harm in many ways -- from a negative impact on health to creating a false sense of security or undermining trust in vaccinations.
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WASHINGTON, Aug 11 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will be briefed on U.S. COVID-19 vaccine efforts later on Tuesday and will likely give a public update, White House Adviser Kellyanne Conway said, after Russia announced it had approved a vaccine for the novel coronavirus.
The president is getting a vaccine update here at the White House today, and Im sure he will announce that in an open press event and also probably his press briefing later today, Conway told Fox News interview. (Reporting by Lisa Lambert and Susan Heavey; Editing by Catherine Evans)
Only half the population of Britain definitely would accept being vaccinated against Covid-19. That is the shock conclusion of a group of scientists and pollsters who have found that only 53% of a test group of citizens said they would be certain or very likely to allow themselves to be given a vaccine against the disease if one becomes available.
By contrast, one in six (16%) said they would definitely not or would be unlikely to accept a vaccine, according to research by Kings College London and Ipsos Mori. In addition, it was found that one in five (20%) said they would only be fairly likely to go ahead with inoculation.
The study found vaccine rejection was strongest among those whose beliefs reflect greater scepticism about science and who are less concerned about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Likely refusal was also linked to those who tended to be less willing to wear face masks and who said they got most of their information about the disease from WhatsApp and other social media outlets.
There was also a significant age divide in responses with 22% of those in the 16-24 and 25-34 age groups saying they would be unlikely or definitely would not accept a vaccine compared with only 11% among 55-75 year-olds.
The trends revealed by the study which was based on 2,237 interviews with UK residents aged 16-75 and which was carried out online in mid-July have triggered dismay among scientists. Misperceptions about vaccines are among our most directly damaging beliefs, and theyre clearly influencing peoples intentions during the coronavirus crisis, said prof Bobby Duffy, director of Kings College Londons the Policy Institute, which led the study.
While one in six in the UK say they are unlikely to or definitely wont get a potential vaccine against Covid-19, this rises to around a third or more among certain groups, with a clear link to belief in conspiracy theories and mistrust of government, authority and science.
This point was backed by Gideon Skinner, research director at Ipsos Mori. Almost a quarter of 16-34-year-olds are saying theyre unlikely to get vaccinated for Covid-19 if one becomes available. That is deeply concerning and should serve as an important staging post for the government to combat misperceptions about vaccinations, particularly among young people.
Six months into the coronavirus pandemic, people are on edge and some folks are also confused. Adding to the increasingly chaotic nature of the information superhighway in 2020, others are sharing misleading information and outright falsehoods across the internet and on television.
Some outlandish rumors persist. To adherents of such beliefs, the coronavirus is a dastardly bioweapon designed to wreak economic armageddon on the West; a left-wing conspiracy to damage the re-election prospects of President Donald Trump; a virus that leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, China.
A new study in the latest edition of the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene identified 2,311 reports of rumors, stigma and conspiracy theories in 25 languages from 87 countries related to COVID-19 across social media and, yes, online news media sites.
Do you have to wear a mask outdoors? Only medical-grade N95 surgical masks with goggles work, right, so why bother wearing a homemade face covering?
Paranoia politicizes a public-health emergency and distracts from potentially life-saving measures. Misinformation fueled by rumors, stigma, and conspiracy theories can have potentially serious implications on the individual and community if prioritized over evidence-based guidelines, the study said.
The most oft-shared claims were related to the seriousness of the illness, transmission and mortality rate (24%); the effectiveness of control measures (21%); treatments and cures touted online (19%); and the origins of pandemic (15%).
Of the 2,276 reports for which text ratings were available, 1,856 claims were false (82%). Health agencies must track misinformation associated with the COVID-19 in real time, and engage local communities and government stakeholders to debunk misinformation, the report found.
There are, of course, many nuances and truths mixed in with some rumors. Among the evidence-supported statements by members of the scientific community: Like the influenza vaccines, any future vaccine will likely only last a number of years, and not give everyone 100% immunity.
Do you have to wear a mask outdoors? Only medical-grade N95 surgical masks with goggles can help guarantee protection against the virus, so why bother wearing a homemade face covering? Health professionals and studies support the idea that face coverings can help stop the spread.
Exposure to the sun or to temperatures higher than 77 Fahrenheit (25 Celsius) doesnt prevent theCOVID-19virus or curethe disease, the Mayo Clinic says.
They have helped reduce contagion by reducing droplets being sprayed into the air during flu season, and scientists say they can similarly help now, particularly with the high number of asymptomatic carriers. Maskless joggers can leave a droplet slipstream of 30 feet outdoors.
Whats more, Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, earlier this month recommended wearing goggles as a complete method to help prevent contracting the coronavirus.
COVID-19 only affects older people, right? And its a few bad days or weeks in bed, and youre back to normal? Incorrect, and no: Lung scarring and heart and kidney damage may result from COVID-19, and some younger COVID-19 patients who were otherwise healthy are suffering blood clots and strokes.
A study of 60 COVID-19 patients published in the Lancet this month found that 55% of them were still displaying neurological symptoms during follow-up visits three months later, including confusion and difficulty concentrating, as well as headaches, loss of taste and/or smell, mood changes and insomnia.
Wont the summer sun and heat help? Exposure to the sun or to temperatures higher than 77 Fahrenheit (25 Celsius) doesnt prevent theCOVID-19virus or cureCOVID-19, according to a myth-busting guide from the Mayo Clinic.
You can get theCOVID-19virus in sunny, hot and humid weather. Taking a hot bath also cant prevent you from catching theCOVID-19virus, the article warns. Your normal body temperature remains the same, regardless of the temperature of your bath or shower.
Related:COVID-19 infections just hit 20 million worldwide why the actual number of cases is likely much higher
Here are some other popular misconceptions derailed by the Mayo Clinic: Cold weather and snow do not kill COVID-19.Antibiotics kill bacteria, not viruses. Drinking alcohol doesnt protect you from thevirus. And spraying it on your body doesnt help if you are infected.
The supplement colloidal silver, which has been marketed as atreatment, is not considered safe or effective for treating any disease. Theres no evidence that eating garlic protects against infection with theCOVID-19virus, the Mayo Clinic added. (It doesnt help with vampires either, because they dont exist.)
Another outlandish theory: Avoiding exposure to or use of 5G networks doesnt prevent infection with theCOVID-19virus. Viruses cant travel on radio waves and mobile networks. TheCOVID-19virus is spreading in many countries that lack 5G mobile networks, the organization said.
Cold weather and snow does not kill COVID-19. Radio waves and mobile networks dont cure or spread the virus.Antibiotics only kill bacteria.
Ultraviolet light and disinfectants can be used on surfaces, it added. But dont use a UV lamp to sterilize your hands or other areas of your body. UV radiation can lead to skin irritation and bleach can burn you.
Who tends to believe falsehoods? People who get their news from social-media platforms like Facebook FB, -1.12% and Twitter TWTR, +0.76% are more likely to have misperceptions about COVID-19, according to a recent study led by researchers at McGill University in Montreal.
Those that consume more traditional news media have fewer misperceptions and are more likely to follow public health recommendations like social distancing, concluded the paper, which was published in the latest issue of the Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review.
In the context of a crisis like COVID-19, however, there is good reason to be concerned about the role that the consumption of social media is playing in boosting misperceptions, says co-author Aengus Bridgman, a Ph.D. candidate in political science at McGill University.
Social-media platforms have been criticized for their failures to stop the spread of misinformation, especially concerning elections and the coronavirus pandemic, despite a number of new policies enacted since Russia used the platforms to interfere in the 2016 elections.
In May, Twitter marked tweets by President Donald Trump with a fact-check warning label for the first time, after the president falsely claimed mail-in ballots are substantially fraudulent. (He has continued to make such claims on social media and elsewhere.)
Paranoia politicizes a public-health emergency and distracts from potentially life-saving measures.
Earlier this month, social-media sites attempted to quash a video pushing misleading information about hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment which led to Twitters partially suspending Donald Trump Jr.s account.
The video featured doctors calling hydroxychloroquine a drug used to treat malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis for decades a cure for COVID, despite a growing body of scientific evidence indicating it is not an effective treatment for the coronavirus.
In April, the president floated the idea of using ultraviolet light inside the body or a disinfectant by injection as a treatment for coronavirus: I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. (The next day, Trump claimed he was not being serious.)
COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2, had infected at least 20 million people globally and 5 million in the U.S. as of Tuesday. It had killed more than 737,394 people worldwide and at least 163,533 in the U.S. States and the South and West have seen a surge in cases.
The stock market has been on a wild ride in recent months. The Dow Jones Industrial Index DJIA, +0.83% and the S&P 500 SPX, +0.22% were trading higher Tuesday, while the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.60% was lower as investors await round two of a fiscal stimulus.
The West Virginia Department of Health andHuman Resources (DHHR) reports as of 10:00 a.m., on August 10,2020, there have been 326,886 total confirmatorylaboratory results received for COVID-19, with 7,754 totalcases and 141 deaths.
DHHR has confirmed the deaths of an83-year old male from Kanawha County and a 74-year old male from Logan County. Wemourn with all families suffering the loss of loved ones due to COVID-19, saidBill J. Crouch, DHHR Cabinet Secretary.
In alignment with updated definitions fromthe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the dashboard includes probablecases which are individuals that have symptoms and either serologic (antibody)or epidemiologic (e.g., a link to a confirmed case) evidence of disease, but noconfirmatory test.
CASESPER COUNTY (Case confirmed by lab test/Probable case):Barbour (29/0), Berkeley (671/27), Boone(101/0), Braxton (8/0), Brooke (63/1), Cabell (395/9), Calhoun (6/0), Clay(18/0), Doddridge (6/0), Fayette (151/0), Gilmer (17/0), Grant (120/1),Greenbrier (93/0), Hampshire (76/0), Hancock (108/4), Hardy (60/1), Harrison(223/3), Jackson (165/0), Jefferson (289/7), Kanawha (925/13), Lewis (28/1),Lincoln (87/0), Logan (234/0), Marion (187/4), Marshall (126/4), Mason (56/0),McDowell (63/1), Mercer (200/0), Mineral (121/2), Mingo (171/2), Monongalia(928/17), Monroe (20/1), Morgan (28/1), Nicholas (36/1), Ohio (266/3), Pendleton(40/1), Pleasants (11/1), Pocahontas (40/1), Preston (104/21), Putnam (194/1),Raleigh (248/7), Randolph (205/5), Ritchie (3/0), Roane (15/0), Summers (12/0),Taylor (55/1), Tucker (10/0), Tyler (13/0), Upshur (37/3), Wayne (208/2),Webster (4/0), Wetzel (43/0), Wirt (7/0), Wood (238/12), Wyoming (34/0).
Ascase surveillance continues at the local health department level, it may revealthat those tested in a certain county may not be a resident of that county, oreven the state as an individual in question may have crossed the state borderto be tested. Suchis the case of Marshall and Pleasants counties in this report.
Pleasenote that delays may be experienced with the reporting of information from thelocal health department to DHHR. Visitthe dashboard at www.coronavirus.wv.gov for more detailed information.
On July 24,2020, Gov. Jim Justice announced that DHHR, the agency in charge of reportingthe number of COVID-19 cases will transition from providing twice-daily updatesto one report every 24 hours. This becameeffective August 1, 2020.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. It started with an afternoon stop at a gas station. Two customers began exchanging angry stares near the pumps outside and no one can explain exactly why.
That led to an argument, and it escalated quickly as one of them pulled a gun and they struggled over it, according to the police.
Theres too many shootings. Please dont do this, the wife of one of the men pleaded, stepping between them.
But by the time the fight was over at the station on Kansas Citys East Side late last month, the all-too-familiar crackle of gunfire pierced the humid air, leaving another person dead in what has been an exceedingly bloody summer.
The onset of warm weather nearly always brings with it a spike in violent crime, but with much of the country emerging from weeks of lockdown from the coronavirus, the increase this year has been much steeper than usual.
Across 20 major cities, the murder rate at the end of June was on average 37 percent higher than it was at the end of May, according to Richard Rosenfeld, a criminologist at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. The increase over the same period a year ago was just 6 percent.
In few places has the bloodshed been more devastating than in Kansas City, where the city is on pace to shatter its record for homicides in a year. Much of it has involved incidents of random, angry violence like the conflict at the gas station disputes between strangers that left someone dead, or killings that simply cannot be explained. They have claimed the lives of a pregnant woman pushing a stroller, a 4-year-old boy asleep in his grandmothers home and a teenage girl sitting in a car.
They have also prompted a much-debated intervention from the federal government, an operation named after the 4-year-old Kansas City boy, LeGend Taliferro, that has sent federal law enforcement agents to at least six cities in an attempt to intervene.
Were surrounded by murder, and its almost like your number is up, said Erica Mosby, whose niece, Diamon Eichelburger, 20, was the pregnant victim pushing the stroller in Kansas City. Its terrible.
Nationally, crime remains at or near a generational low, and experts caution against drawing conclusions from just a few months.
But President Trump has used the rising homicide numbers to paint Democratic-led cities as out of control and to blame protests against police brutality that broke out after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in late May.
Extreme politicians have joined this anti-police crusade and relentlessly vilified our law enforcement heroes, Mr. Trump said during a White House news conference last month to announce Operation LeGend. He added that the effort to shut down policing in their own communities has led to a shocking explosion of shootings, killings, murders.
Criminologists dispute the presidents suggestion that the increase is tied to any pullback by the police in response to criticism or defunding efforts, and fluctuations in the crime rate are notoriously hard to explain. In many cities, the murder rate was on the rise before the pandemic, and a steep decline in arrests coincided with the start of social distancing, as measured by mobile phone records, according to a database compiled by David Abrams, an economist at the University of Pennsylvania law school.
Some experts have pointed to the pandemics destabilization of community institutions, or theorized that people with a propensity for violence may have been less likely to heed stay-at-home orders. But in city after city, crime overall is down, including all types of major crime except murder, aggravated assault and in some places, car theft.
In New York, where murders are up 30 percent over last year, city and police officials have tried to lay blame on a new law that lets many defendants go free without posting bond, as well as on the coronavirus-related mass release of people from jail. But the evidence shows that a steep decline in gun arrests beginning in mid-May was a more likely cause. Police officials in several cities have said the protests diverted officers from crime-fighting duty or emboldened criminals.
In Detroit, Chief James Craig said violence spiked but has started to go down over the past two weekends. We havent relaxed our enforcement posture like some cities, he said.
In Kansas City, homicides have been on a swift upward trajectory from the time a 41-year-old man named Earl Finch III was gunned down in a driveway in broad daylight on Jan. 5, the first murder of the year. Even the coronavirus lockdown did not slow the violence, though as in other cities it has escalated even further in the wake of reopenings.
After six new deaths over the weekend, 122 people have been killed this year, compared with 90 through the same time last year. The city is well on its way to surpassing its grim record of 153 murders in 1993. And by the end of July the city had matched the number of nonfatal shootings about 490 that it had all of last year.
Much of the violence in Kansas City has had little rhyme or reason, often stemming from petty arguments that boil over.
The short fuses may indicate restlessness and anger, criminologists and law enforcement officials said. The police have attributed about 30 of the homicides this year to arguments, some involving people with no serious criminal history. Economic hardship also appeared to be a factor in some of the killings. Only 15 were deemed drug-related. In almost 50 cases, the police have not yet determined a motive.
While disparities in things like education and employment have long plagued Kansas Citys East Side, a predominantly Black part of the city that has the citys highest murder rate, community leaders said there seemed to be an added sense of despair this year.
The Rev. Darren Faulkner, who runs a program that provides social support to those deemed most at risk of violence, said the latest wave of police killings of Black people has left many of his clients feeling hopelessly trapped in a system in which they will never thrive.
People have gotten to the point where they just dont give a damn, he said. I dont care about me. I certainly dont care about you. And so I can go shoot your house or shoot you right on the spot because you talked to me crazy, you looked at me crazy.
Spontaneous, one-on-one beefs have replaced gang feuds as a driver of shootings, said Maj. Greg Volker of the Kansas City Police Department.
If people could settle an argument without having to resort to shooting, violence would reduce, he said.
Another atypical trend this year is that in several cases, the gunmen and victims were not otherwise involved in criminal activity, Major Volker said, pointing to the gas station shooting in July.
The man now charged with murder in the case is a meatpacking worker, Isaac Knighten, 40, who devotes much of his time to mentoring Black men and boys, including teaching conflict resolution through Alpha Male Nation, a mentoring organization his brother started. His wife said he had turned his life around after serving time on drug charges from more than a decade ago.
After Mr. Knighten had a brief, hostile exchange with the other man in the parking lot, the man, Jayvon McCray, 28, pulled a gun and the men began to fight, according to the police.
Mr. Knightens wife, Shaynan, said in an interview that she had their five children get out of the car and run to a relatives house nearby. She and Mr. McCrays girlfriend both got between the men and urged them to calm down, according to the police.
Mr. Knighten eventually retrieved a gun from his car and fatally shot Mr. McCray, who the police said appeared to no longer be holding a gun.
Mr. Knightens lawyer, Dan Ross, said his client, who has been charged with second-degree murder, was defending himself. Surveillance footage shows that Mr. Knighten attempted to walk away from the dispute at least six times, but Mr. McCray kept coming after him, the lawyer said.
Another contributing factor to this years violence, Major Volker said, was the impact of the coronavirus stay-at-home order on the drug trade. Some dealers lost their regular buyers, so they sold to people they did not know people who may have been intent on robbing them. The result has been an uptick in drug robberies and shootings, especially in late March and early April.
The real explosion of killings in Kansas City came in May and June, with 44 murders combined, more than twice as many during those same months last year.
Im sure there will be academic studies for years to come as to what caused the spike of 2020, said Tim Garrison, the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri. Im sure the lockdown didnt help. When you already have a stressed economic situation and you put a lot of folks out of work, and a lot of teenagers out of school, its a volatile situation.
Mr. Garrison oversees Operation LeGend, a surge of some 200 federal agents into Kansas City in an effort to help stem the violence. It has been met with suspicion and street protests, in part because the operation coincided with a militaristic federal intervention on the streets of Portland that was widely criticized for inflaming tensions there.
Mr. Garrison said trained federal investigators have beefed up existing task forces, seized dozens of guns, brought in suspects on existing warrants and helped arrest a dozen homicide suspects.
Jean Peters Baker, the prosecutor in Jackson County, said that in the murder cases she has received from Operation LeGend so far, the federal agents did not appear to have contributed the forensic investigative expertise that the federal authorities had promised.
Mr. Garrison pointed to a more recent arrest by the U.S. Marshals Service, saying that federal investigators had linked a firearm found in the suspects possession to four other shootings.
The operation has been expanded to seven other cities, all but one of which have seen an increase in homicides over last year. Some officials have welcomed the help, while others have promised to monitor federal agents for civil rights violations.
The federal operation represents the latest in a string of efforts that Kansas City has undertaken to try to get its violence under control over the years. Homicides dropped to a near record low of 80 in 2014, after the launch of a joint federal-local operation known as the Kansas City No Violence Alliance. But murders began ticking back up in subsequent years, and the police pulled back from the program. The department plans to launch a new effort in September that focuses on getting the most persistent violent offenders off the streets.
Charron Powell, LeGends mother, said she gave permission for her sons name to be used in the federal operation because she wanted the fight against violence to be his legacy. She called the killings senseless and said those responsible had met with too few consequences.
It may not work, she said, noting the opposition Operation LeGend has encountered from many in the city. Still, she said, its a good thing theyre trying theyre trying something.
John Eligon reported from Kansas City, Mo., and Shaila Dewan and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs reported from New York. Ashley Southall contributed reporting from New York. Alain Delaqurire contributed research.
In March, during a public meeting with President Donald Trump and pharma executives, Kim touted Inovios innovative, 21st-century platform that enabled it to whip up its vaccine candidate in a mere three hours. Soon after, an analyst who is shorting Inovios stock accused the firm of serial stock promotion. And soon after that, two separate groups of shareholders filed lawsuits in federal court in Pennsylvania, accusing Kim and Inovio of exaggerated claims and financial improprieties.
BRANDON, Fla. (WFLA) Stephanie Scolaro says her father was larger than life, a man who never met a stranger a man who decided at a young age to devote his life to helping others.
Thats the kind of person Dr. Sam Scolaro was.
In fact, when he introduced himself, Stephanie says, He was just Sam. No doctor this or that. Hed say, Hi, Im Sam Scolaro. He was just Sam.
At 75-years-old, the longtime Tampa Bay area physician still treated patients every day knowing he was in a high-risk group with his age, but he said he knew his patients were counting on him.
The man woke up happy. Every day, with a smile on his face, his daughter explained. I mean, he was happy all the time.
Even amid the pandemic, Dr. Scolaro preferred seeing his patients face to face as he wore head-to-toe personal protective equipment. He appreciated telemedicine but ultimately wanted to be able to look his patients in the eye.
I want to see their faces, he told his daughter. Maybe I would miss something if they were just on the television monitor. If I see them face to face, I will know how to help them, to treat them. I want them to be healthy.
It was his passion, with a simple goal to make sure his patients got better, never knowing he would soon be facing similar circumstances after testing positive for COVID-19 in late June, on the very day he and wife celebrated 53 years of marriage.
This larger-than-life beloved physician would spend five weeks hospitalized, fighting for his life.
Stephanie says there were signs of hope along the way where hed often rally. Then, the complications would come back stronger and even more severe.
Thats what so scary about this, we dont fully know what it does to the body. And, if youre immune-compromised, while youre trying to get better and fight the virus, theres other things going on with your body.
Dr. Scolaros eldest daughter, Stephanie, who worked with him side by side in his practice for 30 years, says she feels lost without him. It is, by far, she says the most difficult thing shes been through, even more so than going through breast cancer.
He was her rock, she says, the entire time, along with her mother and family members.
To lose her hero, Stephanie tells 8 On Your Side, feels like an ache in her heart that will never heal.
I dont think Ill ever be the same, she said with tears in her eyes. I feel like a broken compass. I saved all his voicemails. I still have all his voicemails saved.
Stephanie and her family say they are unable to hold a public memorial since he died from coronavirus complications. Family members say theyve been inundated with kind words and prayers from countless people who knew Dr. Scolaro.
His patients, family members say, were so important to him.
He said that when he was 20-years-old, and he finally decided he would be a doctor, he made a promise to God that he would serve his patients until the day he died. And, literally, thats what he did. He was thinking about all of his patients and trying to get better so he could get back to serving them, Stephanie told us.
Dr. Scolaro worked right up until the point he tested positive for COVID-19, after battling for more than a month from complications due to COVID-19, doctors wanted to try one final treatment last Thursday and decided to transfer him to another local hospital.
But, it was too late. Stephanie says her family got the call on Friday.
You could tell it was his time, we knew, she explained. He would not want to, if he came out of it, he was in multi-organ failure. He would not have been himself if he came out of it.
Born and raised in Ybor City, Dr. Scolaro fell in love with Tampa Bay at an early age and never left. He married his sweetheart, had two daughters and watched his grandchildren grow up which brought him endless happiness.
He was a man who dedicated his lifes work to healing, telling his family he hopes the medical community will continue doing during this pandemic and beyond.
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Anna Del Priore, left, dancing at Brighton Gardens, an assisted living facility in New Jersey. At age 107, Del Priore has now beat the coronavirus and Spanish Flu.(Photo: Courtesy of Brighton Gardens of Middletown)
ASBURY PARK, N.J. Back in May, Darlene Jasmine got the phone call no one wants to receive: Her grandmother had come down with COVID-19.
At age 107.
I thought, Oh my God, this is it, Jasmine said. This is the thing thats going to take her down.
Didnt happen. Anna Del Priore who is one month shy of turning 108, was born the year the Titanic sank andsurvived a case of the Spanish Flu a century ago beat the coronavirus. Not only that, shes still on her feet, walking and evendancingto the delight of the staff at Brighton Gardens, an assisted living facility in New Jersey.
People dont believe me, said Laura Halle, who is Del Priores health care coordinator at Brighton Gardens. Its really been amazing to watch her journey.
Del Priore was born in Brooklyn to deaf parents who taught sign language. She was a seamstress, and her late husband, Frank, was a professional tango dancer.
She always danced, always loved music, said Jasmine, 66. As soon as she hears music, her foot starts tapping.
At around 6 years old, Anna contracted the Spanish flu during the influenza pandemic of 1918, Brighton Gardens administrators confirmed. As with COVID-19, the Spanish flu attacked the respiratory system, although at a far deadlier rate.
Anna Del Priore dancing with her husband Frank in an undated photo.(Photo: Courtesy of the Del Priore family)
Maybe that has something to do with her recovering? said Jasmine, who noted that Annas younger sister, 105-year-old Helen Guzzone of Queens, New York,also survived both illnesses.
After Anna fell ill with COVID-19, Jasmine said, She had a fever, didnt eat much, but she didnt need a respirator. They didnt have to send her to the hospital.
NowDel Priore has resumed her normal activities, including swimming and sewing.
I feel good, Del Priore said. I thank God Im alive.
Jasmine called it a miracle but added that a lifetime of healthy choices probably helped.
Anna Del Priore(Photo: Courtesy of Brighton Gardens of Middletown)
Shes constantly moving, Jasmine said. We always walked in Brooklyn to the grocery store, to the bakery. Every night she would make a homemade meal from scratch. All Mediterranean food olive oil, vegetables, fruits, nuts. Its like the old peasant food that now they charge you so much for.
Del Priore has no plans to slow down.
You keep living, she said. Dancing makes you feel good. I want to keep my health.
Anna Del Priore on her 107th birthday last September.(Photo: Courtesy of Brighton Gardens of Middletown)
According to a gerontology site that tracks such things, two 108-year-old Americans are confirmed to have survived the coronavirus and seven other Americans age107 or older have done so. Around the world, the oldest confirmed person to beat the illness was a 113-year-old woman in Spain.
Suffice it to say, Anna Del Priore is not counting the days.
Shes a month shy of 108 and she gets up, combs her hair, walks and dances, said Halle, her health care coordinator. For the rest of my life, Ill be able to say I met and loved someone whos made it this far and stayed healthy.
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