Infusions of antibody-rich blood plasma from people who have recovered from the coronavirus, so-called convalescent plasma, failed to make a difference in a study of hospitalized patients in China, researchers reported on Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In a randomized trial involving 103 COVID-19 patients, convalescent plasma made no difference in the time it took to show signs of improvement or in rates of death at 28 days versus a placebo.

Hydroxychloroquine fails to protect against infection in key trial.

President Donald Trump as a treatment for COVID-19 failed to prevent infection in people exposed to the coronavirus, according to data from a large trial released on Wednesday by University of Minnesota researchers.

Several trials of hydroxychloroquine have been stopped over concerns about its safety for treating COVID-19 patients, but the new trial found no serious side effects or heart problems with hydroxychloroquine.

They also point out that when coronavirus infection is predominantly affecting the lungs, swab samples from the nose and throat are going to be less accurate than samples obtained from sputum and from the windpipe and lungs.

Social distancing and wearing face masks and eye protection are the best ways to cut the risk of contracting COVID-19, according to the largest review to date of studies on coronavirus disease transmission.

Still, they wrote on Tuesday in The Lancet medical journal, policy makers around the world need to "promptly and adequately address" shortages of face masks and eye protection.

"Eye protection might also add substantial protection." For the general public, "face masks are associated with protection, even in non-healthcare settings, with either disposable surgical masks or reusable 12- to 16-layer cotton ones." (https://bit.ly/2AFI6OX; https://reut.rs/2XrQBX2)

emergency department visits plummet during pandemic

National Syndromic Surveillance Program reported on Wednesday that compared to the same period last year, emergency department visits between March 29 and April 25 this year were down 42%, from 2.1 million per week to 1.2 million a week - even while the proportion of infectious disease-related visits was four times higher than a year earlier

They say hospitals need to address patients' fears of coronavirus exposure in the emergency department by screening everyone for COVID-19 symptoms and by maintaining separate, well-ventilated triage areas for patients with and without signs and symptoms of the virus