since announcing that the Food and Drug
Administration had approved its test for the
detection of the novel coronavirus. Abbott’s
portable ID NOW platform can produce positive
test results in as little as five minutes, and
negative results in 13 minutes. The tests are
expected to be available next week and the
company says it will ramp up manufacturing to
deliver 50,000 per day.MARKETS
Stocks pushed higher on Wall Street, led by big
gains for health care companies announcing
developments that could aid in the coronavirus
outbreak, is coming off the best week for the
S&P 500 since hitting bottom after the financial
crisis. It was a different story in energy markets,
where a barrel of U.S. crude plunged below $20
per barrel.EXTRA
Facebook is investing an additional $100 million
in local journalism to support reporting on
the pandemic. Emergency grant funding of
$25 million will go to local news through the
Facebook Journalism Project and another $75
million will be devoted to media marketing.
Facebook, which has a rocky relationship with
the media industry, has already committed $300
million to journalism organizations.
One of Florida’s largest newspapers, meanwhile,
announced that it would temporarily change it’s
print frequency to two days a week. The Tampa
Bay Times, which is based in St. Petersburg,
said it will deliver newspapers to homes on
Wednesdays and Sundays, the paper’s largest
circulation days.Image: Alvaro Barrientos