GOP proposes 'targeted' virus aid, but Dems say not enough; Do kids get sicker with the flu or COVID-19? Neither, study finds, and Other C-Virus Updates

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

GOP proposes 'targeted' virus aid, but Dems say not enough:

The Senate prepared to vote this week on a trimmed-down Republican coronavirus relief package, though it only has a slim chance of passage in the face of Democrats’ insistence for more sweeping aid.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released the approximately $500 billion measure on Tuesday as senators returned to Washington for an abbreviated pre-election session, but hopes were dimming for another coronavirus relief bill - or much else.

Republicans struggling to retain their Senate majority this fall have been divided, with some GOP senators in close races anxious to respond further to the pandemic, even as conservatives are tiring of all the spending and passing legislation in concert with liberal House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

McConnell called the package “a targeted proposal that focuses on several of the most urgent aspects of this crisis, the issues where bipartisanship should be especially possible.” They included school aid, new money for vaccines and testing, and a second round of the popular Paycheck Protection Program for smaller businesses. --->READ MORE HERE

Do kids get sicker with the flu or COVID-19? Neither, study finds:

Many parents and pediatricians are wondering how children will be affected by this year’s flu season coupled with the coronavirus pandemic.

Researchers at Children’s National Hospital found while COVID-19 may not be worse for children than the flu, it’s not better either.

A study published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open looked at the course of illness in 315 children who had COVID-19 between March and May, and more than 1,400 children with seasonal influenza between October and June.

Scientists found no difference in rates of hospitalization, admission to the intensive care unit or mechanical ventilator use between the two groups.

“I didn’t see this coming when I was thinking about doing the study,” said Dr. Xiaoyan Song, director of Infection Control and Epidemiology at Children’s National and professor of pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Science. “It took several rounds of thinking and combing through the data to convince myself that this was the conclusion.” --->READ MORE HERE

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