POSSIBLE PROBLEMS WITH RAPID COVID-19 TEST PROBED

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health officials are alerting doctors to a potential accuracy problem with a rapid test for COVID-19 used at thousands of hospitals, clinics and testing sites across the U.S. — including the White House.

The Food and Drug Administration says it’s investigating preliminary data suggesting Abbott Laboratories' 15-minute test can miss COVID-19 cases, falsely clearing patients of infection. The test is used daily at the White House to test President Donald Trump and key members of his staff, including the coronavirus task force.

The warning came one day after researchers at New York University reported results suggesting Abbott's test can miss up to half the infections caught by a rival test made by Cepheid. The research has not been peer-reviewed or published in a medical journal and was based on about 100 patients.

The researchers found Abbott's test, run on the company's portable system, missed a-third of the infections caught by Cepheid's test when swabs were stored in liquid used to transport laboratory samples. When the samples were kept dry, the test missed 48% of the cases flagged by Cepheid's test.

LAWSUIT AGAINST TRUMP’S USE OF HOTEL FOR GOV’T REVIVED

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A lawsuit accusing President Donald Trump of illegally profiting off the presidency through his luxury Washington hotel has been revived.

The lawsuit brought by the state of Maryland and the District of Columbia alleges Trump violated the emoluments clause of the Constitution by accepting profits through foreign and domestic officials who stay at the Trump International Hotel.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Justice says the DOJ will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.

Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and District Attorney General Karl Racine say they hope the ruling would jumpstart their efforts to obtain financial records showing how much state and foreign governments have paid the Trump Organization to stay at the hotel and hold events there.

CORONAVIRUS - FRENCH DENTISTS

PARIS (AP) — Anyone who suffered through France's two-month lockdown with a toothache or other oral affliction of a non-emergency nature has a hope of licking the pain.

Dental practices around the country are cautiously reopening and accepting appointments after the French government eased restrictions on some businesses, services and public activity.

Yet getting back to work in the age of coronavirus requires caution for the more than 40,000 French dentists — because their practice puts them at high risk of becoming infected.

Because respiratory droplets are a way the virus spreads among people, dentistry demands protecting patients and practitioners. That means not only disinfecting tools and surfaces, but also layer upon layer of extra screens, wraps, gloves and masks.

The World Health Organization has recommended specialized face masks for health care providers performing medical procedures such as ventilation and intubation that produce fine, airborne particles, which might transmit the coronavirus. Drilling teeth for fillings is also known to generate aerosolized viral particles.

AUTHORITIES IN FLORIDA LOOKING FOR TWO NFL PLAYERS

MIAMI (AP) — Police in South Florida are trying to find New York Giants cornerback DeAndre Baker and Seattle Seahawks cornerback Quinton Dunbar after multiple witnesses accused them of an armed robbery at a party.

Miramar police issued arrest warrants for both men yesterday on four counts each of armed robbery with a firearm. Baker faces an additional four counts of aggravated assault with a firearm. The residential community is located between Fort Lauderdale and Miami.

Baker, 22, and Dunbar, 27, were attending a cookout at a Miramar home Wednesday night when a fight broke out — and the warrant says Baker pulled out a handgun. Witnesses told investigators the two players and two other men began robbing other people at the party of thousands of dollars in cash, watches and other valuables.

Police said the four fled the home in three vehicles: a Mercedes Benz, a Lamborghini and a BMW.