Plasma saves 3/100, not 35/100 and other math mistakes federal officials should not make

FDA Commissioner admits his confusion about the data yet false information remains posted by FDA and others. And 46 more cases of bleach poisoning in Texas.

• After severe criticism for confusing “relative risk” with “absolute risk,” FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn apologized. President Trump, HHS Secretary Alex Azar, Hahn and the FDA official Twitter account all repeated the incorrect claim that convalescent plasma was shown to reduce COVID-19 deaths by 35%. What Hahn and others don’t want to say out loud is that the absolute risk reduction in the Mayo Clinic study was more like 3%. In other words, convalescent plasma might save 3 out of 100 patients, not 35. Important: FDA still hasn’t explained why it quickly reversed its decision to delay emergency use authorization of convalescent plasma after a Trump tweet last week criticizing the agency.

• The U.S. EPA approved a cleaning product that protects surfaces from COVID-19 for up to a week. American Airlines will be among its first users. The compound, called SurfaceWise2 and made by Allied BioScience of Dallas, inactivates germs within two hours of application and persists for up to seven days. It is not a replacement for normal, thorough cleaning.

• The COVID-19 virus survives on frozen meat, but researchers still doubt the virus can be transmitted via food.

• Rushing a vaccine into use before full safety and efficacy studies are done would jeopardize the development of more effective vaccines, says National Institute of Allergy and Immunology Director Anthony Fauci in Reuters interview.

• One-third of the COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts and 3% of all cases in the United States have been traced to one biotech company’s meeting in Boston in March, when COVID-19 was rampant but undetected in Europe and elsewhere.

• Texas poison control officials are again warning people not to drink bleach. Nearly 50 cases of bleach-ingestion by people trying to stave off COVID-19 were recorded in North Texas since August 1, according to CBSDFW.com.

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