Friday, June 19, 2020

Coronavirus News (159)

AMC reversed itself, saying it had consulted with scientific advisers and would require masks in theaters nationwide when it reopens on July 15.

‘A new and dangerous phase’: W.H.O. issues a dire warning as cases grow in 81 countries. the coronavirus pandemic is accelerating, and noted that Thursday was a record day for new cases — more than 150,000 globally.  ........  “Many people are understandably fed up with being at home. Countries are understandably eager to open up their societies and their economies. But the virus is still spreading fast. It is still deadly, and most people are still susceptible.” ..........  81 nations have seen a growth in new cases over the past two weeks, while only 36 have seen declines. ..........  continue to maintain distance from others, to cover their noses and mouths with masks when appropriate and to wash their hands ..........  nations must continue to find, isolate, test and care for every person infected with the virus, and to test and quarantine every contact ..........  In India, which initially placed all 1.3 billion of its citizens under a lockdown — then moved to reopen even with its public health system near the breaking point — officials reported a record number of new cases Wednesday. And the virus is now spreading rapidly in nearby Pakistan and Bangladesh as well. ...........  It took Africa nearly 100 days to reach 100,000 cases, the W.H.O. has noted, but only 19 days to double that tally. .........    Scientists generally agree that wearing face masks can help curb the spread of the virus. For politicians and businesses, however, the decision of whether to require masks is growing increasingly contentious ............  Trump’s rally has the potential to become a “super spreader” event .............  Italian scientists report traces of virus in sewage samples collected in December. ................   by the time the authorities were aware of an outbreak, the virus was already more widespread than initially believed. ............  South Korea reported 49 more cases, as a second wave of infections continued to spread in the Seoul metropolitan area. ...........  Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo ended his run of more than 100 consecutive daily news conferences ............ in the race to find drugs and vaccines, a substantial proportion of studies may be excluding older subjects, purposely or inadvertently, even as 80 percent of American deaths have occurred in people over age 65. ...............   There is a long history of older people being excluded from clinical trials, even when the diseases in question disproportionately affected this group. ..........  the new outbreak in the Chinese capital, a cluster of more than 180 infections at the vast Xinfadi wholesale market that emerged after 56 days of no new locally-transmitted cases. ..........   prevent “splash contamination” by not rinsing raw meat or seafood directly under the tap. ......... seafood vendors at the Xinfadi market had suffered the most infections and showed symptoms earlier than those who sold beef and lamb. ............  low temperatures and high humidity in the seafood and meat areas may have contributed to the virus’s spread   

As Covid-19 Hits Developing Countries, Its Victims Are Younger Demographics, underlying conditions and weaker health-care systems affect pandemic’s impact  

SpaceX Wants to Build Floating Spaceports for Daily Starship Launches  The coronavirus pandemic stopped a lot of things, but it hasn’t done much to slow down SpaceX and Elon Musk. ...........   The offshore platforms would serve primarily to launch the company’s massive Starship rockets, which are being built and tested in Brownsville, a small city in southern Texas near the border with Mexico. ...........  At 394 feet tall by 30 feet wide, the rocket outsizes all those previously used in spaceflight, including the Saturn V used in NASA’s Apollo program. But the most impressive feature of the Starship, which consists of a 160-foot spacecraft plus a 230-foot booster, is that it’s being designed to be fully reusable. Last November Musk estimated Starship launches could cost as little as $2 million, which is about 1 percent of what NASA launch costs average. ..........   the launches and landings had to be “far enough away so as not to bother heavily populated areas.” The company’s plan to eventually carry out up to three launches and landings per day would certainly necessitate putting some serious distance between the launch site and people; most of us could only handle about one sonic boom a month, if that. .............   Rather than building the launchpads from scratch, it’s possible SpaceX would refurbish existing oil rigs; the bigger rigs are about the size of two football fields, and there are plenty of them in the Gulf of Mexico ..........  Given the ailing state of the oil industry, especially after the pandemic, it’s likely there will be rigs to be had for cheap.  




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