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KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — As the coronavirus spreads in Africa, it threatens in multiple ways those who earn their living on the streets — people like Mignonne, a 25-year-old sex worker with HIV. The lockdown in Rwanda has kept many of her customers away, she said, so she has less money to buy food. And when she doesn’t eat, the antiviral drugs she takes for HIV can bring on pain, weakness and nausea, or even make her pass out. “Yet it’s equally dangerous when you don’t take the drug,” Mignonne said in an interview. “You will die.” Similar challenges exist elsewhere in Africa, which has the world’s highest burden of HIV. Studies have shown that food insecurity is a barrier to taking the drugs daily and can decrease their efficacy, affecting not only sex workers but anyone where food — or th...

FILE PHOTO: A large mask hangs on the face of a lion statue standing outside of the main branch of the New York Public Library in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., July 1, 2020. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson (Reuters) - The United States reported more than 53,000 new COVID-19 cases on Friday and several states set new records, according to a Reuters tally. A surge in coronavirus cases has put President Donald Trump’s handling of the crisis under the microscope and jeopardized reopening the economy, with some states closing high-risk businesses. Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee all set single-day records for new cases on Friday, according to a Reuters tally. The daily U.S. tally stood at 53,483 late Friday, below the previous day...

Pleads with public to take precautions, avoid overwhelming system (Update: Adding video, comments from St. Charles official) BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- St. Charles Bend said Friday it's seen a near-doubling in COVID-19 hospitalizations in 24 hours, from six to 11, and urged residents to take precautions to avoid overwhelming the hospital's capacity in coming days and weeks. Hospital spokesman Ben Salmon told NewsChannel 21 the hospital had six COVID-19 patients on Thursday and 11 as of Friday afternoon. Two were in the intensive care unit, he said, and one was on a ventilator. "While the numbers seem 'low,' the concern is the exponential growth we are seeing in both Central Oregon’s case count and our hospitalizations," the St. Charles Health System said in a Fa...

Public health officials on Friday linked 18 new coronavirus cases in Clark County to a Vancouver restaurant. Four employees and 14 customers of Orchards Tap Bar & Grill have tested positive for coronavirus, according to Clark County Public Health. “Given the number of customers who have tested positive, we’re concerned others may be at risk of getting sick,” Dr. Alan Melnick, director of Clark County Public Health, said in a statement. The agency is working now to identify people who may have been exposed, said spokesperson Marissa Armstrong. County officials urge people who visited Orchards Tap Bar & Grill between June 19 and 25 to get tested for coronavirus — even if they don’t have symptoms — and to quarantine at home for two weeks since the day they visited. The county is st...