Jun 9, 2020 - Sports

Empty stadiums could destroy sports teams' home-field advantage

Kendall Baker, author of Sports

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Home field advantage is important across virtually every sport, but judging by what we've seen in Germany's Bundesliga and other soccer leagues, the advantage it provides may vanish behind closed doors.

By the numbers: Since the Bundesliga returned in front of empty stands, home teams have won just 21.7% of matches (10 of 46 games), down from 43.3% before the shutdown, per ESPN. The same trends have been seen in Estonia (11 home wins after 29 games) and Czech Republic (10 home wins after 32 games).

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Bryan Walsh, author of Future
Sep 16, 2020 - Health

Exclusive: First full at-home COVID-19 test

The Gauss/Cellex rapid at-home COVID-19 test. Credit: Gauss

Gauss, a computer vision startup, and Cellex, a biotech company that works on diagnostics, are announcing the first rapid COVID-19 test that can be fully performed by people at home without involving a laboratory.

Why it matters: Experts agree that the U.S. still needs far more widespread testing to help contain the coronavirus pandemic. An antigen test that could be performed and provide results rapidly at home could help reduce testing delays and allow people to quickly find out whether they need to isolate because of a COVID-19 infection.

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Orion Rummler
Sep 16, 2020 - Health

CDC director suggests face masks offer more COVID-19 protection than vaccine would

CDC director Robert Redfield suggested in a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Wednesday that face masks are "more guaranteed" to protect against the coronavirus than a vaccine, citing the potential for some people to not become immune to the virus after receiving the shot.

What he's saying: "These face masks are the most important, powerful public health tool we have. And I will continue to appeal for all Americans, all individuals in our country, to embrace these face coverings. I've said if we did it for 6, 8, 10, 12 weeks, we'd bring this pandemic under control," he said.

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Sam Baker, Andrew Witherspoon
Sep 17, 2020 - Health

Coronavirus cases increase in 17 states

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Data: The COVID Tracking Project, state health departments; Map: Andrew Witherspoon, Sara Wise/Axios

Coronavirus infections ticked up slightly over the past week, thanks to scattered outbreaks in every region of the country.

Where it stands: The U.S. has been making halting, uneven progress against the virus since August. Overall, we're moving in the right direction, but we're often taking two steps forward and one step back.

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