faster Archives - Mediarabe

5G could generate trillions in benefits in the next decade. So why aren’t companies moving faster with it?

October 12, 2020

In the next ten years, a whopping extra $8 trillion could be added to global GDP thanks to 5G-enabled industries, according to predictions from Nokia.

Research sponsored by the Finnish 5G equipment provider suggests that 5G will underpin the age of IoT, AI, smart cities and autonomous cars, and have a direct positive impact on business performance.

The findings seem at odds with the current context: while the Covid-19 pandemic continues to cripple small and large companies alike, some analysts predict that businesses will focus on near-term survival, and that investments in technologies that are not directly linked to recovery will take a backseat. It’s hard to get excited by 5G when you don’t even get to leave your house.

But Nokia’s research found that, instead of shying away from IT investments, the health crisis has prompted companies to double down on digital transformation programs. The report estimates, therefore, that

UCLA Health scientists pioneer faster, cheaper COVID-19 testing technology

October 8, 2020

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UCLA Health scientists pioneer faster, cheaper COVID-19 testing technology — A nasal swab used to collect a specimen is stored for laboratory testing for the presence of coronavirus. Credit: Mufid Majnun/Unsplash

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency use authorization for scientists at UCLA Health to begin using a new method of COVID-19 detection using sequencing technology called SwabSeq. The method is capable of testing thousands of samples for coronavirus at the same time, producing accurate, individual results in 12 to 24 hours.

SwabSeq adds a unique molecular bar code to each sample in the first step of its processing. The samples are then combined in a sequencer and the bar codes allow for the identification of which specific sample has the virus. The underlying technology of SwabSeq can be applied to any type of sample collection, such as a nasopharyngeal, oropharyngeal or saliva test.

“This is a technological breakthrough that will dramatically increase the amount of COVID-19

As some push for faster COVID-19 reopenings, Newsom warns of a possible second wave

September 29, 2020

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"If we're not vigilant, ... these numbers can start to tip back up," Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday. <span class="copyright">(Associated Press)</span> — “If we’re not vigilant, … these numbers can start to tip back up,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday. (Associated Press)

By practically every metric, California is steadily beating back the coronavirus pandemic. But officials are watching data that could suggest a second surge of the virus is on the way, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday.

As COVID-19 test positivity rates, hospitalizations and deaths have fallen, more than half of California’s counties have been allowed to reopen some indoor business operations. Health officials are now watching as a lesser-known metric that signals how quickly the virus is spreading has “crept back up,” Newsom said.

“If we’re not cautious, if we’re not vigilant, if we’re not wearing our masks, if we’re not practicing physical distancing, these numbers can start to tip back up,” he said.

The metric, called the effective transmission number, represents the average number of people who are infected by

WHO, partners roll out faster COVID tests for poorer nations

September 28, 2020

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“We have an agreement, we have seed funding and now we need the full amount of funds to buy these tests,” he said, without specifying.

Dr. Catharina Boehme, chief executive of a non-profit group called the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, said the rollout would be in 20 countries in Africa, and would rely on support of groups including the Clinton Health Access Initiative. She said the diagnostic tests will be provided by SD Biosensor and Abbott.

Peter Sands, the executive director of the Global Fund, a partnership that works to end epidemics, said it would make an initial $50 million available from its COVID-19 response mechanism. He said the deployment of the quality antigen rapid diagnostic tests will be a “significant step” to help contain and combat the coronavirus.

“They’re not a silver bullet, but hugely valuable as a complement to PCR tests, since although they are less accurate,

‘Sewer sludge’ detects virus outbreaks a week faster than contact tracing, study finds

September 27, 2020

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Researchers at Yale University found that testing “sewer sludge” in wastewater for coronavirus could detect an outbreak more than a week earlier than traditional contact tracing.

In the study, published last week in the journal Nature Biotechnology, researchers began taking daily samples from a New Haven-area wastewater treatment plant, which serves multiple towns in Connecticut including New Haven, East Haven, Hamden and parts of Woodbridge.

The study’s results, which span 10 weeks from March 19 to June 1, found that testing sewers for Covid-19 — collecting samples from the “primary sewage sludge” of settled solids — produces transmission trends that are “very similar” to those of contact tracing, but come about “six to eight” days earlier.

University Of Arizona Wastewater Testing Halts Potential Covid-19 Cases At Dorm (Cheney Orr / Bloomberg via Getty Images file)

Wastewater testing is exactly as it sounds — and it isn’t anything new.

The science

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