Diabetes drug metformin may cut risk of long COVID - UPI.com Metformin cut the risk of long COVID by about 40% for patients who received a two-week course of the drug while battling their infection, the researchers reported. UPI

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Britain's COVID-19 inquiry hears government was under-prepared Britain's government was under-prepared and failed to anticipate measures needed to protect the vulnerable, an official inquiry heard on Tuesday, as its chair pledged to put the bereaved at the heart of her work. Alistair Smout Reuters

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COVID shots should target XBB variants in 2023-24 campaign, US FDA staff say COVID-19 vaccines being developed and manufactured for the 2023-2024 campaign should target one of the currently dominant XBB variants, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) staff reviewers said on Monday. Reuters Reuters

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Study: Southern US hit hardest with mental health concerns during pandemic CIDRAP

A study from researchers at the University of Kansas shows Southern states may have carried the brunt of mental health troubles during the COVID-19 pandemic, with people in that region most consistently worried about finances throughout COVID-19 lockdowns and the emergence of new strains of the virus. The findings were published yesterday in PLOS One.

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The Great Grift: How billions in COVID-19 relief aid was stolen or wasted An Associated Press analysis found that fraudsters potentially stole more than $280 billion in COVID-19 relief funding; another $123 billion was wasted or misspent. Combined, the loss represents 10% of the $4.2 trillion the U.S. government has disbursed in COVID relief aid AP NEWS

WASHINGTON (AP) — Much of the theft was brazen, even simple.

Becerra says DeSantis bears responsibility for Covid’s outsized toll By way of contrast, Becerra touted the work of the Biden administration and his Department of Health and Human Services in pushing out vaccines. Yahoo News

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Becerra said that people still dying of Covid are mainly “either unvaccinated or undervaccinated” and that “if you’re dying of Covid today, you didn’t take precautions” in response to a question about DeSantis’ vaccine skepticism from White House reporter Adam Cancryn at POLITICO’s Health Care Summit.

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Fatigue can lower long-COVID patients' quality of life more than some cancers CIDRAP

Long-COVID fatigue can diminish quality of life more than some cancers, suggests an observational study published yesterday in BMJ Open.

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This Is Now the Most Common Non-Respiratory COVID Symptom New research shows that fever is the most common non-respiratory symptom of COVID-19. The study also showed that the risk of developing non-respiratory COVID features was higher among people who were not fully vaccinated. If you think you have COVID, get tested whether you have a fever or not. Yahoo Life

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