• The number of coronavirus deaths could rise by 233,000 if states reopen too early, according to a statistical model from the University of Pennsylvania.
• Some states are keeping strict lockdown measures in place until June while others have already started easing up on restrictions.
• A recent report from the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy anticipates that the coronavirus pandemic may last for another two years.
• Visit BGR’s homepage for more stories.

A new report based on data from the Penn Wharton Budget Model (PWBM) suggests that easing lockdown requirements too soon could result in an additional 233,000 coronavirus-related deaths. It’s a jarring figure, to be sure, but it helps highlight the importance of taking a measured and cautious approach when it comes to returning to normal day-to-day living. Even if current lockdown measures remain in place, the PWBM suggests that coronavirus cases in the United States might reach 2.3 million by the end of June and result in 117,000 deaths. As it stands now, there have been 1.2 million coronavirus cases in the United States which have resulted in 71,000 deaths.

In an absolute worst-case scenario that would see every state immediately drop stay-at-home directives and social distancing guidelines, the model predicts that coronavirus cases would reach 8 million and cause 350,000 deaths. Of course, a worst-case scenario isn’t in the cards as many states are taking the pandemic extremely seriously and aren’t planning to loosen safety measures for a few more weeks.

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Report: Coronavirus death toll will increase drastically if states reopen too early originally appeared on BGR.com on Tue, 5 May 2020 at 16:34:16 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Researchers tested tsunami protection “parks” that consist of rolling hills in place of concrete sea walls to see if the alternative is feasible.
• In simulations, hills of earth protected at least as well as large concrete sea walls.
• Depending on the circumstances, these green areas could serve as parks for coastal residents while still offering tsunami protection if needed.
• Visit BGR’s homepage for more stories.

When it comes to protecting coastal communities from the most powerful tropical storms, building seawalls has often seemed like the only viable solution. I mean, how else are you going to stop a towering tsunami from crashing the coast, right? That way of thinking may be changing with the help of an international team of researchers and a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In the paper, the scientists explain that extensive testing using numerical simulations of big wave impacts on various types of geographical features. As it turns out, building lush, green parks may offer both protection from tsunamis and recreation for coastal residents.

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Want protection from a tsunami? Build parks, researchers say originally appeared on BGR.com on Tue, 5 May 2020 at 16:03:27 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• A new study says that a more infectious strain of the novel coronavirus is already roaming the earth, and it’s the dominant version of SARS-CoV-2.
• A mutation concerning the region on the virus that binds to human cells makes the virus more contagious, researchers say. That doesn’t mean the virus is deadlier than the original strain from Wuhan.
• It’s unclear whether the mutated virus will affect the efficacy of any of the existing COVID-19 vaccine candidates that are in development or human trials.
• Visit BGR’s homepage for more stories.

A few weeks ago, research suggested that the novel coronavirus isn’t mutating as fast as the flu virus, and the mutations aren’t significant. That’s good news for anyone working on a vaccine candidate for COVID-19, because an effective drug could induce long-lasting immunity and prevent infection.

The bad news is that a new study claims the virus already developed a notable mutation that makes it even more infectious than the original strain. That version is the dominant one right now, which could explain the massive spike in infections over the past few months. But just because it’s more infectious doesn’t mean it’s more deadly than the original, researchers say. However, if the vaccine candidates that are being developed target the milder form, there’s no guarantee they’ll work against the more potent strain. On the other hand, it’s not all bad news. If the new strain is dominant, then all the vaccines that have already reached human trials will come in contact with the mutated virus and would be able to prove their efficacy against it.

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Study says a new mutation might make coronavirus more infectious originally appeared on BGR.com on Tue, 5 May 2020 at 15:36:19 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• The New York City Health Department distributed a health alert on Monday confirming that 15 children have been hospitalized with serious symptoms.
• More than half of the hospitalized children either tested positive for the novel coronavirus or had positive antibody tests, suggesting they were infected and have since recovered.
• Similar symptoms have been reported in other countries, including the United Kingdom.
• Visit BGR’s homepage for more stories.

Throughout the novel coronavirus pandemic, we have been told repeatedly that the virus poses a much greater risk to the elderly and those who are immunocompromised than it does to young, healthy individuals. Everything we’ve seen over the past few months has backed up this assertion, but a frightening new development in New York City confirms that there is still much we don’t know about the virus, and that people of all ages need to be careful.

In a health alert disseminated this week, the New York City Health Department announced that 15 children have been hospitalized after exhibiting symptoms compatible with multi-system inflammatory syndrome. All the kids are between the ages of 2 and 15, and were admitted to the hospital between April 17th and May 1st. According to the alert, 10 of the 15 children either tested positive for the novel coronavirus or had positive antibody tests.

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15 children hospitalized in NYC with serious illness that could be tied to coronavirus originally appeared on BGR.com on Tue, 5 May 2020 at 15:09:44 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• NASA hasn’t decided how long the first crewed SpaceX flight to the International Space Station will last.
• The launch will be the final stage in the demonstration phase before NASA certifies Crew Dragon.
• The launch is currently scheduled for May 27th.
• Visit BGR’s homepage for more stories.

We’re fast approaching crunch time for the partnership between NASA and SpaceX that will culminate in the first NASA astronauts being launched from US soil since the Space Shuttle era. SpaceX developed its Crew Dragon capsule as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, and on May 27th, the spacecraft will carry a pair of astronauts to the International Space Station.

It’s going to be a very big day and a huge milestone for both SpaceX and NASA, but there’s still a big question left unanswered: How long will astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley remain in space during this first crewed SpaceX launch?

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NASA still doesn’t know how long SpaceX’s astronaut mission will last originally appeared on BGR.com on Tue, 5 May 2020 at 14:42:41 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority is planning to try a novel method of coronavirus prevention — using ultraviolet light to try and kill all traces of the virus on subways and buses.
• The installation of UV lamps will start next week. This comes as MTA ridership is down some 90% since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, and after President Trump controversially suggested ultraviolet light might be one way humans can fight the virus.
• Visit BGR’s homepage for more stories.

A little more than a week ago now, President Trump raised eyebrows during one of his recent coronavirus press conferences in which he seemed to wonder aloud that ultraviolet and disinfectant might be worth investigating as possible treatments for people who test positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus. He later lied and claimed he was being sarcastic about the idea after it was pointed out that humans, you know, shouldn’t even think about drinking bleach.

That episode prompted Trump’s team to re-evaluate whether his coronavirus briefings are hurting more than helping the president at this point. Meanwhile, New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority is pressing forward with one of those ideas as a way to keep its subways and buses potentially free of coronavirus at a time of record-low ridership.

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NYC subways and buses will kill coronavirus with light originally appeared on BGR.com on Tue, 5 May 2020 at 14:15:02 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• A Singapore man beat the novel coronavirus, but it stayed in his system for 40 days without presenting any symptoms, according to doctors.
• The man tested positive for over a month after his symptoms subsided, puzzling healthcare workers.
• Understanding why some people continue to test positive even after the virus has been beaten is increasingly important for scientists and health experts.
• Visit BGR’s homepage for more stories.

One of the most puzzling questions surrounding the novel coronavirus pandemic is just how long the virus hangs around in the human body. Testing for the virus has provided scientists with confusing results, including asymptomatic patients who never got sick but still registered as positive, and even patients who beat the virus still testing positive over and over again.

As the Los Angeles Times reports, a man in Singapore just endured the most dramatic example of the virus’s ability to hang around even after it’s been “beaten” by a person’s immune system. According to the report, 42-year-old Charles Pignal experienced mild symptoms that included a cough and fever that quickly went away. His symptoms were gone, but the virus refused to throw in the towel.

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Doctors are baffled by a man who still had coronavirus 40 days after beating it originally appeared on BGR.com on Tue, 5 May 2020 at 13:48:08 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• After ending a sale over a week ago that offered impressive discounts on several of Amazon’s best-selling Echo smart speakers and smart displays, the retailer is back this week with even deeper discounts.
• Highlights include the Echo Show 8 for just $79.99, the Echo Show 5 for $49.99, and the Echo Dot for $29.99.
• Prices start at just $17.49 for the new Echo Flex that’s small enough to fit anywhere, and the Echo Auto that adds Alexa to your car is only $29.99 right now.
• Visit BGR’s homepage for more stories.

There’s really no question at all which products are the most popular options among our readers right now. Face masks are at the top of the list as tens of thousands of you have been ordering them nonstop over the past few weeks. The CDC recommends that we all wear masks every time we leave the house right now, so it’s easy to see why they have been so popular. Several best-sellers are now sold out, but there’s one popular face mask option that’s still in stock for $0.88 each. You can even find KN95 face masks in stock right now on Amazon, but they’ll definitely sell out soon so you’ll need to hurry.

50 PCS Face Mask Disposable for General Use 3 Ply Earloop Pollution Health Protection Protectiv…: $43.99 ($0.88 / Mask)

Hand sanitizer has been very popular as well lately with our readers since it’s still impossible to find in supermarkets. Of course, there are plenty of other categories of products that people have been snatching up as well.

BushKlawz Eco Finest 5 Pack of 2 oz Rinse Free 75% Alcohol Instant Hand Sanitizer (5x Pack of 2…: $23.99 ($4.80 per 2 oz. bottle)

Amazon has been running some terrific sales on Alexa smart speakers and smart displays lately, and our readers have been scooping them up left and right. That all ended last week, however, because Amazon abruptly ended all of its Echo deals and returned each of its devices back to full price. Don’t be bummed if you missed out on all the action though, because it turns out you’re in luck — all of Amazon’s most popular Echo devices are back on sale this week, and many of the most popular ones are even cheaper than they were last week!

The stars of the show are definitely the Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 5, both of which are down to their lowest prices of all time right now. The former will cost you $79.99 instead of $130, and the latter is down to $49.99 from $90.

Echo Show 8 – HD 8″ smart display with Alexa – Charcoal: $79.99

Echo Show 5 – stay connected and in touch with Alexa – Charcoal: $49.99

You can also pick up the Echo Spot alarm clock for just $89.99, which is a new low and is a nice discount from the $130 retail price.

Echo Spot – Smart Alarm Clock with Alexa – Black: $89.99

Last but not least where Alexa smart displays are concerned, the 2nd-Generation Echo Show that regularly sells for $230 is all the way down to $179.99 right now. That’s a huge $50 discount and it won’t last long.

Echo Show (2nd Gen) – stay connected and in touch with Alexa – Charcoal: $179.99

Finally, if its Echo speakers you’re looking for, they’re all on sale right now as you can see below. These deals will likely be over soon though, so hurry or you might miss out.

Echo Dot (3rd Gen) – Smart speaker with Alexa – Charcoal: $29.99

Echo Dot (3rd Gen) – Smart speaker with clock and Alexa – Sandstone: $39.99

Echo (3rd Gen)- Smart speaker with Alexa- Charcoal: $69.99

Echo Plus (2nd Gen) – Premium sound with built-in smart home hub – Charcoal: $119.99

Echo Flex – Plug-in mini smart speaker with Alexa: $17.49

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All of Amazon’s hottest Echo and Echo Show devices are back on sale originally appeared on BGR.com on Tue, 5 May 2020 at 13:21:58 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• French doctors studying cases with flu-like symptoms in Paris found that the first coronavirus patient was admitted to the hospital in mid-December 2019, more than a month before the first confirmed COVID-19 case in France.
• The research indicates that the disease may have begun spreading through France even earlier than that.
• The research doesn’t explain where this patient was infected, and the person had not visited China before showing flu-like symptoms.
• Visit BGR’s homepage for more stories.

France is one of the European countries hardest hit by the novel coronavirus, registering an estimated 170,000 patients, of which 25,201 had died at the time of this writing. The number isn’t exact because France realized in mid-April that a huge number of residents and medical personnel living in nursing homes are probably infected, although not all of them have received COVID-19 tests. On top of that, there may be thousands of other people who got the virus without exhibiting any symptoms, so they were never recorded as COVID-19 positive — the same hypothesis is valid for any country dealing with a local coronavirus outbreak, of course.

France has started looking back at patients who may have died after developing flu-like symptoms as early as of December 2019, finding evidence that the first COVID-19 case in the region may date back to late 2019, more than a month sooner than initially believed.

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New coronavirus revelation explains why outbreaks got so bad, so quickly originally appeared on BGR.com on Tue, 5 May 2020 at 12:54:09 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Apple announced on Tuesday that WWDC20 will be a virtual event starting on June 22nd.
• WWDC20 will be free and can be accessed through the Apple Developer app or website.
• Apple is expected to reveal iOS 14 at the event. Keynote and Platforms State of the Union details, session and lab schedules, and more will be shared in June.
• Visit BGR’s homepage for more stories.

Nearly two months after confirming that its annual Worldwide Developers Conference would be modified in light of the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic, Apple has announced that it will host WWDC20 virtually in the Apple Developer app and on the Apple Developer website for free for all developers starting on June 22nd. In the past, there has been a fee associated with attending the event, but all developers are invited this year.

Apple says that WWDC20 will give developers all over the world the opportunity to “get early access to the future of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS, and to learn from Apple engineers as they work to build app experiences that enrich the lives of Apple customers around the globe.”

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Apple announces virtual WWDC 2020 will begin on June 22nd originally appeared on BGR.com on Tue, 5 May 2020 at 12:24:16 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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