The Latest: Michigan-Illinois men's hoops postponed
The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:___Michigan’s men’s basketball game Thursday against Illinois has been postponed. That came after several positive tests for a new COVID-19 variant that transmits at a higher rate. Michigan said it expects to resume the men’s basketball season Feb. 14 at Wisconsin. ___The Boston College women’s basketball team is going back into a COVID shutdown for the second time in a month. The Atlantic Coast Conference postponed BC’s next two games after a positive test and contact tracing within the program.
Here’s why the ‘PCR’ COVID test is the most effective
When testing for an active COVID infection -- meaning the person is still contagious -- the administrator swabs the nose, back of the nose or saliva to test. The accuracy of the test will depend on how well that sample was collected, along with what test is actually being used. The best test is called a PCR test, which uses a lab technique called polymerase chain reaction (PCR). It is the most sensitive COVID-19 test available and helps tell how infectious a person actually is. See how the PCR test works in the video report above.
Aid group helping French nursing homes as virus deaths jump
A man leaves after being tested with a PCR COVID-19 test in a nursing home of Ammerschwihr, eastern France, Monday, Nov. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)PARIS – Aid group Doctors Without Borders is recruiting emergency help for French nursing homes, where more people with the coronavirus have died so far in November than reported in the previous five months combined, as a season of resurgent infections has caught up with France's most vulnerable populations. The group, founded in Paris in 1971 and renowned for its work in impoverished or conflict-torn countries, issued an appeal this week for medics, psychologists and other volunteers to work in Paris region nursing homes. Known by its French acronym MSF, Doctors Without Borders also deployed emergency help in Europe earlier this year when the virus first hit. COVID -19 patients fill more than 93% of France’s ICU space, in addition to non-virus patients also receiving intensive care treatment.