STUDY FINDS SUMMER SUN CAN WIPE OUT 90 PERCENT OF CORONAVIRUS

Although cases have grown in the past week, a new study finds the strong summer sun is capable of wiping out 90 percent or more of coronavirus living on surfaces in just 34 minutes, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

Scientists suggest “midday sunlight in most U.S. and world cities during summer” is extremely effective in inactivating the virus that causes COVID-19 when it’s been coughed or sneezed onto a surface.

 

It found the virus is most infectious during the winter months when it can live on surfaces for up to a day or more “with risk of re-aerosolization and transmission in most of cities.”

 

The study, appearing in the journal Photochemistry and Photobiology, is authored by Jose-Luis Sagripanti and David Lytle.  They are retired scientists from the U.S. Army and Food and Drug Administration, respectively.

 

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RELIEF PAYMENTS SENT TO DEAD PEOPLE.  Nearly 1.1 million coronavirus relief payments totaling $1.4 billion went to dead people, reports a government watchdog.

BLACK GETS A CAPITAL B.  The Associated Press writing style guide calls for capitalizing the 'b" in using Black when referring to people in a racial, ethnic or cultural context.  A decision will be made in July on capitalizing the term white, AP adds.

SEGWAY PERSONAL TRANSPORTER PRODUCTION ENDS.  Segway, maker of a two-wheeled personal transporter, is ending production of the vehicle.

OLYMPUS QUITS CAMERA OUTPUT.  Tokyo-based Olympus Corp. is quitting the camera business after 84 years. Its main product line now is medical-imaging devices.

RHODE ISLAND NAME CHANGE IN WORKS.  Rhode Island, incorporated as The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in 1790, is looking to make a change with Gov. Gina Raimondo signing an executive order to drop Providence Plantations.

CHINESE NEWS OUTFITS CALLED FOREIGN MISSIONS.  The Trump administration labels four more Chinese news organizations as “foreign missions.”  They are state broadcaster China Central Television, the newspaper People’s Daily, Global Times and the semiofficial state-run China News Service.

 

GOLDEN RETRIEVER MARKS RECORD 20th BIRTHDAY.  A Tennessee dog becomes the oldest known living golden retriever in history after celebrating her 20th birthday.

 

EATERIES REDUCE MENUS.  Restaurants, including major chains,  are reducing the size of menus to streamline their operations amid the coronavirus pandemic.

 

TRUMP CITED AS WEAKER COMMANDER IN CHIEF.  A new Rasmussen Reports survey finds 56 percent of voters who are serving in the military or have served in the past now view President Donald Trump as a weaker military commander in chief compared to most recent presidents.

 

D.C. CORRESPONDENTS DINNER CANCELED.  This year's White House Correspondents' Association dinner is canceled after originally being postponed from April to Aug. 29 due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

 

RENAMING JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT SOUGHT.  California Democrats in Orange County are demanding that the county’s John Wayne Airport be renamed and all likenesses of Wayne be removed from the airport, over “racist and bigoted statements” made by Wayne in a 1971 interview with Playboy magazine.