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Image copyright Getty Images Image caption As the US economy reopens, some lawmakers say it's time to cut back the pandemic relief When Brandon Humberston's weekly unemployment benefits finally kicked in after months of waiting, the $750 (£586) cheque was a "godsend". Suddenly the 19-year-old, who worked as a cook at Mexican restaurant chain Chipotle until the pandemic cost him his job, could pay rent and buy groceries - even save a little. Now much of that income is set to disappear. The $600 a week additional payment that the US approved to top up unemployment benefits during the pandemic will expire on 31 ...

Researchers have investigated the effectiveness of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin in treating COVID-19 patients. (Photo: Getty Images)As scientists work on finding effective treatments against COVID-19, one new study confirms previous research that shows the drug hydroxychloroquine isn’t the answer. In the study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) and funded in part by the pharmaceutical company EMS Pharma, researchers looked at the effectiveness of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin in treating COVID-19 patients. Hospitalized patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 were randomly assigned to receive standard care for the disease (such as the use of glucocorticoids, antibiotic ...

Good levels of vitamin D, the so-called sunshine vitamin, help people to fight the coronavirus more quickly and effectively and reduce chances of hospitalization, Israeli researchers have concluded. However, others are cautioning broad conclusions, saying other factors may be involved. Milana Frenkel-Morgenstern of Bar Ilan University told The Times of Israel on Sunday that vitamin D is “like a steroid,” after publishing what she says is the world’s largest population-based study of its kind. Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up She embarked on the joint study with Leumit Health Services to probe whether there...

Questions abound as a tiny Italian island has been mostly spared from the devastations of COVID-19. Were people on Giglio Island perhaps infected but didn’t show symptoms? Was it something genetic? Something else, or just plain luck? None of Giglio’s roughly 800 close-knit islanders said they developed COVID-19 symptoms even though the conditions seemed favorable for the disease to spread like wildfire, as The Associated Press reported. The Gigliesi, as the residents are known, have socialized in the steep alleys near the port or on the granite steps serving as narrow streets in the hilltop Castle neighborhood, with densely packed homes built against the remnants of a fortress erected centuries ago to protect against pirates. Giglio Island has seen zero cases of coronavirus,...