Analysis

By the second week in July, COVID-19 cases in North Carolina were climbing fast.

With nearly 19,000 diagnoses over the previous two weeks, only five states recorded more new coronavirus cases than North Carolina did.

"Today is our highest day of hospitalizations and our second-highest day of cases," Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, announced on July 9, standing behind a podium in the state's Emergency Operations Center. "Please continue to treat the virus like the deadly threat that it is."

One of the few treatment options for patients seriously ill with COVID-19 is the antiviral drug remdesivir. Authorized by the Food and Drug Administration in May for emergency use in the pandemic, remdesivir is in short supply. The federal government has taken on the responsibility for deciding where vials of the medicine should go.

The odds of catching Covid-19 on an airplane are slimmer than you think, scientists say According to a new study, the risk of contracting the virus on a full flight is just 1 in 4,300, and the odds lower to 1 in 7,700 if the airline is adopting the middle seat open policy. Tamara Hardingham-Gill, CNN CNN

(CNN) — Sitting  squeezed between a number of strangers on board an aircraft might feel like a risky position during these uncertain times.