Liquor...

With bars closed temporarily and sporting events canceled, some Boston-area residents are stocking up with enough beer, wine and other spirits to tipple through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Liquor stores have been flooded with customers looking to calm their fears over the novel coronavirus, which has upended life across Massachusetts. Stores report long lines of shoppers and empty shelves as residents prepare to hunker down at home.

Customers are taking precautions. Everybody has gloves and masks and is using hand sanitizer nonstop.

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Purell's hand sanitizer sales have skyrocketed in recent weeks amid the coronavirus pandemic, but it might have to use some of that money for legal fees ... it's been hit with a class action lawsuit alleging its germ-killing claims are BS.

Purell manufacturer, Gojo Industries, was sued last week in Ohio federal court by 4 individuals claiming the Purell packaging flaunts "misleading claims" about the effectiveness of its product.

According to the legal docs ... Purell's front label claims that it "kills 99.99% of illness causing germs" implies that figure is backed by scientific support, but the folks suing say none exists.

Likewise, the suit adds that Purell hand sanitizer claims to help prevent infection and diseases, but there's allegedly "no sound scientific evidence to support the claims."

The lawsuit also mentions a letter sent by the FDA to Gojo in January, which plaintiffs' claim describes Purell as "nothing more than a topical antiseptic," which was not safe and effective in preventing infection.

The class action suit is seeking unspecified damages for any customer who bought the hand sanitizer and relied on its packaging and marketing materials.

Disparity...

Coronavirus mortality rate is twice as high among men in Italy as it is among women, marking a "concerning trend," Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House's coronavirus task force coordinator said during a briefing.

"Mortality in males seems to be [twice higher than] every age group of females," Birx said, adding that no age group or gender is immune, and that mild symptoms are not equivalent to immunity.

According to Italy's public health research agency, 60% of coronavirus cases and 70% of deaths in the country so far have been in men.

In China, men were similarly more likely to die of coronavirus than women, although the disparity there was less stark. Sixty-four percent of deaths in China have been in men, according to recent figures from China's Center for Disease Control.

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the U.S. experience largely mimics China’s, with the risk for serious disease and death from Covid-19 rising with age. But in an important qualification, an analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported underlines a message that infectious disease experts have been emphasizing: 

Millennials are not invincible. The new data show that up to one-fifth of infected people ages 20-44 have been hospitalized, including 2%-4% who required treatment in an intensive care unit.

Still, the most severe cases, and the highest rates of death, are among the elderly. Although 17% of the U.S. population is 65 or older, 31% of cases were in that age group, CDC experts concluded in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. While it is possible that the elderly have more chances to be infected than younger people, such as by living in nursing homes, that is considered unlikely, since younger adults encounter many others at work and school.

Distancing...

Our Fight...

Many people are in the front line, even if they are invisible.