Reported U.S. deaths related to COVID-19 have surpassed 100,000, with 100,442 deaths and 1,699,933 COVID-19 cases reported as of 7:45 a.m. CDT May 28. Globally, there have been 5,716,570 reported cases and 356,131 deaths, while 2,367,292 have recovered.
Five updates:
1. The coronavirus can spread by touching a contaminated surface and then touching the mouth, nose or eyes, though this isn't thought to be the main form of transmission, according to the CDC. The clarification comes after the agency updated its website last week to say that the virus doesn't spread easily via surface transmission. The update was "to make it easier to read, and was not a result of any new science," according to the CDC. The primary and most significant mode of transmission is close contact with others, the agency reiterated.
2. A second wave "could happen but is not inevitable," Anthony Fauci, MD, said during a May 27 interview on CNN's "Newsroom." The nation's top infectious disease physician said broad efforts to identify and isolate COVID-19 patients through contact tracing could help prevent the virus's resurgence this fall. Dr. Fauci also commented on the use of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a potential COVID-19 treatment during the interview.
"The scientific data is really quite evident now about the lack of efficacy for it," he told CNN.
3. The WHO Foundation was created to broaden the World Health Organization's donor base and achieve 'sustainable and predictable' funding, according to a May 27 announcement. The entity is legally separate from WHO and will facilitate contributions from the public, individual major donors and corporate partners. After President Donald Trump said May 18 that he may pull all WHO funding from the U.S., agency officials voiced concern regarding emergency programs. The WHO Foundation will initially focus on emergencies and response to the pandemic.
4. "The jury is still very much out" on whether COVID-19 antibodies provide immunity against reinfection, Mike Ryan, MD, executive director of the WHO's emergencies program, said May 26. Scientists are still learning about the virus SARS-CoV-2 and the disease COVID-19, including how immune systems respond once a person is exposed to the virus, according to WHO officials.
5. More than 2.1 million Americans filed for unemployment last week, according to new data from the U.S. Department of Labor. This marks the eighth consecutive week of decline in unemployment figures, although the number of people seeking financial assistance is still about 10 times higher than before lockdowns started in March, according to The Wall Street Journal.