Coronavirus News (161)

India’s Submarines Make Strategic Move To Dominate Indian Ocean  

China claims disputed valley where Chinese, Indian troops engaged in a deadly brawl The confrontation in the Galwan Valley, part of the disputed region along the Himalayan frontier, was the deadliest in 45 years..............   Soldiers brawled with clubs, rocks and their fists in the thin air at 14,000 feet above sea level, but no shots were fired ..........   the fatalities were caused by severe injuries and exposure to subfreezing temperatures. ..........   Modi said India was “hurt and angry” about the deaths of its troops. He said India wanted peace and friendship, but had the “capability that no one can even dare look towards an inch of our land.”

Several U.S. states see coronavirus infection spikes, Wall Street unnerved  the lag time between a positive test and severe illness or death. “The real concern is what is coming up for us in the next week or two.” ............    placed the Southwestern state on track to surpass New York at its peak on a per-capita basis. ............  The World Health Organization considers positivity rates above 5% to be especially concerning, and widely watched data from Johns Hopkins University shows 16 states with average rates over the past week exceeding that level and climbing. ..........  Arizona at 17%, Alabama at 12%, Washington state at 11% and South Carolina at 10%. .......   Florida, one of the last states to impose stay-at-home restrictions and one of the first to begin lifting them, reported 3,822 new cases, a daily record. Its latest positivity figure was 10% ...........  the spike in cases was not just due to more testing but indicative of an “underlying outbreak of unknown size.” ............   “The more community transmission there is, the larger the risk that it infects somebody who is vulnerable. There are quite a lot of old people in Florida and in Arizona” ........  assembling thousands of shouting, chanting people inside the BOK Center and an adjacent convention hall poses the risk of creating a “super-spreader” event for the highly contagious coronavirus. .......  “We can’t be afraid of this China virus or whatever you guys want to call it. I’m not afraid of it at all,” he said. “And I am so honored that President Trump wants to do a trade for us as citizens, you know, to give us our rights to be normal again.” 

As coronavirus surges across South and West, Texas mayors plead with residents to wear masks  “The virus is here.....Infections are rising. Hospital capacity is filling up. This isn’t meant to scare you, but it is meant to be very honest. The virus doesn’t leave just because our collective urgency has gone away.”  ......   “the world is in a new and dangerous phase” as the global pandemic accelerates. The world recorded about 150,000 new cases on Thursday, the largest rise yet in a single day .........  Mask mandates gain traction in many of the biggest cities, counties in Arizona, Texas ..........   Black leaders in Tulsa are outraged by Trump’s rally during a pandemic ........ Brazil tops 1 million confirmed coronavirus infections, second only to U.S. .........   Iraqi hospitals become nexus of infection as coronavirus cases rise dramatically among doctors .......   South Carolina reports record number of new cases and warns that young adults are increasingly contracting the virus ..........    Pence’s sunny approach ignores possibility of dark days ahead, health experts warn .......  with questions swirling about a potential surge in cases in parts of the country, Pence penned an op-ed with an optimistic headline: “There Isn’t a Coronavirus ‘Second Wave.’ ”  ..............   WHO says origins of recent Beijing market outbreak still unknown, likely human-to-human contact  .........  China says vaccine under development will not be ready until at least 2021 ........   There are more than 10 possible vaccines currently being tested around the world ...... So far, no vaccines globally under development have passed what is known as phase 3 — large-scale trials with thousands of participants. .........  “Within China, the issue of the vaccine has taken on a symbol of whether China is going to be the leading power in the world”  .......  Tenn. House officially congratulates citizens for ‘clearly seeing that the mainstream media has sensationalized’ covid-19  .........   Van Huss has taken issue with the national media before the pandemic. In January, he introduced a bill to officially deem CNN and The Washington Post “fake news.” ..............  California sets another record in reported cases .........  California sets another record in reported cases ..............  some parts of the state have seen localized spikes in hospitalizations, indicating that the surge in infections may not be solely the result of expanded testing or a backlog in reporting. ....... Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Thursday ordered all Californians to wear face masks in public. .......   Apple closing 11 stores back down in four states, citing coronavirus concerns ...........  Florida reports another record high in new cases ........  In final daily briefing, Cuomo says New York City will enter Phase 2 of reopening plan ..........   “Over the past three months we have done the impossible,” Cuomo said. “We are controlling the virus better than any state in the country, and any nation on the globe. … I am so incredibly proud of what we all did together and as a community. We reopened the economy and we saved lives — because it was never a choice between one or the other. It was always right to do both.” ..............   “But covid isn’t over,” Cuomo said. “We have to watch out for a second wave.” ..........   Under Cuomo’s four-phase reopening plan, the second phase includes allows outdoor dining at bars and restaurants; retail, hair salons and barbershops to reopen, and office-based jobs to welcome employees back at 50 percent capacity and with physical distancing measures and face covering protocols ..........  WHO warns of ‘new and dangerous phase’ as pandemic accelerates; Americas now hardest hit ............   Countries may be at differing phases in the pandemic, but the global spread of the novel coronavirus is accelerating overall ...........  “The virus is still spreading fast, it is still deadly, and most people are still susceptible.” ..........     U.S. traffic has rebounded to about 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels, analysts say .......  CDC predicts U.S. death toll could reach 145,000 by July 11  .........    Ahead of Trump’s Tulsa rally, Fauci again stresses risks of attending large gatherings ..........   Earlier in the week, Fauci said he would not personally attend the rally because, at 79, he faces a high risk of severe or fatal infection. ..........  Health officials in Tulsa, including the city’s health director, have warned that the event poses significant health risks to attendees and the president himself.  .......  In countries keeping the coronavirus at bay, experts watch U.S. case numbers with alarm ..........    many wondering why virus-stricken U.S. states continue to reopen and why the advice of scientists is often ignored. ..........  “I can’t imagine what it must be like having to go to work knowing it’s unsafe,” Wiles said of the U.S.-wide economic reopening. “It’s hard to see how this ends. There are just going to be more and more people infected, and more and more deaths. It’s heartbreaking.” ...........  Hang on to your nickels and dimes, the pandemic has created a coin shortage ........  Nation’s cancer chief warns delays in cancer care are likely to result in thousands of extra deaths in coming years ............    America’s new $600 billion rescue program for small businesses is off to a rocky start ........  Trump claims the coronavirus pandemic is ending. Data and the experts disagree. ..........   “Nasdaq hit 10,000 for the first time, an all-time record,” Trump said. “Nasdaq, that was three, four days ago. In the middle of the pandemic, not in the middle, toward the end of the pandemic.”  ....... Brazil faces the coronavirus disaster almost everyone saw coming

Iraqi hospitals become nexus of infection as coronavirus cases rise dramatically among doctors

Coronavirus News (160)

Trump stokes division with racism and rage – and the American oligarchy purrs    The president is the best thing that ever happened to the corporate elite, a distraction on the lines of the old Jim Crow ...........  JPMorgan has made it difficult for black people to get mortgage loans. In 2017, the bank paid $55m to settle a justice department lawsuit accusing it of discriminating against minority borrowers. Researchers have found banks routinely charge black mortgage borrowers higher interest rates than white borrowers and deny them mortgages white applicants would have received. .........  BlackRock is one of the biggest investors in private prisons, disproportionately incarcerating black and Latino men. ............  Starbucks has prohibited baristas from wearing Black Lives Matter attire and for years has struggled with racism in its stores as managers accuse black patrons of trespassing and deny them bathrooms to which white patrons have access. ............   behind the scenes – in the halls of Congress and the corridors of statehouses, in fundraisers and in private candidate briefings, in strategy sessions with political operatives and public-relations specialists – the CEOs who condemn racism lobby for and get giant tax cuts and fight off a wealth tax. ............  As a result, the nation can’t afford anything as ambitious as a massive Marshall Plan to provide poor communities world-class schools, first-class healthcare and affordable housing. ..............    The CEOs resist a living wage and universal basic income. They don’t want antitrust laws jeopardizing their market power, thereby requiring consumers pay more. They oppose tighter regulations against red-lining or prohibitions on payday lending, both of which disproportionately burden black and brown people. ..............  Since the start of the pandemic, the nation’s billionaires have become $565bn richer, even as 42.6 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits. ............    The rich know that as long as racial animosity exists, white and black Americans are less likely to look upward and see where the wealth and power really has gone. ........  Half a century ago, Martin Luther King Jr observed much the same about the old southern aristocracy, which “took the world and gave the poor white man Jim Crow. And when his wrinkled stomach cried out for the food that his empty pockets could not provide, he ate Jim Crow, a psychological bird that told him that no matter how bad off he was, at least he was a white man, better than a black man.” ...............   The only way systemic injustices can be remedied is if power is redistributed. Power will be redistributed only if the vast majority – white, black and brown – join together to secure it. Which is what the oligarchy fears most.

Why protests aren't as dangerous for spreading coronavirus as you might think    The protests are a visible example of public crowds, and the ideal scapegoat for problems that are far more complex. ........  the answer is largely in favour of the outdoor protests over other large gatherings planned, such as indoor campaign rallies. .........   wearing a mask can substantially lower the risk of spread and severity of illness ....... research suggests that outdoor activities are much safer than indoor ones. ............  if you’re going to be in a crowd, a mobile one is better than a stationary one. ........  there is a serious risk and grave public health cost to not addressing systemic racism against black people in America. Racism and police violence against black people is an epidemic, and the black community has faced the worst of coronavirus – both in mortality rates and economic fallout. ..................  the vast majority of infections occur in so-called super-spreader events, almost all of which take place indoors. The risk of infection from outdoor protests is further reduced by the striking consistency with which demonstrators wear masks, and often make efforts to maintain personal distance .........   if people adhere to these practices, mass demonstrations will produce more coronavirus cases, but not an avalanche. ..............  Some US states with rising rates of infection, such as Arizona, Texas and Florida, began easing the lockdown before the recent protests began, without having met the federal government’s reopening criteria for reopening, including downward trends in cases and rates of positive tests. ..............   scientific evidence suggests that the risk of returning to offices and shopping centres is probably greater than participating in large demonstrations. The crucial exception, of course, is when they are met with mass arrests. Throwing peaceful protesters into police vans and jails is unquestionably a recipe for mass infection. ...............  Systemic racism has innumerable health consequences ......   one in 1,000 African American men is killed by the police ......... We must explicitly acknowledge the public health impacts of both the pandemic and systemic racism. Protests will lead to infections, but our public health communications should clearly emphasise that the risk can be mitigated with symptom checks and tests (where available) before participation; masks, eyewear, and distancing, where possible; and testing and self-quarantine, where possible, afterwards. We should be actively sharing guidance on How to Protest Safely .............   If we are to confront systemic racism, such mass demonstrations seem “essential” .........  History teaches us that civic protests are how nations get better. Now, more than ever, they are essential.