NBA-Funded Saliva Test For COVID-19 Cleared For Immediate Use – Gothamist

The SalivaDirect test offers several advantages in that saliva can be collected in any sterile container, so no special swabs or equipment are needed. Results can take as little as three hours, depending on how quickly the labs can obtain samples. The SalivaDirect tests also do not require a separate nucleic acid extraction step, streamlining the process and avoiding the need for special kits that have been in short supply, the FDA said.

The testing methodology for SalivaDirect also can work with a range of widely available reagents and instruments, so that most labs are already able to work with the tests. Yale is also open-sourcing the testing protocol so that labs can obtain the required components and perform the test in their lab themselves, the FDA said.

 

Source: NBA-Funded Saliva Test For COVID-19 Cleared For Immediate Use – Gothamist

Lawmakers Urge Postmaster General to Fix ‘Troubling’ Delays of Veterans’ Medication | Military.com

Lawmakers urged Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Friday to reverse disruptive changes at the U.S. Postal Service, voicing grave concerns about veterans whose mail-order medications are delayed.

President Donald Trump appointed DeJoy, a former fundraiser for the Republican National Convention, to the job this summer as the coronavirus pandemic threatened the Postal Service’s financial viability. Staff hours have been cut and high-volume mail-processing machines were removed from post offices, according to multiple news outlets.

 

Source: Lawmakers Urge Postmaster General to Fix ‘Troubling’ Delays of Veterans’ Medication | Military.com

German government ′in the dark′ about guns and neo-Nazis | News | DW | 15.08.2020

The German government has admitted it does not know what firearms and explosives police have impounded in the past few years and whether they were taken from extremists. The news comes amid a rise in far-right extremism.

Source: German government ′in the dark′ about guns and neo-Nazis | News | DW | 15.08.2020

The Amazon rainforest is being set on fire, with wildfire smoke circulating the hemisphere

The lungs of the Earth are on fire yet again, after the devastation it was caused there last year. A new fire season begins, with many man-made fires that are spreading, clearing land for agricultural use. The Amazon wildfire spread is intense, sending smoke across the Southern Hemisphere.

Source: The Amazon rainforest is being set on fire, with wildfire smoke circulating the hemisphere

CENSORED NEWS: Lawsuit filed for information on substandard masks IHS purchased from former White House chief of staff (Indian Health Service)

A lawsuit has been filed to obtain the records related to the substandard surgical masks that were purchased by Indian Health Service from a former White House chief of staff.

Indian Health Service failed to respond to a Freedom of Information request for records from Judicial Watch, which has now filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for the records.

Source: CENSORED NEWS: Lawsuit filed for information on substandard masks IHS purchased from former White House chief of staff