August 14, 2020 • 19 mins
President Trump on Thursday announced a major foreign policy achievement, Israel and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to establish a “full normalization of relations” and Israel will also suspend its annexation plans in the West Bank. This makes the UAE the third Arab country that has active diplomatic ties with Israel. Dave Lawler, world editor at Axios, joins us for what this big announcement means.
Next, doctors’ offices, nursing homes, and federal officials are in a scramble to obtain point-of-care COVID-19 tests from the only two companies that have emergency approval to produce them. There has been some concern about accuracy with these tests but they are useful for quicker results and don’t need to be sent away to a lab. Sarah Krouse, reporter at the WSJ, joins us for more.
Finally, as dentists have started to open up, they are seeing patients come in with a new set of symptoms and they are dubbing it “mask mouth.” Dentists are seeing inflammation in gums, decaying teeth, and really bad breath. Wearing a mask can lead to dry mouth and a host of other problems unless proper precautions are taken. Melkorka Licea, features writer at the NY Post, joins us for what to do about mask mouth.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Friday, August fourteen. I'm Oscar Ramirez in Los Angeles
and this is the daily dive. President Trump on Thursday
announced a major foreign policy achievement. Israel and the United
Arab Emirates have agreed to establish a full normalization of relations,
(00:20):
and Israel will also suspend its annexation plans in the
West Bank. This makes the U a e. The third
Arab country that has active diplomatic ties with Israel. Dave Lawler,
World editor at Axios joins us for what this big
announcement means next. Doctor's offices, nursing homes, and federal officials
are in a scramble to obtain point of care COVID
(00:41):
nineteen tests from the only two companies that have emergency
approval to produce them. There have been some concern about
accuracy with these tests, but they are useful for quicker
results and don't need to be sent away to a lab.
Sarah Krause, reporter for The Wall Street Journal, joins us
for more. Finally, as dentists have started to open up,
they are seeing patients come in with a new set
(01:03):
of symptoms and they are dubbing it mask mold. Dentists
are seeing inflammation and gums, the cane teeth and really
bad breath. Wearing a mask can lead to dry mouth
and a host of other problems unless proper precautions are taken.
Milkorka Lisaya each Was, writer at The New York Post,
joins us for what to do about mask mouth. It's
(01:24):
news without the noise. Let's dive in. I think this
is one of those stories that everybody, regardless of your
political uh stripes, are on that sort of thing. Everybody
is excited about the fact that an Arab, a Muslim
Arab government is making peace with Israel. Joining us now
is Dave Lawler, World editor at Axios. Thanks for joining us, Dave.
(01:46):
Great to be with you. President Trump on Thursday announced
a major foreign policy achievement. Israel has struck a deal
with the United Arab Emirates to establish full normalization of relations.
Is really also is gonna forego any plans to annex
territory in the West Bank. They want to focus on
improving ties with the rest of the Arab world. So
(02:08):
it's a pretty big deal. This is only the third
country now that has normalized some type of relations with Israel,
so it seems to be a pretty big announcement, Dave,
tell us a little bit about it. Yes, so this
in some ways came out of nowhere and in some
ways didn't. I'm not sure that anybody was expecting this
announcement today, um that the U a E. And Israel
would officially recognize one another and established diplomatic relations. As
(02:32):
you say, it's been decades since another country, another Arab country,
recognized Israel, and so this really is a major breakthrough.
It has been going on behind the scenes. The U
a E. And Israel have been working together, actually particularly
against Iran, but sort of on a broad range of
issues for a while now. But it's gone on in secret.
(02:52):
They haven't been they haven't spoken about it openly, and
this is kind of bringing that out into the open,
and it really is. It's a landmark announcement. The leaders
have spun it a bit differently afterwards, so we have
to see how it plays out in practice, but it
was a big announcement today. Egypt and Jordan's are the
only other two Arab countries that have active diplomatic ties
with Israel. You did mention that each country was kind
(03:14):
of spinning it their own way. Tell us how that
plays out because everybody stands to gain something a little
different from this. For President Trump, obviously major foreign policy achievement,
this is something he can tout later on before the
election comes. But what's in it for Israel? What's in
it for the U a E. So Trump put out
this statement, which was a joint statement. It was signed
(03:35):
by the leaders of all three countries, and it had
basically two main points. One was that UM, Israel and
the U. E. As we mentioned, would would open diplomatic relations.
The other was that Israel would suspend its plan to
annex parts of the West Bank, which is you know,
has been very controversial UM. And so for Trump he
gets to look like a statesman. We have some reporting
(03:56):
that he's hoping for assigning ceremony maybe at the White
House to really heut this as a big diplomatic achievement
ahead of the election. But for Benjamin Netan, Yahoo, who
just gave a televised address, this is quite a sensitive matter.
He he leads the right wing coalition, there's a lot
of pressure to move ahead with his campaign promise to
annex parts of the West Bank. He's now said he'll
(04:17):
put that on hold. But what he did was he
framed this is temporary. He said, look, Trump said this
was part of the deal. We couldn't move ahead on
annexations and we can't do it without US support. So
I had to put that on hold to get this
bigger deal. But that doesn't mean this is off the
table going forward. So so he's basically reserving the right
to still move ahead with annexations, just not at this
(04:39):
time for MBZ, the Crown Prince of the U a E.
He emphasized the other point that I got Israel to
hold up on annexations. You know that annexations, they're suspended,
And he downplayed the diplomatic relations side of the deal,
saying we've agreed to work toward diplomatic relations, which sounds
a lot different than what Trump was saying, which is
(05:00):
that this is a done deal. So they've had their
own spin to sell it to a domestic and a
regional audience, but they are all signed on this same
joint statement that Trump gave. So something's gotta give to
a degree. How important is this for the Trump administration
right now? Obviously in the United States domestically, we have
a huge problem with coronavirus that seems to be top
of mind for a lot of people. Obviously the economy
(05:22):
as well as it's kind of attached to what's going
on with a pandemic, and this a foreign policy issue.
How does this improve his standing I guess in the
country or with winning points for the election. So this
might be the only thing Trump does between now and
the election that Joe Biden will actually come out and
say it was a good thing. Joe Biden released a
(05:42):
statement saying that it's a it's a good thing that
Israel and the U a e. Had agreed to normalize relations.
So this is something that you know, Trump can position
himself as looking statesman like, as the kind of guy
who can deliver deals internationally. That has not always been
his reputation. You know, He's he's really pulled the U
S out of more deals and he's put together right internationally.
(06:04):
So this is a little bit of a different side
to Trump's campaign. You know, foreign policy has not been
a huge part of the campaign except for this anti
China drive. So in all of those senses, it's a
good thing for Trump. Now you raise the fact that
coronavirus is looming over everything. Do I think that there
are many voters who in November are going to be
thinking about this deal rather than about how the US
(06:24):
is doing on coronavirus. Perhaps not. Jared Kushner seemed to
be a pretty big figure in this. He's been working
on Middle East peace efforts for more than three years now.
How big a part of this deal was he He
was certainly a big part of it, and one of
his efforts has been to bring these Gulf countries and
Israel closer together. They have a lot of overlapping interests,
(06:46):
particularly they don't like Iran, but also economically it makes
sense for them to work more closely together. So he's
definitely been trying to get these leaders to talk to
one another. He's been trying to improve relations there. You
mentioned his Middle East Peace Plan, which you know was
was kind of dismissed upon release as as unworkable. Obviously,
we don't have peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, and
(07:08):
it's important to note that the Palestinians aren't a party
to this deal either. So this is not peace in
our time in the Middle East, but in but in
terms of this sort of smaller objective, which is getting
people that we get along with and then middle least
to get along better with one another. That does seem
to have some momentum. Well, in the next few weeks
there's gonna be, as you mentioned, hopefully assigning bilattal agreements
(07:30):
on all this stuff. I know the President has said
he hopes that maybe hosts some of that, so we'll
see if that happens. But in the meantime, just a
good deal for the president and his administration. Dave Lawler,
World Editor at Axios, thank you very much for joining us.
All right, thanks so much. There are two companies that
(07:55):
have Emergency Youth authorization for their tests. One is struggling
to produce enough analyzers to meet demand and the other
is struggling to make enough tests. Joining us now is
Sarah Krauss, reporter for the Wall Street Journal. Thanks for
joining us, Sarah, thanks for having me. We've been talking
about testing throughout this whole process of the coronavirus pandemic,
(08:15):
and one of the tests that everybody has kind of
been looking for these point of care COVID nineteen tests,
something that you could find in a doctor's office, a
nursing home, something like that, where you can just basically
go take the test there and maybe twenty minutes later
you'd get your results. And right now, we only have
two companies that are approved to actually make and distribute
(08:36):
these things, but there's so much demand for them, it's
really hard for them to keep up. Right now, Sarah
tell us a little bit about these Sure, So these
are as you say, point of care tests that sit
you know, in a doctor's office in a nursing home
and deliver results in about fifteen minutes. And what I
was writing about in particular are rapid response antigen tests,
(08:56):
so they are looking for virus proteins while some other
tests look for the virus is genetic material Um. But
for this particular type of tests, which represents a small
but growing area of COVID nineteen testing in the US,
there are two companies that have Emergency Youth authorization for
their tests. One is struggling to produce enough analyzers to
(09:17):
meet demand and the other is struggling to make enough tests. Now,
what is the accuracy of these I know that we've
seen a lot of stories about how sometimes they can
deliver false negatives things like that, how do these tests fair?
That is still a concern. Um and early sort of
figures said that these tests had a higher chance of
producing a false negative than the sort of PCR or
(09:40):
molecular tests that were out there at the time. Now,
federal officials have said that as these tests are more
widely used, it's becoming clear that the accuracy is more comparable.
But it's still a concern. Some doctor's offices have said,
you know, they're a little bit wary, and really because
they don't want to tell someone that they're negative and
let them go back to school or go back to work,
and when in fact, um they are infected. So in
(10:03):
some cases this does require a follow up molecular test.
So who are these two companies that are the only
ones authorized at this moment, And you mentioned that they
each have their own kind of unique problems, So tell
us who the two companies are sure? So one is
quite al Corp and one is backed in Dickinson and Company.
And these two companies create both the test as well
(10:24):
as the analyzer or box that you insert the test
in to get the result. So you need that, you know,
as you can imagine, that ecosystem has a lot of
different components that all have to fit together to create
a system that works. And these are testing systems that
also run flu tests or strep tests, and some of
them were already in circulation prior to the pandemic. But
(10:45):
because there's such a thirst for COVID testing, particularly testing
that delivers results in minutes rather than days, their systems
are in high demand. UM. So it's it's about being
able to get access to both the analyzer to run
the test as well as the test themselves. And now
one of the important questions for everything how much do
they cost? Because they have a unique structure with how
(11:06):
to either buy them, you can lease them. Let's say,
you know, by the box, but buy a bunch of
other tests for flu and strepthroat, including COVID tests. They
have like this weird structure on how to acquire these things. Yeah,
there's different sales policies at each company. But if we
look at Quitdel for example, um, they sell the analyzers
outright for about each or they give the analyzer for
(11:27):
free if you agree to buy a certain number of
tests COVID and non COVID to to run on it.
Um and so, um, you know that this is something
that practices. You know, small either pediatricians or doctor's offices
are trying to figure out what they can afford, you know,
do they need to use one of these companies flu tests,
you know, instead of what they're currently using, because in
(11:50):
buying them along with COVID tests, they're able to get
this machine. So there is sort of a business choice
that some practices that want these machines are having to make,
you know. And in the background, the federal government has
placed a large order for a lot of these machines
to dispatch their nursing homes where there's been a lot
of outbreaks and really in outbreak settings or where experts
say these tests are useful. Um, they can help you
(12:13):
sort of quickly identify people who are infected and and
then isolate and do contact tracing from there. So the
ability to quickly get information that you can act on
is the main benefit of this type of test. I know,
right now, obviously we're facing surgeon cases and a lot
of places and there's the need for mass testing. But
do they feel that these kind of point of contact
(12:34):
tests are going to be the future basically when maybe
we don't need as much testing, these are the ones
that they're going to be using primarily, you know, I think,
in particularly over the next several months, you know, we're
going to have a mix of tests. These tests, these
rapid antigen tests are a pretty small component of testing
in the US right now, but they're expected to grow rapidly.
(12:54):
There are other molecular point of care tests, you know,
the habit i D now is one that that folks
might have heard about. Um, those are also used in
you know, doctor's office type settings. So right now we're
at this moment where there are a number of new
testing technologies that are being brought online that will continue
to diversify that pool. Um, you know, so it's sort
(13:16):
of influx at this time. Most of the tests that
the average consumer is getting right now is a molecular
or so called like PCR test. And when it comes
to the shortages that these companies are facing, is it
kind of the same shortages that a lot of other
testing needs are you know, swabs, different things like that. Yeah,
it's it's swabs. And it's pure manufacturing capacity, um, you know,
(13:38):
in terms of being able to crank these machines and
and and tests out fast enough to then dispatch to
all the places where they're wanted and needed. I mean,
it definitely seems like these rapid response tests are going
to be increasing in demand overall. As we mentioned doctors,
nursing homes, would be great to just have something so
you don't have to wait days and you get that
(13:59):
answer right away. But just like everywhere else, the demand
is so great and the supplies are so few. It's
they're just having a hard time keep up. Yeah, And
you know, I think in July, you know, when you
saw people waiting two weeks or even longer for the
results of diagnostic tests that were sent all the way
out to labs, it's sort of underscored the importance of
immediate results that you can act on and sort of
(14:21):
have information that can lead to, you know, subsequent decisions
to isolate or contact trace. You know, so there's a
thirst for for answers quickly now. Sarah Krauss, reporter at
The Wall Street Journal, thank you very much for joining us.
Thank you so much. Has the alliteration, but also it's
(14:46):
sort of a play on mess mouth, which most of
us are familiar with, but for those of us who
are not, it's uh when people get you know, black
and cracked teeth from doing mess Joining us now is
Melkorka Lisaya, features writer at The New York Post. Thanks
for joining us, mall Cork. Thank you so much for
having me. So dentists have been reopening their doors and
(15:08):
they're saying that some of their patients are coming in
with a new set of symptoms that they've called mask mouth.
Obviously this has to do with wearing the face coverings
because of the coronavirus pandemic, and they're saying that people
are coming in and having some problems. I love the
quote from one dentist that she spoke to quote, patients
are coming into us like, wow, my breath smells I
(15:31):
needed cleaning. So I saw that. I thought it was hilarious,
but uh, you know, some of the reasonings behind it
seemed to be generally true. So tell us what you're
hearing from dentists about mask mouth. So one of the
big things about wearing a mask is that we tend
to want to breathe with our mouths open, which is
something that you know typically without a mask on, you
(15:51):
wouldn't be doing. So when you start to breathe with
your mouth open, it actually makes your mouth get dry
and your saliva doesn't cover your teeth the way it should,
which is leading to some of these issues. And what
kind of things are they seeing in actual people's mouth.
There's issues with gums and cavities. There's a bunch of
things they're looking at. You know, it's it's leading to
(16:11):
just more general bacteria in the mouth, So that could
lead to gum disease, it can lead to cavities, and
if it's not taking care of, it could lead to
more serious things like, you know, a heart attack, which
hopefully missing like that would happen. But yet it's sort
of exacerbating these issues. Why did they come up with
that name of mask mouth? So they told me, you know,
(16:31):
it's catchy, of course it has the alliteration, but also
it's sort of a play on mess mouth, which most
of us are familiar with. But for those of us
who are not, it's uh when people get you know,
black and cracked teeth from doing mess. Now, this is
an interesting story to me only because obviously, throughout the
pandemic a lot of things shut down and people weren't
(16:52):
doing a lot of their routine checkups, whether it be
at the doctor's office or at dentist office, and there
has been this conversation about is it's safe to go
back to these things? Actually the w h O, the
World Health Organization, just offered some new guidance saying that
you should be careful about going to your dentist office
and delay some of these routine dental checkups because of
(17:13):
what goes on there. Obviously, the dentist is right in
your mouth. They use sprays and different things that could
kick up virus particles. So when I saw this in
my head, I was like, well, dentists want to get
back to work. They want people to not put stuff off,
So they're talking about some of these problems that people
are experiencing now. But at the same time, the w
h O has conflicting guidance, so it's kind of like,
(17:35):
who do you believe in this kind of situation? Totally yeah,
you know, I think it really does just come down
to taking really good care of your teeth right now,
whether or not it is going into the dentist, but
just like take oral hygiene, maybe more seriously than ever.
Sounds like a safe in between. And I think the
w h O even offered guidance saying, well, you should
(17:55):
do like some type of telemedicine thing, you know, get
on a skype call or zoom call with your patients
and instruct them on how to properly take care of yourself. So,
in the dentist that you spoke to about this, what
did they say, what can we do to try to
cut down on this mask mouth? Yeah, so they basically
were like, simple, try to breathe with your mouth clothes,
(18:16):
with your mouth clothes, and with your nose, um, and
and things like, um, using a tongue scraper. They said,
it is really great, um, just to get all that
bacteria off. Maybe to brush your teeth more often during
the day, three times a day, and to definitely slop
and use mouthwash very regularly are all good things to do.
(18:37):
And they also recommended, uh, you know, to maybe cut
down on things that dehydrated, so coffee and alcohol. If
you can cut that down, it helps keep the saliva
in the mouth, Yeah, drinking a lot of water, which
you know obviously once you have the mask on, it's
tough to do all these things. So it's just kind
of be conscious of these slight adjustments that we should
be making so you don't get the really smelly breath
(19:00):
that at this And I mean, I guess it's coming
across if dentists are talking about it. That way. Yeah, totally,
And I mean it does make sense. If you're wearing
a mask, we all are like suddenly like, wait, does
my breath smell like that? Look more aware of it. Suddenly,
now you're only smelling your own breath exactly. It's like,
oh God, Okay. Mel Corca Lisaya, features writer at The
(19:21):
New York Post, thank you very much for joining us.
Of course, thank you so much. Again. That's it for today.
Join us on social media at Daily Dive on in
both Twitter and Instagram. Leave us a comment, give us
a rating, and tell us as stories that you're interested today.
(19:42):
Follow us and I heard radio or subscribe wherever you
get your podcast. This episode of the Daily Divers produced
by Victor Right and engineered by Tony Sarrantina, Hi, Moscar Ramirez,
and this was your Daily Dive
It's Friday, August fourteen. I'm Oscar Ramirez in Los Angeles
and this is the daily dive. President Trump on Thursday
announced a major foreign policy achievement. Israel and the United
Arab Emirates have agreed to establish a full normalization of relations,
(00:20):
and Israel will also suspend its annexation plans in the
West Bank. This makes the U a e. The third
Arab country that has active diplomatic ties with Israel. Dave Lawler,
World editor at Axios joins us for what this big
announcement means next. Doctor's offices, nursing homes, and federal officials
are in a scramble to obtain point of care COVID
(00:41):
nineteen tests from the only two companies that have emergency
approval to produce them. There have been some concern about
accuracy with these tests, but they are useful for quicker
results and don't need to be sent away to a lab.
Sarah Krause, reporter for The Wall Street Journal, joins us
for more. Finally, as dentists have started to open up,
they are seeing patients come in with a new set
(01:03):
of symptoms and they are dubbing it mask mold. Dentists
are seeing inflammation and gums, the cane teeth and really
bad breath. Wearing a mask can lead to dry mouth
and a host of other problems unless proper precautions are taken.
Milkorka Lisaya each Was, writer at The New York Post,
joins us for what to do about mask mouth. It's
(01:24):
news without the noise. Let's dive in. I think this
is one of those stories that everybody, regardless of your
political uh stripes, are on that sort of thing. Everybody
is excited about the fact that an Arab, a Muslim
Arab government is making peace with Israel. Joining us now
is Dave Lawler, World editor at Axios. Thanks for joining us, Dave.
(01:46):
Great to be with you. President Trump on Thursday announced
a major foreign policy achievement. Israel has struck a deal
with the United Arab Emirates to establish full normalization of relations.
Is really also is gonna forego any plans to annex
territory in the West Bank. They want to focus on
improving ties with the rest of the Arab world. So
(02:08):
it's a pretty big deal. This is only the third
country now that has normalized some type of relations with Israel,
so it seems to be a pretty big announcement, Dave,
tell us a little bit about it. Yes, so this
in some ways came out of nowhere and in some
ways didn't. I'm not sure that anybody was expecting this
announcement today, um that the U a E. And Israel
would officially recognize one another and established diplomatic relations. As
(02:32):
you say, it's been decades since another country, another Arab country,
recognized Israel, and so this really is a major breakthrough.
It has been going on behind the scenes. The U
a E. And Israel have been working together, actually particularly
against Iran, but sort of on a broad range of
issues for a while now. But it's gone on in secret.
(02:52):
They haven't been they haven't spoken about it openly, and
this is kind of bringing that out into the open,
and it really is. It's a landmark announcement. The leaders
have spun it a bit differently afterwards, so we have
to see how it plays out in practice, but it
was a big announcement today. Egypt and Jordan's are the
only other two Arab countries that have active diplomatic ties
with Israel. You did mention that each country was kind
(03:14):
of spinning it their own way. Tell us how that
plays out because everybody stands to gain something a little
different from this. For President Trump, obviously major foreign policy achievement,
this is something he can tout later on before the
election comes. But what's in it for Israel? What's in
it for the U a E. So Trump put out
this statement, which was a joint statement. It was signed
(03:35):
by the leaders of all three countries, and it had
basically two main points. One was that UM, Israel and
the U. E. As we mentioned, would would open diplomatic relations.
The other was that Israel would suspend its plan to
annex parts of the West Bank, which is you know,
has been very controversial UM. And so for Trump he
gets to look like a statesman. We have some reporting
(03:56):
that he's hoping for assigning ceremony maybe at the White
House to really heut this as a big diplomatic achievement
ahead of the election. But for Benjamin Netan, Yahoo, who
just gave a televised address, this is quite a sensitive matter.
He he leads the right wing coalition, there's a lot
of pressure to move ahead with his campaign promise to
annex parts of the West Bank. He's now said he'll
(04:17):
put that on hold. But what he did was he
framed this is temporary. He said, look, Trump said this
was part of the deal. We couldn't move ahead on
annexations and we can't do it without US support. So
I had to put that on hold to get this
bigger deal. But that doesn't mean this is off the
table going forward. So so he's basically reserving the right
to still move ahead with annexations, just not at this
(04:39):
time for MBZ, the Crown Prince of the U a E.
He emphasized the other point that I got Israel to
hold up on annexations. You know that annexations, they're suspended,
And he downplayed the diplomatic relations side of the deal,
saying we've agreed to work toward diplomatic relations, which sounds
a lot different than what Trump was saying, which is
(05:00):
that this is a done deal. So they've had their
own spin to sell it to a domestic and a
regional audience, but they are all signed on this same
joint statement that Trump gave. So something's gotta give to
a degree. How important is this for the Trump administration
right now? Obviously in the United States domestically, we have
a huge problem with coronavirus that seems to be top
of mind for a lot of people. Obviously the economy
(05:22):
as well as it's kind of attached to what's going
on with a pandemic, and this a foreign policy issue.
How does this improve his standing I guess in the
country or with winning points for the election. So this
might be the only thing Trump does between now and
the election that Joe Biden will actually come out and
say it was a good thing. Joe Biden released a
(05:42):
statement saying that it's a it's a good thing that
Israel and the U a e. Had agreed to normalize relations.
So this is something that you know, Trump can position
himself as looking statesman like, as the kind of guy
who can deliver deals internationally. That has not always been
his reputation. You know, He's he's really pulled the U
S out of more deals and he's put together right internationally.
(06:04):
So this is a little bit of a different side
to Trump's campaign. You know, foreign policy has not been
a huge part of the campaign except for this anti
China drive. So in all of those senses, it's a
good thing for Trump. Now you raise the fact that
coronavirus is looming over everything. Do I think that there
are many voters who in November are going to be
thinking about this deal rather than about how the US
(06:24):
is doing on coronavirus. Perhaps not. Jared Kushner seemed to
be a pretty big figure in this. He's been working
on Middle East peace efforts for more than three years now.
How big a part of this deal was he He
was certainly a big part of it, and one of
his efforts has been to bring these Gulf countries and
Israel closer together. They have a lot of overlapping interests,
(06:46):
particularly they don't like Iran, but also economically it makes
sense for them to work more closely together. So he's
definitely been trying to get these leaders to talk to
one another. He's been trying to improve relations there. You
mentioned his Middle East Peace Plan, which you know was
was kind of dismissed upon release as as unworkable. Obviously,
we don't have peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, and
(07:08):
it's important to note that the Palestinians aren't a party
to this deal either. So this is not peace in
our time in the Middle East, but in but in
terms of this sort of smaller objective, which is getting
people that we get along with and then middle least
to get along better with one another. That does seem
to have some momentum. Well, in the next few weeks
there's gonna be, as you mentioned, hopefully assigning bilattal agreements
(07:30):
on all this stuff. I know the President has said
he hopes that maybe hosts some of that, so we'll
see if that happens. But in the meantime, just a
good deal for the president and his administration. Dave Lawler,
World Editor at Axios, thank you very much for joining us.
All right, thanks so much. There are two companies that
(07:55):
have Emergency Youth authorization for their tests. One is struggling
to produce enough analyzers to meet demand and the other
is struggling to make enough tests. Joining us now is
Sarah Krauss, reporter for the Wall Street Journal. Thanks for
joining us, Sarah, thanks for having me. We've been talking
about testing throughout this whole process of the coronavirus pandemic,
(08:15):
and one of the tests that everybody has kind of
been looking for these point of care COVID nineteen tests,
something that you could find in a doctor's office, a
nursing home, something like that, where you can just basically
go take the test there and maybe twenty minutes later
you'd get your results. And right now, we only have
two companies that are approved to actually make and distribute
(08:36):
these things, but there's so much demand for them, it's
really hard for them to keep up. Right now, Sarah
tell us a little bit about these Sure, So these
are as you say, point of care tests that sit
you know, in a doctor's office in a nursing home
and deliver results in about fifteen minutes. And what I
was writing about in particular are rapid response antigen tests,
(08:56):
so they are looking for virus proteins while some other
tests look for the virus is genetic material Um. But
for this particular type of tests, which represents a small
but growing area of COVID nineteen testing in the US,
there are two companies that have Emergency Youth authorization for
their tests. One is struggling to produce enough analyzers to
(09:17):
meet demand and the other is struggling to make enough tests. Now,
what is the accuracy of these I know that we've
seen a lot of stories about how sometimes they can
deliver false negatives things like that, how do these tests fair?
That is still a concern. Um and early sort of
figures said that these tests had a higher chance of
producing a false negative than the sort of PCR or
(09:40):
molecular tests that were out there at the time. Now,
federal officials have said that as these tests are more
widely used, it's becoming clear that the accuracy is more comparable.
But it's still a concern. Some doctor's offices have said,
you know, they're a little bit wary, and really because
they don't want to tell someone that they're negative and
let them go back to school or go back to work,
and when in fact, um they are infected. So in
(10:03):
some cases this does require a follow up molecular test.
So who are these two companies that are the only
ones authorized at this moment, And you mentioned that they
each have their own kind of unique problems, So tell
us who the two companies are sure? So one is
quite al Corp and one is backed in Dickinson and Company.
And these two companies create both the test as well
(10:24):
as the analyzer or box that you insert the test
in to get the result. So you need that, you know,
as you can imagine, that ecosystem has a lot of
different components that all have to fit together to create
a system that works. And these are testing systems that
also run flu tests or strep tests, and some of
them were already in circulation prior to the pandemic. But
(10:45):
because there's such a thirst for COVID testing, particularly testing
that delivers results in minutes rather than days, their systems
are in high demand. UM. So it's it's about being
able to get access to both the analyzer to run
the test as well as the test themselves. And now
one of the important questions for everything how much do
they cost? Because they have a unique structure with how
(11:06):
to either buy them, you can lease them. Let's say,
you know, by the box, but buy a bunch of
other tests for flu and strepthroat, including COVID tests. They
have like this weird structure on how to acquire these things. Yeah,
there's different sales policies at each company. But if we
look at Quitdel for example, um, they sell the analyzers
outright for about each or they give the analyzer for
(11:27):
free if you agree to buy a certain number of
tests COVID and non COVID to to run on it.
Um and so, um, you know that this is something
that practices. You know, small either pediatricians or doctor's offices
are trying to figure out what they can afford, you know,
do they need to use one of these companies flu tests,
you know, instead of what they're currently using, because in
(11:50):
buying them along with COVID tests, they're able to get
this machine. So there is sort of a business choice
that some practices that want these machines are having to make,
you know. And in the background, the federal government has
placed a large order for a lot of these machines
to dispatch their nursing homes where there's been a lot
of outbreaks and really in outbreak settings or where experts
say these tests are useful. Um, they can help you
(12:13):
sort of quickly identify people who are infected and and
then isolate and do contact tracing from there. So the
ability to quickly get information that you can act on
is the main benefit of this type of test. I know,
right now, obviously we're facing surgeon cases and a lot
of places and there's the need for mass testing. But
do they feel that these kind of point of contact
(12:34):
tests are going to be the future basically when maybe
we don't need as much testing, these are the ones
that they're going to be using primarily, you know, I think,
in particularly over the next several months, you know, we're
going to have a mix of tests. These tests, these
rapid antigen tests are a pretty small component of testing
in the US right now, but they're expected to grow rapidly.
(12:54):
There are other molecular point of care tests, you know,
the habit i D now is one that that folks
might have heard about. Um, those are also used in
you know, doctor's office type settings. So right now we're
at this moment where there are a number of new
testing technologies that are being brought online that will continue
to diversify that pool. Um, you know, so it's sort
(13:16):
of influx at this time. Most of the tests that
the average consumer is getting right now is a molecular
or so called like PCR test. And when it comes
to the shortages that these companies are facing, is it
kind of the same shortages that a lot of other
testing needs are you know, swabs, different things like that. Yeah,
it's it's swabs. And it's pure manufacturing capacity, um, you know,
(13:38):
in terms of being able to crank these machines and
and and tests out fast enough to then dispatch to
all the places where they're wanted and needed. I mean,
it definitely seems like these rapid response tests are going
to be increasing in demand overall. As we mentioned doctors,
nursing homes, would be great to just have something so
you don't have to wait days and you get that
(13:59):
answer right away. But just like everywhere else, the demand
is so great and the supplies are so few. It's
they're just having a hard time keep up. Yeah, And
you know, I think in July, you know, when you
saw people waiting two weeks or even longer for the
results of diagnostic tests that were sent all the way
out to labs, it's sort of underscored the importance of
immediate results that you can act on and sort of
(14:21):
have information that can lead to, you know, subsequent decisions
to isolate or contact trace. You know, so there's a
thirst for for answers quickly now. Sarah Krauss, reporter at
The Wall Street Journal, thank you very much for joining us.
Thank you so much. Has the alliteration, but also it's
(14:46):
sort of a play on mess mouth, which most of
us are familiar with, but for those of us who
are not, it's uh when people get you know, black
and cracked teeth from doing mess Joining us now is
Melkorka Lisaya, features writer at The New York Post. Thanks
for joining us, mall Cork. Thank you so much for
having me. So dentists have been reopening their doors and
(15:08):
they're saying that some of their patients are coming in
with a new set of symptoms that they've called mask mouth.
Obviously this has to do with wearing the face coverings
because of the coronavirus pandemic, and they're saying that people
are coming in and having some problems. I love the
quote from one dentist that she spoke to quote, patients
are coming into us like, wow, my breath smells I
(15:31):
needed cleaning. So I saw that. I thought it was hilarious,
but uh, you know, some of the reasonings behind it
seemed to be generally true. So tell us what you're
hearing from dentists about mask mouth. So one of the
big things about wearing a mask is that we tend
to want to breathe with our mouths open, which is
something that you know typically without a mask on, you
(15:51):
wouldn't be doing. So when you start to breathe with
your mouth open, it actually makes your mouth get dry
and your saliva doesn't cover your teeth the way it should,
which is leading to some of these issues. And what
kind of things are they seeing in actual people's mouth.
There's issues with gums and cavities. There's a bunch of
things they're looking at. You know, it's it's leading to
(16:11):
just more general bacteria in the mouth, So that could
lead to gum disease, it can lead to cavities, and
if it's not taking care of, it could lead to
more serious things like, you know, a heart attack, which
hopefully missing like that would happen. But yet it's sort
of exacerbating these issues. Why did they come up with
that name of mask mouth? So they told me, you know,
(16:31):
it's catchy, of course it has the alliteration, but also
it's sort of a play on mess mouth, which most
of us are familiar with. But for those of us
who are not, it's uh when people get you know,
black and cracked teeth from doing mess. Now, this is
an interesting story to me only because obviously, throughout the
pandemic a lot of things shut down and people weren't
(16:52):
doing a lot of their routine checkups, whether it be
at the doctor's office or at dentist office, and there
has been this conversation about is it's safe to go
back to these things? Actually the w h O, the
World Health Organization, just offered some new guidance saying that
you should be careful about going to your dentist office
and delay some of these routine dental checkups because of
(17:13):
what goes on there. Obviously, the dentist is right in
your mouth. They use sprays and different things that could
kick up virus particles. So when I saw this in
my head, I was like, well, dentists want to get
back to work. They want people to not put stuff off,
So they're talking about some of these problems that people
are experiencing now. But at the same time, the w
h O has conflicting guidance, so it's kind of like,
(17:35):
who do you believe in this kind of situation? Totally yeah,
you know, I think it really does just come down
to taking really good care of your teeth right now,
whether or not it is going into the dentist, but
just like take oral hygiene, maybe more seriously than ever.
Sounds like a safe in between. And I think the
w h O even offered guidance saying, well, you should
(17:55):
do like some type of telemedicine thing, you know, get
on a skype call or zoom call with your patients
and instruct them on how to properly take care of yourself. So,
in the dentist that you spoke to about this, what
did they say, what can we do to try to
cut down on this mask mouth? Yeah, so they basically
were like, simple, try to breathe with your mouth clothes,
(18:16):
with your mouth clothes, and with your nose, um, and
and things like, um, using a tongue scraper. They said,
it is really great, um, just to get all that
bacteria off. Maybe to brush your teeth more often during
the day, three times a day, and to definitely slop
and use mouthwash very regularly are all good things to do.
(18:37):
And they also recommended, uh, you know, to maybe cut
down on things that dehydrated, so coffee and alcohol. If
you can cut that down, it helps keep the saliva
in the mouth, Yeah, drinking a lot of water, which
you know obviously once you have the mask on, it's
tough to do all these things. So it's just kind
of be conscious of these slight adjustments that we should
be making so you don't get the really smelly breath
(19:00):
that at this And I mean, I guess it's coming
across if dentists are talking about it. That way. Yeah, totally,
And I mean it does make sense. If you're wearing
a mask, we all are like suddenly like, wait, does
my breath smell like that? Look more aware of it. Suddenly,
now you're only smelling your own breath exactly. It's like,
oh God, Okay. Mel Corca Lisaya, features writer at The
(19:21):
New York Post, thank you very much for joining us.
Of course, thank you so much. Again. That's it for today.
Join us on social media at Daily Dive on in
both Twitter and Instagram. Leave us a comment, give us
a rating, and tell us as stories that you're interested today.
(19:42):
Follow us and I heard radio or subscribe wherever you
get your podcast. This episode of the Daily Divers produced
by Victor Right and engineered by Tony Sarrantina, Hi, Moscar Ramirez,
and this was your Daily Dive
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